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“For you, a thousand times over.”
If you haven’t watched or read The Kite Runner yet, do. As
in, now. Or in the very near future,
at the least.
A word of advice. Bring a fair share supply of tissues. Girls,
don’t wear mascara or eye-liners that aren’t waterproof. Guys, lose the macho
attitude. I can’t even begin to describe how much this story of friendship, family, love, honour, hypocrisy,
guilt and redemption rocked me. I can’t.
Today was movie-and-lunch day, so the girls and I caught The
Kite Runner before having our meal at Paddington’s House of Pancakes. (That’s
also where I spotted an Andrew Bird look-alike, but that’s another story.) I was the only one who hadn’t eaten there
before, so I left the whole chore of choosing to everyone else. I can’t be
blamed for being lazy; I swear the menu was as thick as a textbook. Going
through it gave me a headache; it’s a wonder they didn’t include cross
references and footnotes in it as well. I remember Aisya spotting something that
looked good, and she actually said: “Girls, if you could turn to page so-and-so,
refer to number 731…”, and we had to take a few minutes before we finally found
the page. In the end, I gave up altogether.
It’s a good thing the food was delicious. I never knew
pancakes could come in so many variations, or that you could actually eat it
with meat. It was weird, but in a good way. The company was even better –
imagine discussing the movie, the Shari’ah, marital rape and (anti-)feminism in
between digging in a hefty pile of pancakey goodness. Lest you think we’re a
boring bunch, join us one day and I’ll guarantee we’ll either have you laughing
or mortified by the end of the session. Whatever the case, you’ll be anything
but bored.
I genuinely had fun.
It occurred to me today that for all my fancies of wanting
to travel across Europe (particularly in the Scandinavian region), I’ve almost
forgotten about the lure of the East. I’ve already had the pleasant experience
of meeting some Muslims in the West, so I think it’s time for a change. I’ve
always taken other Muslim countries for granted, mistakenly believing I already
know all there is to know since I’m living in one myself, but confining myself
to books, articles and web pages is far different from knowing, seeing, and
experiencing the places, cultures and traditions for myself with, as the Malay
saying goes, ’mata kepala sendiri.’ As much as I’d want to rely on the materials
readily available, I realise that there’s no better source than your own self and what you take in with your senses alone.
It’s been decided that Maz and I will go live in Iran, and
it’s resolved that we’ll be visiting Afghanistan once we settle. We’ll of
course be needing sufficient funds. Any takers?
Oh I almost forgot. For potential viewers who’ll catch the above film, the most important thing
is to bring your heart along. You’ll need it most definitely.
Man I am so reading the book. Khaled Hosseini was
magnificent in A Thousand Splendid Suns; I won’t be expecting anything less
from The Kite Runner.
Enough said here.
