This is the beginning …

"Ships and Shoes and Sealing Wax"

… that was supposed to be the title of my book. A collection of my memories, friends, families, extended families. Wrote a few pages - around 50, I think  - and then destroyed them. Why should anyone want to read my nonsense. Mentioned this to Nuzhat, Ragni, Jehan, and Sabeen. Everyone insisted that I should do so. I tried. But no real luck.

Meanwhile, Sabeen asked me to start a blog. Which I did. Its called Windmills of My Mind. I mentioned this book many times in my blogposts, hoping I will do that some day. But nothing ever came out.

I just thought my blog may have a lot of things that could go into a book. Someone suggested I put together the whole thing in a book-type blog - selecting some, removing a lot - and I thought that would have to be on a DVD. After all, there were Audios and Videos that needed to be in it, too, apart from pictures.

Now Sadia Khatri and I are going to work on this starting tomorrow. Figure out the best way possible. I would like to put a collection of my blogposts because Ragni and Sabeen have been insisting a lot and Nuzhat and Jehan have added to those two views. My birthday is the final date.

Update: 29th July 2015

After much discussion all of us have decided

that I do these posts

in their chronological order

and put them up in a series of iBooks.

•••••

My mooñh-boli baytee, Sabeen Mahmud, assassinated by who-knows-who on April 24th, 2015, had various discussions with me for things that I will start mentioning here …

2013

Sabeen loved my Abi's handwriting and insisted that whenever I decide to publish his poetry, it should be in his own hand. I had always wanted to do that, too. So did Nuzhat. But the costs seemed so high. Now they have all been scanned and are available as .jpg …

"Your father's prose, the pieces you and Nuzhat Aunty read out, must be printed. It'll be our first book when we start the publishing section. This year." — Sadly, that never happened.

This year, by Abi's death anniversary, I'll do it. It's a promise. All his poems and his stories and his essays.

Update: 31st July 2015

Lots of discussions held with three friends.

Sadia Khatri will start work on an Urdu Website tomorrow.

2014

"Wow. What a delightful interview. It's a privilege to be part of your family. I wept." — This was related to a BBC Interview of Nuz and I. Sabeen asked me to put it up on my Blog but I thought it wasn't right. Now I guess I will … any day on this blog.

2015

"There's lots of new stuff on our music that you can write and put on your blog, Zak." OK, Sab. This blog will start with my iBooks. They'll be about Qavvaalis and move on to other forms of our classical and semi-classical music.

(Sorry folks, but while the iBooks can be Downloaded on Macs, they can't be seen on a Windows machine.)

•••••

"Aadaab . Where are all your cartoons, Zakadoodle? Maybe we can have an exhibition of them."  " … many of them may not be current, specially the Political ones. Just forget about them …" "Crapathon. Lets get them all at T2F. You talk about them. LOL! Hope it's rowdy and badtameez as it should be." — Well. I'll put up a blog and have all of them in it, soon. 

•••••

"75 this year. Wowee. Let's do a talkathon with you. I'll mail you the list of what we'll ask you and you tell the T2F group what you were really like. Hahaha. I can conduct the interview. Yechhh. What a shitty term. Interviewwwhahaha. Want someone else?" 

This was to be this year in October. I have her list that she sent me. It's a bit large. I am not sure I can answer so many things but will try to do some. Maybe I'll start on a Videocast or even a Podcast … and try to live my crazy life again. There will be no T2F sessions, that's for sure. Just me and a camera. Or a microphone. Where will you see it? Maybe here. Maybe YouTube. Let's wait. 

•••••

The last message on the phone!

"Awwwww. I love you!

Had such a great morning with you today."

20.06.1974 — 24.04.2015