Annie Zaidi's Blog, page 7

Another extract from my new novel, 'City of Incident':

Another extract from my new novel, 'City of Incident' has been published and is free to read on shethepeople.tv. Do buy the book either online or in your favourite local bookstores.This woman is so transparent, the evil eye cannot fall upon her. Perhaps the evil goes right through her body, falling on the person standing right behind her in queue for the renewal of a second-class pass.Not that

Strange little security problems

Something odd has been happening with Facebook/Meta for me. Since I've not given FB permission to take all 'cookies', and since I do not accept the prompt asking me for permission to use my display picture instead of my password, it has been putting me through a 3-step login security process. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind the extra security, but this has been disconcerting lately. First, I

An extract from City of Incident

Here is an extract from the first chapter of City of Incident. Please read, and then please go find the book and buy it and read the whole thing. They carry knives, some of them. He has seen them squatting on the train floor, chopping up beans and shelling peas into plastic bags while on their way home. It is more likely one of these ladies who carry a knife while travelling than an urchin who

New book

I have a new book out. A novel about 12 characters in a metropolis, seeking balance, love, repair. Please buy it, ideally at a bookstore, but if you can't go out on account of the pandemic or if you want a soft copy, it is also available in both formats online. Link below. Buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/dp/939065212X/r...

Some more thoughts on freedom

Squeeze your lids over your irises, until the inner mirror fogs over, and say the word ‘freedom’. What image do you see?I see a keen blue and bale upon bale of cottony white sky. Freedom to me is an unbroken expanse, full of light, full of beauty and unlimited potential. Like the sky, it is unfailingly present. Like the sky, it is simultaneously universal and particular, and forever in need of

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'Bhagat Singh aur Dutt' another poem from 'Zabt-shuda Nazmein', also filed under 'anonymous'. I found it particularly interesting because of the way the author switches emotional register while addressing tyranny: now warning against the scorn of future citizens, now calling upon the tyrant (state) to cease his (its) tyranny, now placing hope in divine intervention, now defiant of all outcomes.

ज़ब्त शुदा नज़्में: भगत सिंह और दत्त

'Bhagat Singh aur Dutt' another poem from 'Zabt-shuda Nazmein', also filed under 'anonymous'. I found it particularly interesting because of the way the author switches emotional register while addressing tyranny: now warning against the scorn of future citizens, now calling upon the tyrant (state) to cease his (its) tyranny, now placing hope in divine intervention, now defiant of all outcomes.

Zabt-shuda nazmein: 'Muqaddama Saazish-e-Lahore ke Aseeron ki Avaaz'

This is a poem from the Urdu collection 'Zabt-shuda Nazmein'. Perhaps on account of censorship or fear of reprisals, many poets wrote anonymously. This poem has been credited to 'Namaloom' (anonymous) in the book. It was first published in 'Payaam-e-Jang' in 1930. The Editor, Narayan Singh 'Musafir', had written by way of introduction: 'This poem was read aloud by Comrade Prem Dutt, an accused in

zabt shuda nazmein - 'Muqaddama Saazish e Lahore ke Aseeron ki Avaaz'

This is a poem from the Urdu collection 'Zabt-shuda Nazmein'. Perhaps on account of censorship or fear of reprisals, many poets wrote anonymously. This poem has been credited to 'Namaloom' (anonymous) in the book. It was first published in 'Payaam-e-Jang' in 1930. The Editor, Narayan Singh 'Musafir', had written by way of introduction: 'This poem was read aloud by Comrade Prem Dutt, an accused in

A play read, at last

 When I first began work on my own, as a freelance writer, I had decided to give myself permission to write in any genre, form or style without thinking of whether it would lead to an income, or even a publishing contract or a performance. Not having a daily job, being free of the compulsions of form and word restrictions, I was also finally free to really think about all the things that I'd