Monday Delight With Asbah Alaena..

Interviewee:Asbah Alaena.
Interview Date: 22nd March,2009.
Interview Time: 10:08 PM - 12:56AM.

Start Time: 10:08pm

Admin: good evening dear member, Shall we start.
Asbah: rolls sleeves.. yeah... offers chocolate cake and oh, thats not bribing - second thought, may be it is :P

Admin: We would like to know more about you and your blog

Asbah: of course, tell me how much space do you have.
Admin: tell me in short
Asbah: on a serious note: oh, well I'm just your friendly neighbourhood. who lives across the border (for my indian friends) and your official listener. personal front, I am a girl, I am an avid dreamer, I believe in fairy tales and refused to grow up.hehe i'll consider it an extended part of my narcissism
career front: I have lamented a lot about my being an accountant
blog front: well the name is self-explanatory. I am totally unable to write beyond me. myself and I. so it is brain farts of a self-obsessed girl ,but wisdom is lurking inside it, only a keen eye can discover.

Admin: what is the meaning of ASBAH?
Asbah: asbah means The Early Dawn. I am somehow 180 degree opposite to my name. I am nocturnal.
Admin: hehe is that so
Asbah: oh yeah, 12 bajay ke baad demaagg bohat chalta hay na winks
Admin: Tell me about Writers Lounge,since you are amongst the admin and founders.
Asbah: once upon a time.. yeah, thats how we'll relate the story of WL to our kids and grand kids i think :P so actually it happened when i was invited for a group blog, it was not a very active one, so I and ste on one of the chats thought about a group blog or forum, then the famous event of air-tel server happened and he called me.All the 9 mins we decided about forums, we experimented with a lot of free forums places but concluded that blogger is best
What to name it ? i said Writer's lounge.
ste put it ... and link?? i was like weandwords.
ste asked what is weand i was like duH it is we and words...
the next day sandeep joined us, and then it never stopped anywhere :)
Admin: thats interesting
(after few minutes..)

Asbah: pours water on admin
didnt know i was so boring sits in the corner with swollen face
hehe thats why you slept on the key board :P
Admin: I should say that you have a good sense of humour Asbah
Asbah: lol. I'd rather stick by to my stance. I suck at humor
so back to the interview.. :P
Admin: so are you taking part in the micro humour contest
Asbah: ehem. tought questions, with so many talent of jestures and jokers in the lounge, the gurus of jokers actually :P i cant dare!as a challenge i will post my takes, read it with a smile plastered on,otherwise i would kneel on knees and beg :P

Admin: who are your 3 jokers to win the contest? Sorry couldnt think of anyother name when i read the word humour :P ?
Asbah: hehe..i am so bad at guessing that when i guess the winners, the most apparent ones, they end up losing ..I think Arjun, Ste, Sandeep, Mona, Rohan, Prats,you and others have talent for it..oh sorry, you asked 3? I am an accountant to be, 'posed to be bad at maths ;)
Admin: you think even admins are gonna take part lol
Asbah: no thats the part of buttering up :P

Admin:any way apart from jokes.lets start the serious discussions going on.
Asbah: politics u mean or falling in love!
wow, both are favorite topic rolls the already rolled sleeves
Admin: Few straight forward questions
lets start
Asbah: hehe, okay?
Admin: lets go
Asbah: where to? visa? ticket ?
tries to be serious, okay no more from my side
Admin: really your a very funny person asbah

what is your take on life ?
Asbah: as in how do i look life or how do i want life to be ?
Admin: both ways.

Asbah: actually i am not a very intelligent person to unsolve the mysteries of words like life or even to claim takes, I think it is all about loving, how much and till when. unconditional. I think life is bitter-sweet, but its not our will, extract as much as you can and when unpredictable happen get used to it :)how do i want life to be? sweet...i want to live to spread smiles. :)
Admin: dear asbah,we expect you to answer quickly as we have less time remaining
Asbah: hehe you're asking tough questions and i have to put my dear brain to work na :)

Admin: who are you top 3 members of the lounge?
Asbah: remember my maths and knowledge of numbers is not very good
Asbah: narcissist me: asbah. asbah. asbah.
poetess me: prats, kaj, mav, lover, leo
prose: nan!!!! arjun. insia
humor: ste, arjun, sandeep
you know i can never judge the top three, everyone teaches me so much!
everyone has helped me improve a lot... no this isnt fair..
Admin: oh you classified your top 3 according to diff categories ,eh!!

Admin:
Tell me one persons name from WL,whom you consider as a mentor or teacher and why ?
Asbah: guru - Mr Sandeep Balan hazrat mahan baba ji.
we all know why :) he's a superlative of creativity.
Admin: thats good to know
If i give you an opportunity to visit India free of cost and all expenses, and if i ask you to meet 2 people from India?who will be those 2 ?
Asbah: awww?
I'll sue you then :P
or give you loads of valium when i reach there or i will invent an invisible cloak.
or i'll say i read 22 instead of 2 ;)
Admin: well i expect straight forwards answers
Asbah: well, i will invite all the WL to the party and say that i came here to meet priyanka and mona ;)
Admin: good
hope you meet them one day.
Asbah: inshAllah. miracles happen :)

Admin: One day if you wake up and you see yourself getting transformed into a male? wht wud be your reaction?
Asbah: re-sleep to get back to what i was.

Admin: "Any one can hold the helm,if the sea is calm".what is your take on this quote?
Asbah: i'll go get my dictionary to chk what does helm means
well, i think no one can judge how fast they can run unless being followed. The true potential is only measured in trouble
Admin: good nice reply

Admin: One of your favourite fables since childhood
Asbah: humbledi always wake up at 12 o clock and believed that May be witches exists, may be they actually jinx, may be sleeping beauty is real.May be it is me and well, I couldnt live happily ever after under the sea (or over it) and not have my eric, because i didnt have red hair :( or for that matter, green tails/fins and have my Eric * *
Admin: Ahan!

Admin: If Pinky asks Inky to fetch a pail of water despite of knowing that they lived in a desert.If you were Inky what would you do to Pinky and tell me the same if you were Pinky?
Asbah: hmm, well Inky would have gone to search/fetch or Dig in order to get water.Pinky would never have said so to inky, she would have narrated a story of happily ever after to inky and while inky was asleep she would have gotten herself in search of water!
Admin:thats a nice reply Asbah.
Asbah: honored :)

Admin: What is your take on the global economic downfall and recessions?
Asbah: optimism. when i'll be graduated the boom will have returned. :P.. serious: well, its saddening and to counter it we should stand together, curtail the loss of energy/food/expenses to help others! till together we rise once again
Admin: yeah we hope so.

Admin:Have you ever hurt any one in WL by your comments or by any means?
Asbah: yeah i once did :( I dont remember the name now though, it happened like the person posted his piece with a lot of internet lingoo (u knw da 1 m tlkin abt?) and it is sheer torture to eyes, specially when you're writing to be judged/criticize etc. I wrote that it is my very personal opinion and the writer can surely ignore it
the guy actually got offended and someone actually posted a post against my comment! hurted me so much..
Admin: did you intend to hurt him by any means.
Asbah: no, of course, I apologised beforehand
Admin: hmm,admin ehh!!! so I expect this from you
Asbah: hehe. I never intend to hurt anyone by anything i do :) I play the nice nice girl's role around ;)and apparently good at it ;)

Admin: Do you think 'We Read, We Write, We Lounge' defines WL properly? or would you like to redefine it?
Asbah: Echoing prats: we inspire can be very safely add to it ,Although personally i always wanted to re-define it :P
Admin: Re define it
Asbah: something sophisticated you know like brain farts ;) hehe no ... i mean
Asbah: we Write. we weave magic.we intoxicate ;) etc ..
Admin: hehe its good too

Admin: Tell us more about the other founders of WL
Asbah: hmm you know it is like when people have a same brain set of similar thought process united, miracles are created.WL is one of them.i call it group of 80/90 lonely people :) and together we compensate/elevate/sooth each other.
Admin: but when i look back at Lounge 7 months ago, you were just 3 and how did Sandeep and Ste help you in the process of improving the blog
Asbah: actually I only provided them moral support. They did it all :) and i am perpetually humbled that they count me one of them. ste is already giving me threatening looks ;)..chk the telepathy ? the similar frame of mind hehe..

Admin:

Ding, dong, bell,

Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in?
Little Johnny Green....
Who pulled her out?
Little Tommy Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To try to drown poor pussy cat,
Who never did him any harm,
And killed the mice in his father's barn.

What would you do if you were the cat in this case?
Asbah: oh oh ! lol..i will confuse in who's in who's jhonny and who's tommy :S
and i have little stars and birls floating around me.. i think htere is some misunderstanding
jhonny was actually tryng to clean my face and i fell in! u know mommy always say brush ur teeth after lunch ;)
Admin: hmm
Asbah: he was trying to help me actually i fell in the well by mistake. no revenge :)
Admin:good!!thats wht I expect.

Admin: How blogging has affected you personally?
Asbah: a lot :) practically a lot. improved me. groomed me. found me very worthy friends i can cherish. motivated me.just cant thank enough. Alhamdolilah!

Admin: what was your life like before WL and after WL?
Asbah: pehlay it was like writing just for the sake of it, mostly rants never took challenges etc...
now: writing for the sake of my family :) helping me build confidence in myself.. Oh i can do that too wow!

Admin: Imagine you are going for an adventure tour and you are alone and If I permit you to take just one person from WL?Who would it be and why?
Asbah: uzra.she completes me :)
me: hmm good..she writes good poems as well :)

Admin:Do you think some members are being selfish in posting and commenting on their own work and not reading others?
Asbah: yeah rohan had been doing so :P and i threatened him and now all is good.
Admin: Is it?
Asbah: well, yes there are some people, but well, its their life how can i comment on it. ehems. I'd rather want to cherish my life for couple of time :P

Admin:What is your opinion about the relay posts, poetic replies, poetic style lessons, experimental writing,poetry dedications which have become an inevitable part of WL?
Asbah: Totally creative, challenging, motivational.I have always been writing poems as long as i rem, since i was some 8-9 years ,but thenbut then i got over poems good 3 years back and never got back to writing poems owe a lot gratitude to prats for reviving my poetic muse...
Admin: you started writing from 8 thats nice and we should be proud of you
Asbah: oh, thats not something to be proud of.i have always been very ashamed of my writing not now though of course :P
Admin: At ages where kids go to school and learn,you thought of writing poems and stories .well never mind ,but atleast u gave a try
Asbah: hehe yeah being bashed by peers. who thought i'm not Just normal like them.
yeah i am glad now i did :)

Admin: Our Lounge has its own heroes like StepMAN and Sandeep Malan.What you think of this?who is your favourite?
Asbah: no favorites, i would have loved if we had super man but then I'd be louis :P

Admin: Enlighten me on the recent issue of a new members post being deleted by an admin on basis of slang and inappropriate word usage?.What was all that ?
Asbah: oh highly intellectual question :P
Admin: I expect an answer
Asbah: well i personally believe in modesty.There should be clean limits to what we write... i do not believe in blasphemy/nudity/abuses etc in name of art.But then its totally a personal opinion, anyone can agree/deny it
Admin: yes thats true.As an admin just make sure that this thing does not repeats again
Asbah: of course, but i don not believe in imposing my limits to others
Asbah: although i would have loved to play the dirty role of inspector ..thought police or write police :P
Admin: lol :P

Admin: When I say Sandeep,it reminds you of which cartoon character?
Asbah: his display picture :P

Admin: When I say Ste,it reminds you of which superhero?
Asbah: hmm...batman in the last scene of dark knight :P
Admin: lol
Asbah: lol.. that'll be so far fetched.
Asbah: yeah prolly he'll like that
Admin: lol
Asbah: wesay i could have said bat-man in an answer :P
Asbah: or chicken little?
there are many possibilities :D

Admin:TAN reminds you of?
Asbah: chicken TAN-dori!no it doesnt mean anything except i am starving :S
like i am so bad at it :( lets play chidya udi instead?
Admin: this is more like a humour chat between asbah and the admin hehehe
Asbah: He inspires me lots! per comparing or reminding mushkil hayna

Admin: Where did the rat hide ,when the cat was searching for it ? answer ?
Asbah: another very highly intellectual question hmmm...scratches head ..i dono i couldnt find out his hideout :S
Admin: hehehe

Admin: you breath to blog or blog to breath
Asbah: beautiful line :)
i blog to breath and breath to blog

Admin:Do you think we can use Blog posts as a meduim to attack each other in directly?
Asbah: well, we're so close to each other that poking is al right and there is nothing as serious as ATTACKING in it
jhagda kerne say pyaar badhta hay ;)

Admin: do you feel love overflowing in the lounge.
Asbah: hehe yeah recently been smelling it ;)
Admin: what according to her is best thing that ever happened to WL?

Admin: what according to you is best thing that ever happened to WL?
Asbah: the best is the minute Sandeep joined us and then it kept getting better!
Asbah: every member addition proves best :) He's Our Big Brother who helps
i miss him though, he's not much around as he used too - those were fun days!
nostalgiac.
Admin: oh i see

Admin: Do u think golu - bhondu series is reality or fiction?
Asbah: well, Personally i believe there is a writer behind his/her piece !!
may be or may be not! i better not be judgmental but I would love it if it werent fictional.
and if it isnt - wow I am the happy girl around :)

Admin: anything you want to change in yourself.
Asbah: a lot of things... but then i will no longer be me.. this will be against narcissism.
Admin: ok
Asbah: but still provided opportunty, i would want to change childhood.

Admin: Tell us 3 things about you that we don’t know, 3 things that would take us all completely by surprise?
Asbah: I'm a pixie.
in my dreams of course :P
Admin: fine ,next
Asbah: i can do everything in the whole world.
atleast i prefer to think this way :P
this is not coming the way i expected :(
i dont think i have any thing surprising in store :(
Admin: oh

Admin: Has anything stopped you from following a dream? how have you dealt with that?
Asbah: yeah.the stark reality. i surrendered to it, things never go according to plan/dreams ... better get used to it.
you might consider me a coward, but thats the safe way i think.
Admin:No,No Asbah.

Admin: Do you think tradition can be combined with modernism? if so, how?
Asbah: yeah. listen to fuzon :P ... (they've split i think.. but anyway)

Admin: hmm
have you done anything that you were once afraid of doing?
Asbah: yeah :)
Admin: what did u do
Asbah: a lot of things, when you grow up you keep ditching your fears one by one..
i was once afraid of smiling/writing/accepting the fact that i am different, now no longer!
i was afraid of riding a bicycle, driving a car, etc.. fears just go, one by one
people will sleep way before reaching here :P
Admin: interesting asbah


Admin: If you were on a sinking ship with one who loves you a lot, and another who you love a lot... and could save only one, who would you save? why?
Asbah: yeah, you just have to take risk, believe.. etc
Admin: hehe
yes yes
Asbah: i'd rather jump in the sea before knowing who was saved or who wasnt..
and i'd pray if both are one person :)
Admin: omg
hehehe
Asbah: life would be heaven na ;)
only if we werent on the sinking ship huh :S i hope if it was titanic.
on the movie set!
Admin: hehehe
dream
Asbah: yeah i thrive on dreams :)

Admin: Nw lets see what members want to ask u
kings want to know hw do you get inspired to write stories?any techniques?
Asbah: the words are just born, themselves, sometimes i have to work a little other wise, Thankyou muse. Your welcome ;)
and repeating Ghrishm: there is always a story in streets, a memory in buildings!
it was actually: every street has a story, every building - a memory.

Admin: Sandeep asks "Could you demystify 'love' and 'soulmates' for us here?"
Asbah: wow! a hell lot of a question.
if i could, i would have been happily married with a kid :P
Admin: :P
Asbah: jokes apart: no, this is really a tough question. it only becomes easy when you find one your soulmate, and then it explains all :)
I am yet to find one, and since i am bad at finding lost things, i'd rather wish if he finds me :P
instead.

Admin: Neha aks"We all know that Pakistan is going through a rough patch as a nation. However, we don't quite know that the ground reality is. WL transcends borders and so we, here in India, and the world over are with you. However, as someone who is right there, in Islamabad, would you like to share with ur what you are going through, or how it affects you, or any special message to all of us and the people worldwide?"share with us
Asbah: it is a roller coaster ride, but honestly speaking, my Pakistani friends will agree with me, that it is being much hyped, glamorized, and exaggerated at media.
Asbah: yeah occasional blasts tear us apart, but other than that, its a beautiful and peaceful place to be. we've recently had a campaign to restore the Chief Justice, went very successful, and I am an optimist so, I believe good is just round the corner.
Admin: yes
Asbah: well, i believe that together we can do alot, the least we can do is correct the perception of pakistani/muslims etc, even if one person understands it, I will consider myself lucky.
Admin: thats the best reply
Asbah: hehe so although i am a burqa-clad someone, but that doesnt mean i know the recipe of home made bombs (or who knows if i do :P ) or that I'll blow myself up..
my suggestion: Do Not Stereotype.
Admin: ok

Admin: Ste wants you to guess the person who is interviewing you and tell some positve and negative things about the same person
Asbah: hehe i am bad at guessing :(
but kajal is it ?if yes, i will have my prayer granted.
Admin: u answer the question what he asked
Asbah: + ve, she's made up of honey and suger - supersaturated.
- ve point, if she has one, i havent found out yet
Admin: hehe...hope u will know me tmrrw...

Admin: Charu wants to know "how does the friendship we develop virtually is different from the real life one and which one is better?"
Asbah: well, i consider myself an introvert person, who lacks the desire to talk to someone. online life suits me so well... all you need to do is tap tap tap.... my deepest regret fof late is my in ability to smile. online it is wayyyy to easy, typing an L an O and L together!
so all my best friends except one hails from net :)
and havin met 21 net pals, i can conclude that internet has brought me bliss
Admin: so name few of those best friends of urs
Asbah: and half moon beneath the cornea nad lens.
Asbah: well, there are some who're not really writer so are not here, but insia, kaj, sandeep, rash, marj, Ste, my n'sepper buddies i call them twins!!! rohan, priiiiiiii.... and many otherss !! I am very rich in terms of friends, Thankyou all ..

Admin: Heena wants to know your plans to promote and guide the new writers who seek guidance in WL?
Asbah: keep reading. keep writing... allow and accept critic, improve and never fail heart. :)
we're right here to nurture you :)
Admin: oh yeah we are here

Admin: Insiya aks"for you what asbah is?"
Asbah: absurd mess. hehe
Admin: hmm
Asbah: but if you'd have asked me what insi is for me?
i would have said my odd ball !
Admin: yes
:)

Admin: And hw did u feel when i tricked u with really insane questions like the inky pinky,ding dong and rat ones:P
Asbah: hehe i thought 'oh pakde gayay ab sab intellect ka Bhanda khul jayega'
Admin: lol..We got to know many things about you asbah
hope you flourish in everything that you do..
may almighty protects and surrounds u wherever u go
Asbah: amen suma amen, kind of you to say so :)
Admin: hope u will be covered by shades of luck in almost everything u do in future
Asbah: ameen.. and ty.
Admin: Thanks for giving us your valuable time and talking to us
good night
and take care
:)
Asbah: thankyou

End time: 12:56AM

Next Monday Delight with Mr.Sandeep Balan,
Co-founder of The Writers Lounge

**Question Coutesy: Ste,Leo,Neha,Kajal,Sandeep,Charu,Kings,Insiya and Heena.

ONLY JOY TO SURROUND YOU,
MAY HAPPINESS PLAY WITH YOU ALWAYS.
MAY THE SHADES OF LUCK ALWAYS BE WITH YOU,
MAY ALMIGHTY BLESS AND PROTECT YOU,
TODAY ON THIS DAY,
23RD MARCH,
WE WISH OUR FELLOW LOUNGER
ROHAN

A MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY
MAY GOD BLESS YOU DEAR. :)


- FROM THE WL FAMILY