Ask Saeedi

Tariq Saeedi

Ashgabat, 23 August 2008 (nCa) --- When we launched nCa in June 2003, the bulk of the messages we received every week was from scholars and spokesmen, with a fair sprinkling of skeptics and naysayer, and a few threats rich in imagination and scope.

In their hot or cold emails, people either supported or condemned what we said. It was purely business talk; the business being the politics and economy of the region.

There was hardly any letter from the young people across the greater central Asia region.

This has changed over the years.

Nearly half of the emails I receive now are from the boys and girls in their late teens or early twenties. Of course, they talk about the region, but they also talk about the bends and bumps, the joys and sorrows in their personal lives.

While it shows that we have connected with the youth in greater Central Asia, it also reveals that there is a big void despite all the networking places, forums, groups and friendship circles in the immense cyberspace. Probably, what is lacking is a cross-generational platform where the young can talk to the not-so-young, a corner where they can find the elders they can relate to and trust.

As a rule, I answer all such letters without any exception. Please don’t be angry if I cannot get back to you immediately. Making a living by pen, or more precisely, by keyboard, is not easy.

When I get back to you, it is not the ‘advice’ that I offer. I’m not qualified to offer advice to anyone. You ask something, I try to answer; this is conversation.

The mere fact that I came into the world some years before you has given me a little more time to look at the things and learn. As they say, I went to the school of ‘hard knocks.’ The things I learned in life are what I pass on to you in these conversations.

Many of the letters I receive have some common themes. I will continue to answer personally all letters but common themes would be dealt with on the website too. When answering a group of letters on the website, I will reveal only your initials and the city of residence.

Finally, a lot many people keep wondering from time to time whether I am real; hence the mug-shot you find here.

As usual, you can write to me at webmaster@newscentralasia.net