If We Want Things To Be Okay,

We Are All Refugees From Our Childhoods. And So We Turn, Among Other Things, To Stories. To Write A Story, To Read A Story, Is To Be A Refugee From The State Of Refugees. Writers And Readers Seek A Solution To The Problem That Time Passes, That Those Who Have Gone Are Gone And Those Who Will Go, Which Is To Say Every One Of Us, Will Go. For There Was A Moment When Anything Was Possible. And There Will Be A Moment When Nothing Is Possible. But In Between We Can Create.

I Actually Feel That Personal Matters, Like Religion And Spirituality, Are Things That I Really Discuss Only With Intimates. I Think It's, In A Way, Like Sexuality, Something Where It Touches Upon Something Very Private.

It Is Not Surprising That Most Pakistanis Do Not Support America's Bombardment Of Afghanistan. The Afghans Are Neighbours On The Brink Of Starvation And Devastated By War. America Has Shown Itself To Be Untrustworthy, A Superpower That Uses Its Values As A Scabbard For Its Sword.

I Come From An Enormous And Very Close Family. I Have Over A Dozen Aunts And Uncles In Pakistan, Dozens Of Cousins. I Have Many Close Friends. I Have Received So Much Love In Lahore That The City Always Pulls Me.

Pakistan Now Is Like A Horror Film Franchise. You Know, It's 'friday The 13th, Episode 63: The Terrorist From Pakistan.' And Each Time We Hear Of Pakistan It's In That Context.