The other day when I said the Great Debate seemed to be running out of steam, I spoke a bit too soon. For soon after I wrote the message, two missiles were fired --- 407 from Mr. Akhtar Shirazi and 411 from Mr. Rashid Mughal. It is difficult to assess the damage on either side but both attacks looked pretty lethal. The problem with such attacks is that other than hurting the combatants they also cause collateral damage. Other people start running for cover and some simply leave the scene --- never to return.  We don't want that to happen. I don't know if Mr. Shirazi is assembling another missile for a fresh attack. I hope he is not.  I wish we could stick to using conventional weapons in our battle of ideas. Meanwhile, I have three requests. 

The first one is to Mr. Pervaiz Salahuddin, our hard working webmaster, to please spell the name of Mr. Akhtar Shirazi as he himself spells it, which is with an  ‘i’  in Shirazi and not an ‘e’. 

My second request is to Mr. Shirazi: Sir, I saw your picture the first time when you hurled missile 407 at Mr. Mughal.  It was so reassuring --- not the missile attack, but your picture.  You certainly don’t look an angry person. I mean the fire and brimstone type.  On the contrary, you look a very pleasant person. I am sure, like everyone, you too want your messages to be widely read and to be listened to. Therefore, please do two things, if you can. One, limit your message to a maximum of 850 words. Research shows people tend to ignore messages that are longer. And secondly, please, please try to cut out the anger from your messages. Anger does not do any good. It only gives ulcers. 

My third request is to Mr. Rashid Mughal: Sir, I admire your writing style.  It’s direct and precise. You hit the nail on the nose! I also learnt from you that preachify is an accepted English word. I looked it up in Webster’s College Dictionary. It is.  The spell check didn’t accept it, though. My request to you, Sir, is that please divert some of your energy and talent to help the “Family” come up with a decent Logo. They desperately need one. I can see you also have creative talent. 

If I sounded patronizing in my above message, it is because I haven't shed my desi habits where older people tend to be patronizing and are usually tolerated. I can see from your pictures that I am older than you are. 

Best regards,