ali sent me home early on saturday on grounds that i wasn't well enough to work (yet) bla bla bla. ended up going shoe-shopping unwillingly with mum and maria apa. bought 2 pairs of hand-made sandals and one tiny purse thingie. was feeling awful by the time i got home but proceeded to sit on the computer and finish my Images work.
sometime in the afternoon i get a call from K (would i like to go out for iftar?). i go ask mum, not telling her i'm ready to puke any moment, didn't want to listen to the "i told u so" line regarding post-surgery rest. she said i should.
ended up at The Forum (the initial plan was to get to Nandos but it was full by the time we got there). where we had our usual fast-food chinese. bumped into haider, his wife and kids (lovely people). after going over the neccessary "hello(s)" and "how are you(s)" i made a bee-line for Liberty.
Books an
d more... the folks at Liberty in The Forum have come to know me and my taste in books well. i have spent many happy hours browsing through the bookstore and sitting on one of their comfy little counches skimming through half of them before buying. they have learnt that i like to browse on my own, without interupptions or too-much-help and that i will almost always use my debit card to pay... so before i even move to take my wallet out, they'd have placed the debit-card-machine infront of me for me to enter my pin-code. if they dont have a book, they'll get it and call me. if i want one but am in a hurry, i'll call them before-hand. what more could one ask for? i wouldn't call them family yet, but they're pretty close.
anyway, the recently-bought book list is:
— Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
— Nehru, the making of India by M.J. Akbar
— Between past and future, selected essays on South Asia by Eqbal Ahmed
— The algebra of infinite justice by Arundhati Roy
— The god of small things by Arundhati Roy
— Nineteen eighty four by George Orwell
despite, however, my love for Liberty, around the time i had found out about sugery date and was going through my first and only phase of "cold feet" i happend to enter into a 'safe place' (i.e. a bookshop) and calmed myself by browsing through books that i dont normally see in Liberty. i wanted to buy the whole place and promised to come back. plus this bookshop was quieter and had a 'warmer' atmosphere. Paramount books near Aghas is fast becoming a favorite haunt.
studio air and coffee nights...
from Liberty i found myself in Farooq's studio. his ustaad had been visiting and some last-minute 'refinement' was being given to their upcoming album Raag Neela and i got to take my much needed bathroom break.
saw the video of Raag Neela (directed by Jalal) and loved it. it was fun. farooq infact looks somewhat like Prince in some of the shots :P
what followed was the usual night-coffee session. two cafes. meetings. new and old people. networking and terrible coughing. came home, was exhuasted beyond what is normal and took sunday off. tummy hurt and i was/am worried.
posts due on:
— coffee at deja vu, what was suposed to be and what eneded up becoming or "faisal i will kill you"
— the truth behind co-Ven. and where to download their music from. the first three singles anyway.
