Ask the Author: Faiqa Mansab
Answered Questions (5)
Faiqa Mansab
I am so excited about Margaret Atwood's new book. Also looking forward to reading Pan's Labyrinth.
Faiqa Mansab
Dear Laveena
Thank you so much for his lovely message. I am so glad you liked This House of Clay and Water. The dargah is real but I have taken liberties with the details. Lahore is known for its Sufi shrines, much like Delhi. The tree of Bhanggi is actually in Mian Mir dargah. The faqirs who wear red are from Lal Hussain dargah. The sema happens at ShahJamal dargah. I have combined all features of the four.
Nida' s zingers are very much her own. That's how we know she is an intelligent woman who is going through a deeply painful time in her life.
I hope you enjoy the answer even half as much as I enjoyed your question.
Best regards
Faiqa
Thank you so much for his lovely message. I am so glad you liked This House of Clay and Water. The dargah is real but I have taken liberties with the details. Lahore is known for its Sufi shrines, much like Delhi. The tree of Bhanggi is actually in Mian Mir dargah. The faqirs who wear red are from Lal Hussain dargah. The sema happens at ShahJamal dargah. I have combined all features of the four.
Nida' s zingers are very much her own. That's how we know she is an intelligent woman who is going through a deeply painful time in her life.
I hope you enjoy the answer even half as much as I enjoyed your question.
Best regards
Faiqa
Faiqa Mansab
Something or the other is always going on inside my head. Also if something moves me, my reaction comes out in words...thank God inside my head :) So I guess you could say that everything can inspire me. Unless I'm sleepy.
Faiqa Mansab
Connecting with people. I love to hear fro my readers :)
Faiqa Mansab
Diversity fascinates me because of how we react to difference. Differences, no matter how small they may be, scare us. We feel threatened by difference when in fact it is a cause of celebration because that's what makes the world so interesting.
Power dynamics between genders and how social constructs like religious affiliations, nationalism, cast and social status mold people and their behaviors is frighteningly like living in a prison, conditioned and brain washed. There is very little agency left in an average human being because of all this, until and unless they actively go against the grain, at the risk of being ostracized, called mad or just hated because they dare to think differently.
I wanted to write about people who go against the grain or at least try to. However, even now, in the 21st century, women who do that are much worse off than men. Women, who dare to go against the norms and mores set by their society and culture are not tolerated. They are considered monsters that have to be killed to re-establish social order. Much like in any Sophoclean or Shakespearean tragedy, where the social sickness has to be rooted out to purge the city state and bring peace to the city. Women who are considered aberrations are not tolerated even now.
Then there are those human beings that the world considers aberrations no matter where they are and who they are. They are ridiculed, and humiliated: people like eunuchs, hermaphrodites, and the LGBTQ community.
So I guess you could say that I got the ideas from the city I live in, from the country I live in and from the world that we all live in.
Power dynamics between genders and how social constructs like religious affiliations, nationalism, cast and social status mold people and their behaviors is frighteningly like living in a prison, conditioned and brain washed. There is very little agency left in an average human being because of all this, until and unless they actively go against the grain, at the risk of being ostracized, called mad or just hated because they dare to think differently.
I wanted to write about people who go against the grain or at least try to. However, even now, in the 21st century, women who do that are much worse off than men. Women, who dare to go against the norms and mores set by their society and culture are not tolerated. They are considered monsters that have to be killed to re-establish social order. Much like in any Sophoclean or Shakespearean tragedy, where the social sickness has to be rooted out to purge the city state and bring peace to the city. Women who are considered aberrations are not tolerated even now.
Then there are those human beings that the world considers aberrations no matter where they are and who they are. They are ridiculed, and humiliated: people like eunuchs, hermaphrodites, and the LGBTQ community.
So I guess you could say that I got the ideas from the city I live in, from the country I live in and from the world that we all live in.
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