First timers’ corner

Ed,

I have been following Us for six months. Sometimes it is great, and sometimes it is, well … just okay. I think you should try to maintain your standard and give chance to fresh talent. Among my favourite sections is ‘Ground Reality’, since I am a sports fan. I have noticed that more often than not, Us does not carry ‘Ground Reality’. Please include it more often.

Obaid Rizvi, Karachi

A, uh… well, suggestion

Hey Ed,

I have a superb suggestion for you guys which suits ‘you’ at least. Change the name of your mag because          it is not for ‘us’; it’s only for adults ranging from 20-25.You guys don’t have any stuff for the teens below 18 or 20.

We are highly interested in knowing the college systems also, with ‘uni activities’. So, you are lying          openly. Kindly change your name. So that we won’t waste our time in finding any good write-up for Us.

Fatemah Shahbaz, RWP

Feedback

Dear Ed,

This is my second letter to you and what I wanted to say is that you should include some nice stories related to life and other good subjects. You should improve your paper quality, which is not good and you should add more things to your magazine. I read Us every Friday. Please print a poster of Selena Gomez.

Mussarat Nadeem, Islamabad

Hi Ed!

Hope things are going smooth. I had left reading Us like eons ago, but I’m back because, yes, I have to admit, this mag is gripping. Lately, there has been no greater increase in size; I presume Us is permanently living in Ethiopia now, enjoying all the poor-world hygiene, both in written content and well, SIZE! Anyway, all my best to you and your team. Thumbs up, but do consider publishing my mail as you guys are a lot choosy. Plus, I am a very old fan.

Wasay Abdul, Muzaffarabad, A.K

Think it over

Hey Eddy,

I want to highlight a serious issue. I guess it’s spoiling our youth from grass root level, which is the interest in and promotion of cheap and vulgar songs. I won’t mention the songs here, but we really need to do something about it!

Please add some information regarding summer programmes and scholarships and pray for my O level exam result.

Urooj Ali, Karachi

Dear Ed,

I am a rural boy living in the typical Pakistani culture. I want to bring our youth’s attention towards an important issue. We tend to follow the west madly. What’s wrong with our own culture, festivals, languages, heroes, history, and religion? Wearing skirts and shorts, and using obscenities in our ordinary conversations will only produce confused personalities. Pakistani youth has such loads of talent that we can compete with the west without following them. Please think about it.

Jalal Shah, KPK

Story writing competition

Hi Us,

I read that there is some ‘Story Writing Competition’, and I want to participate in it. This is the first time that I will send you a story. I have never sent you any article, so I don’t know where to send my story. Please tell me where to send my story. Do I have to mail it to you?

Wania

Yes, Wania, we are having some sort of story writing competition!:P You can send your story by August 12. The word count for the stories is 700 to 2000 words. All stories, articles and letters can be sent to us.mag@thenews.com.pk

Hi Ed,

I read about the story writing competition in Us, and want to ask on what subjects should the stories be. I have written two beautiful stories that I wish to enter into this competition.

Ahsan Raza, Multan

The subject or theme depends entirely up to you, but each contestant can send only one story!

Wow, what an issue!

Dear Ed,

This is my first letter, and I decided to write because I loved last week’s Us (June 29); it was terrific! It not only met my expectations but surpassed them. Congratulations to the three winners and I must say Faiza Hameed’s ‘Missing you, Faiz’ was totally mind-blowing! I also liked Manal Farrukh Khan’s ‘The Poet’s Code’. The layouts were good, too. Above all, it was great to see an entire issue devoted to poetry. Keep it up!

Shahrukh Ali, Lahore

Hey Ed,

What! So many pages on poetry! What’s with you guys? Do you think we all like reading about dead poets and poetry? Please, keep it limited to Page 7.

Razia Saeed, Multan

Reflection

Narrated By ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab (R.A): I gave a horse in Allah’s Cause. The person to whom it was given, did not look after it. I intended to buy it from him, thinking that he would sell it cheap. When I asked the Prophet (S.A.W) he said, “Don’t buy it, even if he gives it to you for one dirham, as the person who takes back what he has given in charity, is like a dog that swallows back its vomit.”

- Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 47, Hadith Number 793