Fiza Pathan's Blog
September 15, 2014
Giveaway Completed-NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom
The Goodreads Giveaway of my book NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom has ended.
In all 914 people entered. The three lucky winners have been announced by the Goodreads Team.They are:
Maricris Sison
Pampanga 2000 PH
Firdaus Muttaqin
Bengkulu, Indonesia/Bengkulu/Sumatera
38125 ID
Benoit Detry
Montreal, Québec,
H3L2C9 CA
I thank all the participants who wholeheartedly supported this giveaway.
The contest was open to Goodread readers in all the listed countries.
I especially extend a warm thank you to the Goodreads Team who conducted
the Giveaway so smoothly and also chose the winners.
I congratulate all the winners. They can expect the book within two or three weeks.
The book is being directly despatched through Amazon USA.
With warm regards
Fiza Pathan
In all 914 people entered. The three lucky winners have been announced by the Goodreads Team.They are:
Maricris Sison
Pampanga 2000 PH
Firdaus Muttaqin
Bengkulu, Indonesia/Bengkulu/Sumatera
38125 ID
Benoit Detry
Montreal, Québec,
H3L2C9 CA
I thank all the participants who wholeheartedly supported this giveaway.
The contest was open to Goodread readers in all the listed countries.
I especially extend a warm thank you to the Goodreads Team who conducted
the Giveaway so smoothly and also chose the winners.
I congratulate all the winners. They can expect the book within two or three weeks.
The book is being directly despatched through Amazon USA.
With warm regards
Fiza Pathan
August 13, 2014
Giveaway for NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom on Goodreads
The Goodreads team has approved my giveaway for NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom. It is scheduled to open for entries at midnight on Friday, August 15 and end at midnight on Monday, September 15. 3 copies of my book will be given away to Goodreads members in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Afghanistan, Aland Islands, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bouvet Island, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (keeling) Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D'ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands, Holy See (vatican City State), Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, Korea, Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Federated States of, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestinian Territory, Occupied, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Réunion, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Republic of, Thailand, Timor-leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands, British, Virgin Islands, U.S., Wallis and Futuna, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
A sample copy of my book is available for viewing and download at:
http://www.amazon.com/NIRMALA-Mud-Blossom-Fiza-Pathan-ebook/dp/B00M9ORT9K/
Do read the two ★★★★★ reviews
“It isn't often that I am moved to tears by a story. In this case I had to stop reading several times until I could see the words clearly once again.” Jack Eason
"This book in my eyes is both: a ‘tour de force’ of social reportage and a literary masterpiece."
ebooksinternational .
I count on your wholehearted support to make this Giveaway a success. Feel free to reblog my post throughout the Giveaway period and do click the Enter to win button midnight on Friday, August 15.
With warm regards
Fiza
Related posts:
http://insaneowl.com/2014/08/03/the-nirmala-effect-by-fiza-pathan/
http://insaneowl.com/2014/08/01/justreleased-nirmala-the-mud-blossom-by-fiza-pathan/
http://insaneowl.com/2014/07/27/cover-reveal-nirmala-the-mud-blossom-crying-out-to-your-heart/
A sample copy of my book is available for viewing and download at:
http://www.amazon.com/NIRMALA-Mud-Blossom-Fiza-Pathan-ebook/dp/B00M9ORT9K/
Do read the two ★★★★★ reviews
“It isn't often that I am moved to tears by a story. In this case I had to stop reading several times until I could see the words clearly once again.” Jack Eason
"This book in my eyes is both: a ‘tour de force’ of social reportage and a literary masterpiece."
ebooksinternational .
I count on your wholehearted support to make this Giveaway a success. Feel free to reblog my post throughout the Giveaway period and do click the Enter to win button midnight on Friday, August 15.
With warm regards
Fiza
Related posts:
http://insaneowl.com/2014/08/03/the-nirmala-effect-by-fiza-pathan/
http://insaneowl.com/2014/08/01/justreleased-nirmala-the-mud-blossom-by-fiza-pathan/
http://insaneowl.com/2014/07/27/cover-reveal-nirmala-the-mud-blossom-crying-out-to-your-heart/
August 12, 2014
The Nirmala Effect by Fiza Pathan
My first novel which has just been released titled ‘Nirmala: The Mud Blossom’ was an accident. I had no intention of writing this story, let alone framing and formatting it into a novella. Yet when I pass the many filthy slums of Mumbai surrounding sky rise buildings and towers…I think to myself that maybe my character Nirmala and I both were accidents. Nirmala, was tossed into a dustbin because she was a girl…I was sent home to my mother’s family because I was a girl. Nirmala and I are two really different people and I can’t understand how I managed to write about her in the first place.
Do I empathize with Nirmala? Maybe…Do I sympathize with Nirmala? Maybe…but one thing is for sure. Nirmala got me thinking about reality, the reality that girls in India are not wanted…Nirmala and I both were not wanted.
Many people after reading the script of Nirmala before it was published thought that maybe I was venting out my feeling of my own personal social tragedy…maybe…maybe not, but isn’t that the forte of a writer, to put a part of herself into the work she is creating? Maybe Nirmala was a character my subconscious mind wanted to bring out in ink…a character which ran in my blood and I did not know it.
I realized that my father and his family did not wish to look after me because I was a girl was only when I was in high school. Everyone in my maternal home thought I would take it nicely which I did externally…but inside…it hurt, it still hurts. From that day on, I also came to the realization that it was because of me that my mother’s and father’s marriage broke…I had ruined my mother’s life and I feel the guilt…and that too hurts a lot. Nirmala never broke up things; she tried to bring about understanding and unity…by breaking every piece of her existence and thrusting down those pieces into a mad cauldron of gender inequality.
It was my Sociology professor in college who brought to my notice that I could do very well as a Sociology student. He felt I had the guts and the grit to tell things as they were──the naked truth of the matter. He saw this in my Sociology projects especially ones dealing with gender discrimination issues. I had no clue then that I would one day create Nirmala…the child of the slum…the slum which is the face of reality…the reality of the unwanted girl child…the nightmare of my broken family life.
It took me only a month to write the book ‘Nirmala: The Mud Blossom’ but it will take me a lifetime to understand why I wrote about her. Why could I have not written a fantasy novel…something popular…something that would require a sequel…but I wrote about Nirmala. Yes! I wrote about Nirmala. I wrote about the abuses meted out to her, her fears, her aspirations, her disappointments, her anger, and her lively spirit…all which is not me and yet…it is me…for Nirmala lives in me and yet I can’t really say that we have had a dialogue. We don’t talk about it, just the way I was told by my mother that my father’s chapter was closed; she did not want to talk about it anymore.
What effect has Nirmala had on me as her creator? Would it be scandalous if I said we both don’t see eye to eye? For the fact is that we don’t really like each other but we tolerate each other, just the way Nirmala in my novella tolerates the gutter stench in her slum and the reeking of dried blood over her wounds.
However, I’ll never be able to forget about Nirmala for she was one character that got me to think…to think about Mumbai’s future with the expansion of slums and the children of these slums who urinate and excrete on the streets of our city. Have I failed Nirmala or has Nirmala failed me as a writer…only time will tell. We both found our roots in rejection; I hope that one day we both find our happiness in the blossom of our hearts.
Copyright 2014 Fiza Pathan
NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom
Do I empathize with Nirmala? Maybe…Do I sympathize with Nirmala? Maybe…but one thing is for sure. Nirmala got me thinking about reality, the reality that girls in India are not wanted…Nirmala and I both were not wanted.
Many people after reading the script of Nirmala before it was published thought that maybe I was venting out my feeling of my own personal social tragedy…maybe…maybe not, but isn’t that the forte of a writer, to put a part of herself into the work she is creating? Maybe Nirmala was a character my subconscious mind wanted to bring out in ink…a character which ran in my blood and I did not know it.
I realized that my father and his family did not wish to look after me because I was a girl was only when I was in high school. Everyone in my maternal home thought I would take it nicely which I did externally…but inside…it hurt, it still hurts. From that day on, I also came to the realization that it was because of me that my mother’s and father’s marriage broke…I had ruined my mother’s life and I feel the guilt…and that too hurts a lot. Nirmala never broke up things; she tried to bring about understanding and unity…by breaking every piece of her existence and thrusting down those pieces into a mad cauldron of gender inequality.
It was my Sociology professor in college who brought to my notice that I could do very well as a Sociology student. He felt I had the guts and the grit to tell things as they were──the naked truth of the matter. He saw this in my Sociology projects especially ones dealing with gender discrimination issues. I had no clue then that I would one day create Nirmala…the child of the slum…the slum which is the face of reality…the reality of the unwanted girl child…the nightmare of my broken family life.
It took me only a month to write the book ‘Nirmala: The Mud Blossom’ but it will take me a lifetime to understand why I wrote about her. Why could I have not written a fantasy novel…something popular…something that would require a sequel…but I wrote about Nirmala. Yes! I wrote about Nirmala. I wrote about the abuses meted out to her, her fears, her aspirations, her disappointments, her anger, and her lively spirit…all which is not me and yet…it is me…for Nirmala lives in me and yet I can’t really say that we have had a dialogue. We don’t talk about it, just the way I was told by my mother that my father’s chapter was closed; she did not want to talk about it anymore.
What effect has Nirmala had on me as her creator? Would it be scandalous if I said we both don’t see eye to eye? For the fact is that we don’t really like each other but we tolerate each other, just the way Nirmala in my novella tolerates the gutter stench in her slum and the reeking of dried blood over her wounds.
However, I’ll never be able to forget about Nirmala for she was one character that got me to think…to think about Mumbai’s future with the expansion of slums and the children of these slums who urinate and excrete on the streets of our city. Have I failed Nirmala or has Nirmala failed me as a writer…only time will tell. We both found our roots in rejection; I hope that one day we both find our happiness in the blossom of our hearts.
Copyright 2014 Fiza Pathan
NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom
July 27, 2014
Cover Reveal: Nirmala: The Mud Blossom ~ Crying Out To Your Heart
Coming soon . . . Nirmala: The Mud Blossom by Fiza Pathan
There is a difference between the cry of the cock and the bleating of a young lamb. There also is a difference between the gaze of the wise owl and the stare of the fanged serpent. In this same way, I, too, am different from you.
There is a difference between the blood shed on the battlefield and the blood drawn out by the physician’s needle. There also is a difference between the hot sandy desert of Arabia and the cold bleakness of the Arctic. In this same way, I, too, am different from you.
You were born in a hospital, and your mother took you into her arms gently, as if you were a toy made of china glass. Your father washed his hands thrice before he even touched your cheeks and looked into your eyes, fantasizing about whose eyes you’d received—your father’s jet black eyes or your mother’s honey brown ones.
This is the difference between you, dear reader, and me, for your family took you home after you were born . . . whereas mine dumped me into a dustbin near the clinic where I was born, all because I was a girl.
Unwanted by all, my dreams were snuffed out on the footpath that led to the dark world of gender differentiation. In dirt did I find my solace. In the filth of the slum did I find my home.
My name is Nirmala Acharya, and I was rejected by my society because I was born a female. The pain of being unwanted has scarred my flesh as deeply as the daily beltings I received. My clothes smell of human excreta and my hair is filled with knots and lice. But on the inside, I’m just like you. The sad thing is, it doesn’t really matter what’s inside of me, because I was born all wrong on the outside. I’m just a girl.
I study, too, you know. I've got books and pencils and stuff, but do you know where I study? I study under the streetlights in our slum. I'm a topper in my class, but no one comes to watch me receive my awards on Prize Day. Who cares? I’m just a girl. What does it matter?
I rarely cry, for crying is useless; it only gives you a headache and a blocked nose. It won’t change anything or make anyone notice me or care—other than to get me belted to a bloody pulp by my mother—so why bother? After all, I’m just a girl.
I don’t watch movies; I've never seen a movie in a theatre in my whole life. However, I love reading books, especially those by the famous British author Charles Dickens. I can empathize with his characters, especially Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. The only problem is, these two characters are boys . . . and I’m a girl. But the world of books provides a perfect escape for me. I can find happiness there and relief from the mental and physical agony and abuse I must face in the real world. But why would I need to escape? I’m just a girl. I should be grateful.
I don’t have many girlfriends, except for the few naked street urchins who run around the Bandra Reclamation slum and urinate near the garbage bins. I love them, for they love me for who I am . . . smelly, dark, and filthy me. However, I’m a bit different from them, as I have a dream. I want to be a doctor and treat patients. I love science and mathematics; they are the two subjects in which I excel. But dreams are just that for me: dreams. After all, I’m just a girl.
You can read all about the exciting lives of Indian women if you just read the Mumbai newspapers. We have so much to look forward to:
• Rapes
• Molestation
• Eve Teasing
• Dowry Crises
• Bride Burnings
• Female Infanticide
• Female Foeticide
The media has sensationalized these issues, and I read all about these cases cover-to-cover under the streetlamp in the dead of night. I wonder why people like reading the gory details about such atrocities. Perhaps they don’t believe it’s true. Perhaps they don’t believe it can happen to them.
But who am I to question these things? Who am I to dream and hope for more than I’ve been given? Who am I? I’m just a girl.
Nirmala. The Mud Blossom. Crying out to your heart . . .
Coming Soon on Amazon: NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom
Author: Fiza Pathan
Edited by: Susan Hughes http://myindependenteditor.com/
Cover Art: LLPIx Photography & Design http://www.llpix.com/
Image: Sharvari Rane licensed usage http://500px.com/Sharvari_Night/sets
English UK
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-5006031-1-3
5.25 x 8.0
Price: $ 5.99
102 pages
Kindle: Price: $ 2.99
KDP Select Prime Members/Matchbook
View cover on:
http://insaneowl.com/2014/07/27/cover...
Copyright 2014 Fiza Pathan
There is a difference between the cry of the cock and the bleating of a young lamb. There also is a difference between the gaze of the wise owl and the stare of the fanged serpent. In this same way, I, too, am different from you.
There is a difference between the blood shed on the battlefield and the blood drawn out by the physician’s needle. There also is a difference between the hot sandy desert of Arabia and the cold bleakness of the Arctic. In this same way, I, too, am different from you.
You were born in a hospital, and your mother took you into her arms gently, as if you were a toy made of china glass. Your father washed his hands thrice before he even touched your cheeks and looked into your eyes, fantasizing about whose eyes you’d received—your father’s jet black eyes or your mother’s honey brown ones.
This is the difference between you, dear reader, and me, for your family took you home after you were born . . . whereas mine dumped me into a dustbin near the clinic where I was born, all because I was a girl.
Unwanted by all, my dreams were snuffed out on the footpath that led to the dark world of gender differentiation. In dirt did I find my solace. In the filth of the slum did I find my home.
My name is Nirmala Acharya, and I was rejected by my society because I was born a female. The pain of being unwanted has scarred my flesh as deeply as the daily beltings I received. My clothes smell of human excreta and my hair is filled with knots and lice. But on the inside, I’m just like you. The sad thing is, it doesn’t really matter what’s inside of me, because I was born all wrong on the outside. I’m just a girl.
I study, too, you know. I've got books and pencils and stuff, but do you know where I study? I study under the streetlights in our slum. I'm a topper in my class, but no one comes to watch me receive my awards on Prize Day. Who cares? I’m just a girl. What does it matter?
I rarely cry, for crying is useless; it only gives you a headache and a blocked nose. It won’t change anything or make anyone notice me or care—other than to get me belted to a bloody pulp by my mother—so why bother? After all, I’m just a girl.
I don’t watch movies; I've never seen a movie in a theatre in my whole life. However, I love reading books, especially those by the famous British author Charles Dickens. I can empathize with his characters, especially Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. The only problem is, these two characters are boys . . . and I’m a girl. But the world of books provides a perfect escape for me. I can find happiness there and relief from the mental and physical agony and abuse I must face in the real world. But why would I need to escape? I’m just a girl. I should be grateful.
I don’t have many girlfriends, except for the few naked street urchins who run around the Bandra Reclamation slum and urinate near the garbage bins. I love them, for they love me for who I am . . . smelly, dark, and filthy me. However, I’m a bit different from them, as I have a dream. I want to be a doctor and treat patients. I love science and mathematics; they are the two subjects in which I excel. But dreams are just that for me: dreams. After all, I’m just a girl.
You can read all about the exciting lives of Indian women if you just read the Mumbai newspapers. We have so much to look forward to:
• Rapes
• Molestation
• Eve Teasing
• Dowry Crises
• Bride Burnings
• Female Infanticide
• Female Foeticide
The media has sensationalized these issues, and I read all about these cases cover-to-cover under the streetlamp in the dead of night. I wonder why people like reading the gory details about such atrocities. Perhaps they don’t believe it’s true. Perhaps they don’t believe it can happen to them.
But who am I to question these things? Who am I to dream and hope for more than I’ve been given? Who am I? I’m just a girl.
Nirmala. The Mud Blossom. Crying out to your heart . . .
Coming Soon on Amazon: NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom
Author: Fiza Pathan
Edited by: Susan Hughes http://myindependenteditor.com/
Cover Art: LLPIx Photography & Design http://www.llpix.com/
Image: Sharvari Rane licensed usage http://500px.com/Sharvari_Night/sets
English UK
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-5006031-1-3
5.25 x 8.0
Price: $ 5.99
102 pages
Kindle: Price: $ 2.99
KDP Select Prime Members/Matchbook
View cover on:
http://insaneowl.com/2014/07/27/cover...
Copyright 2014 Fiza Pathan
March 31, 2014
Winners of Goodreads Giveaway 'So This Is Love - Collected Poems'
My Goodreads Giveaway for 'So This Is Love - Collected Poems' has ended.
689 people entered. 3 winners have been announced. The winners are:
1. Sezin Özkılıç, Turkey
2. Anja Bosnjak, Slovenia
3. Allegra Artis, US
I congratulate the winners. I thank each of the 689 Goodreads readers who entered my Giveaway. Thank you for your participation and overwhelming support.
As announced the Paperback copy of my book has already been arranged to
be despatched through Amazon USA.
Amazon has informed the expected delivery date for Turkey and Slovenia will be Apr. 15, 2014 - Apr. 24, 2014.
The expected delivery date for US is Apr. 3, 2014 - Apr. 4, 2014.
Warm regards
Fiza Pathan
689 people entered. 3 winners have been announced. The winners are:
1. Sezin Özkılıç, Turkey
2. Anja Bosnjak, Slovenia
3. Allegra Artis, US
I congratulate the winners. I thank each of the 689 Goodreads readers who entered my Giveaway. Thank you for your participation and overwhelming support.
As announced the Paperback copy of my book has already been arranged to
be despatched through Amazon USA.
Amazon has informed the expected delivery date for Turkey and Slovenia will be Apr. 15, 2014 - Apr. 24, 2014.
The expected delivery date for US is Apr. 3, 2014 - Apr. 4, 2014.
Warm regards
Fiza Pathan
March 17, 2014
#GoodreadsGiveaway 'So This Is Love - Collected Poems'
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Enter to win
Starting midnight on Wednesday, March 19 through midnight on Monday, March 31. I have selected 3 copies to give away to Goodreads members in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Afghanistan, Aland Islands, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bouvet Island, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (keeling) Islands, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D'ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands, Holy See (vatican City State), Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, Korea, Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Federated States of, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Réunion, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Republic of, Thailand, Timor-leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, and Uruguay.
December 21, 2013
#Giveaway Winners Announced - 'Treasury Of Bizarre Christmas Stories'
The Goodreads Giveaway for 'Treasury Of Bizarre Christmas Stories' has ended.
811 people entered from four countries i.e. US, Canada, UK, India.
The winners announced by Goodreads Team are:
Kevin Donovan - US
Annie Litalien - Canada
Sakshi Sardana - Haryana, India
I congratulate the winners and wish to inform them that they will receive the book directly from Amazon.com in the coming days . The books have already been ordered.
I thank each and every participant who entered my Goodreads Giveaway and made it a huge success.
With warmest regards for the Holiday Season.
Wishing each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas
Fiza Pathan
Treasury Of Bizarre Christmas Stories
811 people entered from four countries i.e. US, Canada, UK, India.
The winners announced by Goodreads Team are:
Kevin Donovan - US
Annie Litalien - Canada
Sakshi Sardana - Haryana, India
I congratulate the winners and wish to inform them that they will receive the book directly from Amazon.com in the coming days . The books have already been ordered.
I thank each and every participant who entered my Goodreads Giveaway and made it a huge success.
With warmest regards for the Holiday Season.
Wishing each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas
Fiza Pathan
Treasury Of Bizarre Christmas Stories
December 11, 2013
Goodreads Giveaway for 'Treasury Of Bizarre Christmas Stories'
The Goodreads team has approved my giveaway for ‘Treasury Of Bizarre Christmas Stories’. The giveaway has opened for entries and ends at midnight on Saturday, December 21. I have selected 3 copies of my book to give away to Goodreads members in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and India. I invite all the Goodreads members from these member countries to take part in my Giveaway.
Fiza
Fiza
August 31, 2013
Announcing the winners of my GoodreadsGiveaway for CLASSICS: Why we should encourage children to read them
The Goodreads Giveaway for my book CLASSICS: Why we should encourage children to read them, has ended. My sincere thanks to all those who participated in the giveaway. Even though the contest was limited to USA and India, we had 864 participants. I am overwhelmed at the response. The winners have been announced and communicated to me by Goodreads. They are:
Victoria Dussault- Country USA
Caryn Payzant- Country USA
Sharon Coats - Country USA
My heartiest congratulations to all the winners. I will communicate the date of despatch through a message via Goodreads to each of the winners.
Thank you once again for your wholehearted support, and encouragement.
With warm regards
Fiza
CLASSICS: Why we should encourage children to read them
Victoria Dussault- Country USA
Caryn Payzant- Country USA
Sharon Coats - Country USA
My heartiest congratulations to all the winners. I will communicate the date of despatch through a message via Goodreads to each of the winners.
Thank you once again for your wholehearted support, and encouragement.
With warm regards
Fiza
CLASSICS: Why we should encourage children to read them
August 4, 2013
THE MODERN YOUNG THEOSOPHIST: The Right to Read
It has been a wonderful experience to be a student of Theosophy mostly because one can study the ancient as well as modern religions & discern for myself what is truth from falsehood … but what about young school & college going students of today?... do they know what they are reading or how reading can change their whole lives?... including the life of the society in which they reside in physically, mentally, spiritually & psychologically???
Reading good literature can define ones way of looking at life objectively rather than subjectively, & we do not need scholars in our present day society which our modern day education system seems to state… we need educated people in the society… not people with encyclopaedic knowledge who think that with the help of that knowledge, they can be a supreme master of intelligence. The study of ancient & modern texts in Theosophy proves, not that we are beyond correction … but that the universe is at times beyond our understanding & that some of the most basic questions remained unanswerable in society; when I asked my students to answer me the various facets of life that they find unanswerable, these were the following answers they gave me:
• The creation as well as the development of life in the mothers womb
• The never dying poetry of nature
• The laughter of a new born baby
• The love in the mute eyes of an animal for their ‘special’ human
• The silence of an ancient tree
• The depths of our oceans
• The story of the life of a star
• The way a new born foal stands upon his feet the moment he is born etc.
These answers from my students made me realize that I am a mere mortal, even I do not know the depth of the human mind & the real story of our past … let alone the narrative of our future. Being an expert in one field of study or reading does not make a master but, changing the course of ones deranged way of thinking can.
Reading is a must for today’s modern generation, & when I state ‘reading’ I mean the reading of good books which is essential for what is going to become of us in the future. Reading can humble our insensitivity when a beggar boy of five years is seen begging at our car window or when we see a BMC worker piling our filthy garbage upon a reeking truck of soiled vegetables. Students today have to follow a motto which is almost similar to Swami Dayanand Saraswati when he stated ‘Back To The Vedas’ only now for us … it will be ‘back to reading’. Reading can salvage whatever good is yet present in our being & make us more in tune with the overall functioning of our society. Even in the story of Islam, it was Angel Gabriel who commanded Prophet Muhammad to ‘read’ for the salvation of man … it was not a request but a command … The Prophet Muhammad read … our younger generation should also read!
With the aid of reading good books, one can gain something which all the money in the world cannot give … a love that only the pages of time long past can recreate a constant sense of peace within our souls.
I am glad that my students are reading good literature but … I am gladder that their knowledge is not going to their head & that they with the aid of classical works in literature & other social & natural sciences are becoming more empathetic to the happenings taking place around them. Here is a list of what my students are currently reading standard wise:
• Fifth-grade: Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• Sixth-grade: A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens , The Hound Of The Baskervilles by Conan Doyle
• Seventh-grade: The Village By The Sea by Anita Desai, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• Eight-grade: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Ninth-grade: Anne Of Green Gables by L.M.Montgomery
There is a lot more in the year that they have to read & I am going to ensure that their reading experiences should aid them towards a better future not only for themselves but for the entire world … if not the cosmos.
To be precise, a true student Theosophist is the one who reads & puts ones good reading into action. I want my students to bring about a change in the corruption of humanity, which they will only be able to fathom through constant tutoring, research & READING. They have a right to their future which will be my oblivion … yet; I will not be selfish to deny them their Earth like paradise. As Angel Gabriel himself through the mercy of Allah (God) stated:
“Muhammad, READ … in the name of thy Lord who created man from a sensitive drop of blood, who teaches man what he knows not, read!”
Our younger generation needs to go back to proper reading to know what they do not but not for the sake of self-glory, but for the sake of the glory of that one merciful sensitive drop of blood … read! This is the true mission of the 21st century, & the new story of mankind … which was once old but like a cycle, has returned to cloud our guilt & to be the harbinger like Saint John the Baptist for our new story … our new brave story.
Let not words create doubt but let knowledge & wisdom take its course. If you understand my riddle then follow the path it suggests, in the name of that sensitive drop of blood, READ!
CLASSICS: Why we should encourage children to read them
Reading good literature can define ones way of looking at life objectively rather than subjectively, & we do not need scholars in our present day society which our modern day education system seems to state… we need educated people in the society… not people with encyclopaedic knowledge who think that with the help of that knowledge, they can be a supreme master of intelligence. The study of ancient & modern texts in Theosophy proves, not that we are beyond correction … but that the universe is at times beyond our understanding & that some of the most basic questions remained unanswerable in society; when I asked my students to answer me the various facets of life that they find unanswerable, these were the following answers they gave me:
• The creation as well as the development of life in the mothers womb
• The never dying poetry of nature
• The laughter of a new born baby
• The love in the mute eyes of an animal for their ‘special’ human
• The silence of an ancient tree
• The depths of our oceans
• The story of the life of a star
• The way a new born foal stands upon his feet the moment he is born etc.
These answers from my students made me realize that I am a mere mortal, even I do not know the depth of the human mind & the real story of our past … let alone the narrative of our future. Being an expert in one field of study or reading does not make a master but, changing the course of ones deranged way of thinking can.
Reading is a must for today’s modern generation, & when I state ‘reading’ I mean the reading of good books which is essential for what is going to become of us in the future. Reading can humble our insensitivity when a beggar boy of five years is seen begging at our car window or when we see a BMC worker piling our filthy garbage upon a reeking truck of soiled vegetables. Students today have to follow a motto which is almost similar to Swami Dayanand Saraswati when he stated ‘Back To The Vedas’ only now for us … it will be ‘back to reading’. Reading can salvage whatever good is yet present in our being & make us more in tune with the overall functioning of our society. Even in the story of Islam, it was Angel Gabriel who commanded Prophet Muhammad to ‘read’ for the salvation of man … it was not a request but a command … The Prophet Muhammad read … our younger generation should also read!
With the aid of reading good books, one can gain something which all the money in the world cannot give … a love that only the pages of time long past can recreate a constant sense of peace within our souls.
I am glad that my students are reading good literature but … I am gladder that their knowledge is not going to their head & that they with the aid of classical works in literature & other social & natural sciences are becoming more empathetic to the happenings taking place around them. Here is a list of what my students are currently reading standard wise:
• Fifth-grade: Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• Sixth-grade: A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens , The Hound Of The Baskervilles by Conan Doyle
• Seventh-grade: The Village By The Sea by Anita Desai, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• Eight-grade: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Ninth-grade: Anne Of Green Gables by L.M.Montgomery
There is a lot more in the year that they have to read & I am going to ensure that their reading experiences should aid them towards a better future not only for themselves but for the entire world … if not the cosmos.
To be precise, a true student Theosophist is the one who reads & puts ones good reading into action. I want my students to bring about a change in the corruption of humanity, which they will only be able to fathom through constant tutoring, research & READING. They have a right to their future which will be my oblivion … yet; I will not be selfish to deny them their Earth like paradise. As Angel Gabriel himself through the mercy of Allah (God) stated:
“Muhammad, READ … in the name of thy Lord who created man from a sensitive drop of blood, who teaches man what he knows not, read!”
Our younger generation needs to go back to proper reading to know what they do not but not for the sake of self-glory, but for the sake of the glory of that one merciful sensitive drop of blood … read! This is the true mission of the 21st century, & the new story of mankind … which was once old but like a cycle, has returned to cloud our guilt & to be the harbinger like Saint John the Baptist for our new story … our new brave story.
Let not words create doubt but let knowledge & wisdom take its course. If you understand my riddle then follow the path it suggests, in the name of that sensitive drop of blood, READ!
CLASSICS: Why we should encourage children to read them
