The radio called for a snow storm on the Friday before Halloween. The narrow winding 18th street of Adam?s Morgan was deserted. No cars were parked hap hazard on either side of the littered road. It looked accessible yet, forlorn as the woman in high heels, short leather skirt and bright red lipstick walking the same street for the 5th time that evening. Like her, Adams Morgan didn?t have its usual share of rowdy, Friday evening clients.
The first flake of snow spiraled down in slow motion and on to her heavily mascara-d eyelashes. She brushed it off impatiently and peered at the sky. The sky which had darkened from a cloudy grey to a charcoal black began releasing flecks of white?at first a reluctant few white crumbs which rapidly changed into a relentless drift. The sudden swirl of snow turned her peroxide blonde hair into platinum silver. She cursed loudly as she tried to salvage her hair spray patting the limp tendrils into place. Small damp patches appeared on her faux leather skirt as the snow melted on her warm spots. Her fishnet stockings had frozen stiff cutting into her calves and thighs while her worn out stilettos skidded dangerously on the slick uneven street. She tottered past the life less coffee shop and stood under the canopy of a bead shop. The store sign boasted of African beads, silver jewelry, hand crafted dolls and batik tee shirts. She was not dressed for the weather. She hadn?t planned on spending the night walking the street. After all it was the Friday before Halloween

A few cars crawled past the bead shop ignoring her attempts at catching their attention. The last driver rolled down his window and gestured obscenely at her. Hopeful, she stepped out from under the canopy. But the car sped by.

Hi Kalanki! The ladies can't show off their wares with an overcoat on can they? Always a pleasure to see you!

Lalupathey, Thanks for reading. As for "Sitara", She is just a cyber persona/musical instrument/sequins (on a doll's dress?!)... a figment of my own imagination.

Sandhurst, Baltimore ali hoina. But, that's where I go to school. I hope you're having a less hectic day today. Have you caught up with all your emails? I meant do you reply to junk mails too?! :P

Anonymous...you remind me of John Lennon in loooooooooooooong hand! "IMAGINE" is the song I have in mind! :) Thank you for replying for me. I couldn't have done it better.


Chatmandude, You got the looooooooooooooong of it from Anonymous.
The short of it is "WHY NOT?"

Sitara... had me laughing...the long and short of it. Dannyboy le hasaayoh:P A baby you might want to sell? Hmmm... interesting! And you have yet to pass me your mom;s no .. re kya!
Sitara, just to let you know though, your posts/thread are worth a read.. so the name ought to remain,sachi ho.

Gone with the wind...*am nearly out of posts now..:(

Indeed, Sitara, why not. I thought, maybe these stories are from your real life, biographical ki ke re ni, therefore the name Sitara within the title. Is it so? But if not, doesn't matter. Just the little curiosity, nothing more.

Anonymous, my friend, your explanation ta ke bhanney.... too long to read. I followed it through first paragraph, but after that, this mouse started clicking by itself. Sorry yar, my bad.

It's my fault that I often skip long postings. If I may confess, I have not read any of Sitara's stories, except the one she wrote a long time ago about the spirit which followed her from the house she was about to buy. Again, my bad.

SITARA,
Thanks for your post. Yes, what a day - endless rounds of meetings and stuff. The tempo's picked up massively lately - a complete head-down for me I am afraid. It's always like this at this time of the year, in the run up to the Christmas stand down next month. Then I have a full four weeks off which is good!

Yes, I have been through the emails - hundreds of them. Phew. No, I don't receive junks in my Inbox - we've an effective system in place, which filters all emails with known origins and without. So, it's good - saves loads of time.

Oh, Baltimore hoina? Lovely all the same as I hear, it's a wonderful place to be live in. Would love to have a cuppa with you one of these days if I ever happen to be hopping round in your part of the world.
Ok, back to work. I'm staying until at least mid night tonight. A little bit of mid-night oil burning there for me! Take care. Carpe diem.

Sitara jyu :oD....

no worries about the 'replyn for u' wasnt actually replyn for u..would i dare?;oP hehe...was arsin aroud as always ;o)..sharing opinion(s) ni ...hmmm that does sound a better ;oP hehe.

and abui...:o| couldnt have done better re?:o| i never knew u stoop this low :o| u too?:o| u too sayn such things hyaaaa :o(....like we dunno ;oP..sheesh katti kidding around ho...u been around too much kids it seems ;oP hehe..duh!!u have kids around u everyday ;o)..so yap cant 'blame' u ;oP..oh well cheers for that anyways re kya ;oP hehe...frankly speakn ...i think i need to get lessons from u how to summarise ;oP...sheesh 2 words of urs said it all :o| and i hadnt really 'finished' me arsing tara u know..time :o( hehe..sheesh!!who am i tryn to kid?meself?i just need to learn to summarise!!!!went to arse away in some other things ;oP hehe..so many things to arse about..dyam so much :o| im spoilt for choices!!:o| ;oP hehe..
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chatmandude bro :oD...well at least u lasted a paragraph re kya ;oP hehe...i thot a line is already too much to take :o| anyways well..dun mind me and u got the 'reply' from Sitara herself and thats wat u were lookn for ;o)...so its all good..tho of cos the 'reply' might not be really wat ur lookn for re kya ;oP hehe..anyways kaha ur bad...askn is nice ni ;o)..if u dun ask..how will they know u wanna know hoina?me def aint pyschic..dunno if others are ;oP..and well at least u read one..and about the others u didnt read..well could be a gain or a loss ;oP..depends on our own opinion ;o)....and no sorry pls..hate that word ;o)...plus wats there to be sorry about??DUH!!! :o| hehe..u let me arse..so i shud be thankful ;o) hehe...la la enuf ..before this gets a bit out of hand...and i cant stop :o| hehe...

anyways good luck and well dun stop blasting ur keyboard ;o)...its a forum anyways if no one post..wats the use of a forum hoina?(im sayn this to console meself for wasting database space duh!!dun need to remind me :oS hehe)

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and scarlett(long time no see? see means 'communicate' ke ;oP hehe feels long anyways re kya ;oP...) whos talkn about selln me baby :o| as tho i have one :o| im not a baby making factory u know!:@ (hah..that line makes me imagine how it will be to hear someone say that to me in the future..and it feels kinda nice :o| that person ..if it happens will ask me.."You think im a baby making factory!!?@#%#$!" hehe..and i be replyn..."i dun think!!!but want me to prove and show it? ;oP" wahahaahah :o| ok enuf of lameness hehe)

and about me mum no..sheesh!!u think im that..errr...(lets not mention that word here..we know wat it is hoina?;oP hehe)and no one gets to her..they have to go thru me before goin to her re kya ;oP hehe..and koon mikalal(or mikalali ;oP hehe) aaj tak paida nahee huwa hai!!(dyam i suck in me hindi dialogues!!!!!:@ but me mssg was conveyed wasnt it?;oP hehe) so yap dream on!!!!!hah...me frens have given up on reporting and telln her..sheesh keep ur 'dream' in check re kya ;oP..now now i dun wanna be 'known' as i dream breaker would i?tho i am ;oP hehe...(u actually reached that line eh?..kinda shocked me..but i survive re kya ;oP...better take the doc advice from now on and cut down re kya ;oP...some ppl are out there to try and give me a heart attack :o| ..why me bhaney!!!:o| duh!!;oP hehe..oh ps ..im cuttn down in the reply here...tonnes to write so if im mixing it all..or as they used to say 'champo' back in some old place :oD..dun mind me re kya ;o)..smtimes too much mixing..doesnt make sense does it?oh well..herum when i stop mixing re kya ;oP hehe..did this all make sense :o| cos it got me wondering wat i was typing for a while there :o| hehe...)
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and sandhurst bro :oD ke cha!!:oD..(ps dun reply back ;oP hehe..if not later u know..waterfall effect ;oP..hehe)

long time!!!(feels long ;oP hehe yap..feeln department of mine dun really work re kya ;oP hehe)
well nice to see u blasting ur keyboard and hehe..dyam after those replies to ur inbox..u still make time for here :o| ..wonder why hola?;oP hehe...pretty addictive aint it?hehe well im kinda over the addiction!!seriously i am!!(well guess thats wat all addicts say hoina?;oP...but duh!!those who got over it says it too!!and im the latter re kya ;oP hehe)

and well let me see if i will 'type' in some of ur post..am tryn to 'contain' meself hehe..after this post will see if i head off to the notes..(studyn at home is much easier..less distractive ;oP...learnt it from me past few days of experience hehe..so might just do that re kya ;oP hehe good luck to me !!:oD aphu lai pani good luck ta wish garnu paryo ni..dun mind me ;oP hehe..)..but hehe well ur using some 'la's i see ;o)..but its me opinion hai..not like im a singlish expert or smthng ;oP hehe..tara that 'la' sounds nepali :oS...use "lah" ...cos well i think thats wat the world calls it anyways ;oP hehe...anyways just arsing around as always ;oP hehe...

hope ur doing good and catch u around..burn the midnight oil today?(which yr are u living on?romantic eh?re kya ;oP..hehe duh!!;oP)anyways let it BURN!!!!!!!dyam dun i sound like an arsonist :o| sheesh!!im not that!!im a arse-nist re kya ;oP watever that means :o| hehe...

anyways have a good day everyone :oD...and yest chai alik had couple of beers(after ages) so dun mind me re kya ;o)...cos if u do mind..dyam today ta jhan fren ko bday ho and well i dunno wat will happen..tara im scared of u know...urghh ..hopefully wont end typing later...if not yap gawd bless us all ;oP hehe...

and oh yah..sitara jyu...after u mentioned lennon hehe...well made me remember the time ..(10 saal pahiley.. i think..*tells himself*dyam enuf of hindi dialogues!:@ hehe..dunno why those dialogues are comin to me head now :o| if not sheesh!!do u think i wanted to shower u all with such bhakwash?:oS ke tha hoina?;oP hehe)..me fren taught me how to draw him ;o)..and hehe took a min or 2 break from here to do it..and hehe...well might as well show it hoina ;oP...dyam u shud see him draw!!!and now dyam!!feel like drawing all those things he taught me :o|...urghhh ..jahiley timing wrong :oS hehe...anyways thot i share re kya...since duh!!u made me wanna try drawing it!!

and ppl!!!USE UR IMAGINATION!!!WHEN U LOOK!!at the 'drawing'(? can it be called a drawing re kya ;oP hehe)....duh!!!hehe...

good day :oD...and yap dun stop blasting ur keyboard ;o) hehe..(sandhurst bro!!u 'ruined' me!!!duh!! ;oP...well thot i 'blame' u today ;oP..next time someone else ;oP hehe...u 'opened' the box again :o| and jack had already jumped out of the box :o| now the cockraches in there comes out..dun blame me re kya ;oP hehe while me will carryn on blaming u all ;oP hehe...duh! thats me..dun be like me..BE LIKE MIKE!!saw the ad?duh!!;oP hehe...Yap!i lost it again...i opened my mind..and found...nothing again!!!!oh baby baby!! duh!!hehe britney ko tune kaha bata ayo :o|..dun mind me :o| hehe.. )

*gone*

Dannyboy,am reading intently between the lines.* screwing up me eyes* So you would like me to meet your mom? Awhh... sweet though it i.. how do i put it?.. ke bhannu? Im sure she is a great lady, but im not going down that road .At least not for another year.It might complicate stuff kya:P Re kya.... Read and read and read your post..:) Laughed some. You never did elaborate about the trip u took to the doc's? What do i care, except that you be well enough to keep us busy reading your posts .:) You dreambreaker, me heartbreaker..wat a pair innit? Sheesh,..now Lahure's lingo rubbing off on me !

Sitara and Sandhurst , end of the day for you hola.Always great having you guys to read as well. Long day ahead for me. Toodles.

Gone with the wind...

Sitara if you are a girl let me ask you what is your favouirate color? what kind of dress you like to wear, how often you cook? You must be a pretty girl...........I guess.........

Sitara,

You seem to have generated quite a fan following around these parts :-) ..your piece was a very good one though and although I am sure you have much to do, I hope we get to see more of your prose within these cyber halls.

I wanted to pop back in and pick up on the Zadie Smith conversation that Sandhurst, you and I had a while back. It took me longer than I expected (what with this blasted thing called Law School messing up my quiet reverie with "On Beauty") but I did manage to finally finsh the book and I highly recommend it. It isn't too much of a departure from white Teeth in that the underlying theme is still about race and the tensions it brings; less humour than that of White teeth nevertheless it is a very good read and quite funny.

I tend to pop in and out of Sajha time permitting--now with exams fast approaching I will probably learn from the example set by Dick Cheney and burrow in my own "undisclosed location" :-) but I do hope to catch your posts.

Take Care,

Nepaali, goodness me. So good to see you back to Sajha cruising smoothly as it were! Welcome back.

Yeah, there is quite a resolute fleet of fans out there constantly nagging SITARA to do more, myself included! :) I for one would feel pretty daft visiting Sajha without having to read her stories. Honestly. (No flattery intended, SITARA.)

Oh, thanks for your info on 'On Beauty'. Delighted to hear that you enjoyed the book, I plan on reading it during my X-mas break. The combination of the two stock characters in White Teeth (the typical Zadie-Smith ones!) is one big chocolate with both humour and sheer wit rolled into it and one that you can ill-afford to miss having a bite at! I am glad that the book does still have the Samad/Archiebald duo effect and that's good. I perhaps relate more to these two men than others, predominantly because of their military backgrounds. The scene with the Russian soldiers is just so hilarious - kept me wriggling in in my chair with shock of laughter! No, I missed watching the Chanel 4 adaptation of the novel. Might try and get hold of the film.

As an aside, if you happen to be living in my part of the world, the BBC has recently started a Shakespearean season with 'Much Ado about Nothing' kicking off the other day. You might want to check the BBC homepage. Oh, there is then another BBC adaptation of Dickens's 'Bleak House' which on BBC 1 tonight, being shown in episodes. Happy watching hai.

I trust that you exam prep is coming along fine and that you're now ready to tackle the devil with confidence. My best wishes. And pse do pop in now and then and frankly, it'd be pretty dull reading this thread with only a few of us doing the talk. So, thanks for your input - I'm sure SITARA would have the same thing to say. She appears to be busy these last few days.

Take care.
**********************
Anon,
John Lennon sketch is cracking. Goodday mate! :)

***********
Scarlett,
Long day for me too madam. :)

Stay tuned all. Carpe diem

sandhurst lahure and Sitara would make a nice couple, I mean literary.

Hi scarlett oh, fiesty one. Always a pleasure reading your wit. May San always favor you extra posts.


Dannymous, love your John Lennon! A picture paints a thousand words... perhaps , you should go into hieroglyphs while writing in Sajha. Easier on my squinting eyes (I caught it from Scarlett)!


Lalupathey; The colors of my mood change and as do my favorites; The dress I like to wear are those which project my changing moods; Cook is my middle name. My mother says I'm pretty...I believe her, only her! Trust me, it is an unfalsifiable truth!!! Did I pass?! :P


Nepaali; I was wondering where you'd disappeared leaving those of us un tutored in Zadie stranded! I'm glad you're back! Good luck with your examinations. A lawyer eh? Meaning articulate in speech as well (wow! ). Fan re... hardly. I am a fan of Sajhaites feedback to my writing. Gives me something to think about the next time I scribble some prose. I will get to "White Teeth" soooooooon. I am up to my neck in reading and critiquing fellow students' fiction too not including "Shalimar, the Clown" giving me "come hither, pick me up, read me, NOW!" look.


Sandhurst; Thank you, thank you for the encouragement. I hope to put it to good use. :)

Hectic Thursday today with a blustery weather to boot. Feel like Piglet from the Hundred Acres Woods. Overwhelmed!

Chicken little, I'm a little chicken about being paired off with the headhoncho rooster of the Literary world. :)

Hi SITARA...!!!

"Reality can be beaten with enough imagination."

Once I read the above quote on some stranger's T-shirt, which completely correlates with your vivid imagination.

Awesome!!!

HD

Chicken.little - there's a rather crude saying in Nepali and it goes something like this:

'Kahan ko Kabi Lekhnaath Paudel, Kahaan ko talla gharey kainlaa paudel.'

I am the 'talla gharey kainlaa paudel' hai, and I'll always want to remain as SITARA's talla gharey kainlaa paudel. No one else. And so long as I can get to read and admire her works, she has and will have no equals. She's her own creation - one you can perhaps borrow but you can never copy it!:) Hope I've answered you enough. Thanks anyway.
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SITARA,
Hectic all the same this end too! Have a good day.

Carpe diem

Sitara
I guess I missed it the first time it was posted.
Brilliant narration, as always.
Subject matter wise, I found Vermillion to be the best. In narration category, this probably tops all.
Hope to see more.

Sitz ddz,
How refreshing to read you, in the aftermath of a brain messed with exam stuffs! My mind directs it's own movie, as I take in every little vivid detail, that you so meticulousy jot down. I love how you write about something different each time !

*Smiles*

Sandhurst:

I am across the pond you see, so sadly will have to miss the BBC Bard fest - and I am sure it will be a stupendous run.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and Oregon has a very well put together annual Shakespear festival that starts around the 2nd of July and runs the entire month. It is held in this tiny place called Ashland which affords a hamlet like environment. The plays are a mix of high school and theatre company productions so it is a good mix.

The same place is also host to a wicked music festival every year. They have the likes of Ben Harper, Leonard Cohen and Angelique Kidjo (brilliant singer/songwriter from Benin) perform in the past. ...I shall have to contend myself with Ashland for now, but will certainly snag the DVD versions of the Beeb series the minute they come out.

Sitara:
The rumblings of the fan base seem to be growing louder every time I pop by...I need to add my voice to that growing chorus and demand the next installment of your writing :-)

Take care all.

Sitara, Sorry for writing late. I did not have time to write. Please write another story. I will read when I get time off from the Lab.

LOL............. Lalu

Nepaali,
So good of you to pop in despite what promises to be a hectic affair in the offing for you what with the exam prep and stuff. My best wishes again - hope that the results will all come in a bundle full of flags flying and fluttering! Who coined that funny turn of phrase - flying colours - btw? :) Anyway, congratulations are in order!

Thanks for sharing the info on your whereabouts. I trust that America has so far lived up to your expectations and that you have time all the more to explore the cultural delights that Oregon has to offer. Also hope that Ashland is not all that bad after all. Good luck.

I feel rather blessed with the freedom that I enjoy in fulfilling my artistic pursuits - the Westend theatres/Edinburgh Fringe etc. Nowhere in the world can you find an artistic venue of such a diverse range. Westend is just awesome. Living in England with London nearby is surely something that I wouldn't rather have done without. So, I am ever so lucky in that sense. Would love to go to the Broadway shows in New York one day. Definitely. I am delighted that like with SITARA, you share my passion for the arts and the artistic imagination. Will look forward to your future inputs.

Stay tuned. And a very happy weekend.
Carpe diem.

Ohhh Sitara, that was beautifully written...It brought out the whole gamut of emotions in me...Your skills with words is undeniable...I wish I could only possess a fraction of your writing capabilities...At the last sentece, when you were talking about the car speeding by, was it a metaphor for life??...in the sense that life does not wait for any of us...that we have to be our own drivers??...correct me if im wrong..but if that was your intent, the wordplay was simply marvelous..good work!

Sitara,
Have been reading your piece lately. I am intrigued by your method of presenting intimacy between difficult topics, such as socio-psychology, art and nature and their interplay in human mind.
Let your creative imagination flow and do keep coming. How about writing something philosophical? ( just a suggestion)