I love London. Fond memories and a life spent reading its street names in books carved my affection. Every time it is struck, I am perturbed. Having endlessly walked along Waterloo and London Bridges, it could very easily have been me, or anyone I know. A life lost is potential shattered, and it is beyond me…
“Torture absolutely works,” said President Trump, ignoring findings of the Senate Intelligence Committee report of December 2014 which concluded that the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques provided no actionable intelligence, led to decreasing the U.S.’s international standing, and was used as a selling-point to facilitate recruitment by terrorist organizations. Ignoring the report might be the President’s…
Neither of Matisse’s Dance canvasses conveys a sense of gaiety. The dancers, rather than joyfully bursting in spontaneous choreography, are contorted, seemingly forced, as if partaking in a stern ritual. No one to my knowledge has taken a politicised look at the painting, and there might not have been any intent towards political projection by…
V.S. Naipaul, 1979. A Bend in the River. I used to wonder how someone like Mahesh had survived all that he had survived in our town. There was a kind of quiet wisdom or canniness there, no doubt. But I also began to feel that he had survived because he was casual, without doubts…
The people I find most frustrating are those who claimed to have “called it all along” and really knew- not expected, knew- this was going to happen. I followed soberly, and analytically. I observed with the notion that one really should not interfere in, or comment on, the choices of other peoples. But I broke…
I lost a daughter today. Her eyes would never blink, her fingers would never grasp onto mine, and her peaceful smile would never grow into a heart-warming laugh. She was stillborn, as I’d known she would be, and my heart was wrenched nonetheless. “It’s a fluke,” the doctor had said a few days earlier, and…
On August 5th, an assassination attempt targeted the country’s previous Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, only a day after the Army announced the death of Wilayat Sina’ (WS) leader Abu Duaa Al-Ansari. This may be a mere coincidence, but the two events tie up nicely when we learn that WS have often portrayed Gomaa as an…
After receiving praise in the Un Certain Regard portion of Cannes last May, Mohamed Diab’s latest movie, Clash (Ishtibak) is opening in theatres today. Yesterday, Diab lamented deliberate attempts to derail the commercial success of his enterprise, citing pressures from certain “agencies” to ensure the movie is a box office flop; pressures that led to…
In centuries of verse, I searched and sailed, For a phrase that’s terse, ’Stead of “love”, but failed. For the word grew common, And m’lady somewhat bored, In her mind she’d sigh, “c’mon, Can’t you strum a different chord?” But language was my weak spot, For lack of an edukashun, And Hippocrene was…
I relate to Impressionist paintings. They mirror the everyday heroism of the ordinary individual. The artist does not seek perfection in every detail and yet, in totality, the grand effect is that of subtle beauty and a testament to fine adeptness. And like the peculiarities of everyday lives, the artist forgoes details, where details may…
A blip on the radar that blipped no more. Such was the insidious fate of MS804, and an analogy to life in general. Strutting and fretting our hour upon the stage until we are heard no more. The anguish in his voice was only as palpable as the apprehension in mine. I asked him if…
Yes, this is yet another piece on Tiran and Sanafir. Discontinue reading if you’re quite fed up with the discussion. I do not question the legal status of the islands. That is not my purview. Although the exuberance of this quarrel reminded me of what one friend used to say about Egypt in 2011; that…
Originally posted on Archer Burrows' Egypt:
A diary entry written in January 2015. As ridiculous as it may sound, it is actually true. ? I just heard the darnest thing. So we’re at this gig to honour [a G7] Foreign Minister who was visiting Cairo on the 15th, and a friend of a friend of someone’s cousin…
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore… and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over… like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it just explode? —Langston Hughes What…
* * Daddy, mommy says you’re funny. — Why that’s really nice of her. ** But I told her “daddy doesn’t want to be funny. He wants to be smart”. — Funny people are smart. You can’t be funny without being smart. ** But you’re not funny most of the time. — Funny people are…
Archer Burrows' Egypt 