@ Mohamed's short story Last Among Equals
COMMENT: "Thank you Sobah for your feedback to my story. Well, to answer your first question, it is indeed a story. Short might not be that appropriate a word for it. As for the other questions, if you haven’t checked out the message board at Hilath’s site, then you should. I think it might answer your questions. In the future, I do hope to do better. But who can say? Not all stories are to everyone’s liking. Thanks again for taking the time to send me your thoughts."--Mohamed, Maldives, 30 Jan 2003
COMMENT: "Dear Sharif, thanks for the feedback on my short story and your observations. Your comment for The Island was one of the nicest things anyone has said about my writing and I am extremely flattered that you think so.
My intent in Last Among Equals was not making the reader ditch the National Library for the rest of his or life. My intent was just to tell a humorous story (and to explore a different kind of writing) based on the sorry state of affairs that our Library is in. Just so that more people are aware of some of the things that are going on and hopefully instigate someone in a position to do something about it to do just that.
That the story was a little longer than the usual short story is something I myself am not very happy about but I felt that it couldn't be helped. If it felt a little monotonous and suffocating then I am happy, coz it was intentional since that is exactly how I feel whenever I am inside the place. Not to mention a little nervous. Even at the start the little monologue wasn't altogether very relevant to the story and wasn't all that interesting and I am sure many a reader would have stopped after reading a few paragraphs. Judging by the reactions from some of the readers they could have skipped the starting altogether and still enjoyed the story for what it was; a little lighthearted reading.
All the incidents that happen inside the library were true except for the dialogues between the two, which has been modified to make it a little more interesting. Thanks again. Hopefully my next story would be more to your liking."--Mohamed, Maldives, 29 Dec 2002
@ Kausar's review of Mohamed's short story Unique?
COMMENT: "Thank you, Kausar, for your kind and encouraging words to all Maldivian and non-Maldivian authors who have contributed writings to this webpage and to those who have been kind enough to stop by and read the works ('It's nice to see so many different styles of writing on this page. And also encouraging to see that many people appreciate the artistic styles of the authors.')"--Hilath, Maldives, 12 March 2003
@ J's review of Bana Lathyf's short story Is this Love?
COMMENT: "J's is one of the most judgemental, presumptious, and audacious 'review' I've ever read, talking more about the writer's personal life than about the article s/he's supposedly 'reveiwing'. After analysing the writer's love life for him, J even throws in personal advice at the writer for good measure! Nowhere in Bana Lathyf's brilliantly spirited, tongue-in-cheek unpacking of the myth of love is there any hint of personal anger, hurt, bitterness, or, indeed, any autobiographical reference that J seems to see in it. Unless, that is, J knows the writer personally, in which case this 'review' or 'feedback' is just someone having a go at an acquaintance. "--Ali Rasheed, Maldives, 9 March 2003
REPLY: "Now there, I think you're being too 'passionate' about Bana Lathyf's short story Is this Love? There may be a point to J's argument, as I myself have come across people who have asked me whether the authors were writing about themselves. What happens is that if a writer pours so much passion into his/her writing, readers tend to this it's autobiographical. Many a reader have asked me whether Girl in the Shadow is my autobiographical short story!"--Hilath, Maldives, 9 March 2003
REPLY: "I'm not passionate about the article, I just don't think reviewers should use reviewing as a pretext to have a go at the writer personally and I wanted to point this out. It may be that his writing was about personal experience, but we can't say that unless we provide evidence from the article to that effect, which the reviewer doesn't..."--Ali Rasheed, Maldives, 9 March 2003
@ Ali Rasheed needs to dish out more short stories!
COMMENT: "How come we haven’t seen any new stories by Ali Rasheed? Your website is continuing to gather some interesting and creative talent but it would be sad to see the authors who started the short story section stop. Hope to see more of his work soon."--Hursheed, Maldives, 2 March 2003
REPLY: "Many thanks, Hursheed, for your message. First time anyone has said they want to see more of my work, and you're the last person I'd have expected to do it! Anyway, I'd love to write another short story for Hilath. Sadly I'm tired down with non-fiction work, on which what I do for a living is based, and any ideas I may have for a short story have had to be shelved until I can find the time to work on them properly. In the meantime, I enjoy reading the work of other writers, including yours. Good luck, take care, and god bless!"--Ali Rasheed, Maldives, 3 March 2003
REPLY: "I am a little confused. Why was I “the last person” you would have expected to ask to see more of your stories? I like your work. Just coz I didn’t like The Solution all that much (it wasn’t my kind of story but still it was very well written and interesting) doesn’t mean I don’t like all your work. As you would remember I liked your The Visit since it was more “my kind” of story. I didn’t like Hilath’s latest efforts all that much either even though I think he is among the best writers in Male’. The reason being that it wasn’t the kind of stories I usually read. But doesn’t mean I don’t like them either. So I am a little confused about that comment. And I can’t believe I am the only person who would like to see more of your work. Ask Hilath or anyone else who visits Hilath’s site. Maybe I am the only one who bothered to write. Heh heh!"--Hursheed, Maldives, 4 March 2003
REPLY:
"I agree with Hursheed completely. Ali Rasheed
does dish out some good ones and he is an excellent writer with a vivid imagination.
What makes his articles really good are the fact that he pays a lot of attention
to those minute details which tend to make the whole story play before our
(at least
mine) eyes like a video 
.
Can't wait to see more of his work."--Schanuha,
Nepal, 8 March 2003
@ SELF-CENSORSHIP ON THIS WEBSITE
COMMENT: "I was wondering why there was no reason given for the removal of the two short stories from your website. Surely there must be a reason. It couldn’t have been a sudden whim on your part and therefore should be shared with your visitors coz then they would know that you have set limits and boundaries on what type of material will be uploaded on your site. Maybe it would help them if stay within the boundaries if they decide to write a story or article."--Hursheed, Maldives, 16 Feb 2003
REPLY: "I'm hoping it's only a temporary measure (for the reasons I explained to you when we met in person). I'm not setting any boundaries or limits to what could be written. That would be pointless."--Hilath, Maldives, 17 Feb 2003
COMMENT: "Regarding the withdrawal of the short stories Last Among Equals and The Loneliest Boy in Male', I'm sorry that the virus of censorship has infilterated this website and is eating away at its contents. Self-censorship is often the worst kind, and I hope the authors were not coerced or bullied into withdrawing their work. The stories on this website have been a fine and telling sample of the range of thoughts and themes that preoccupy the minds of writers, as they try to articulate the Maldives experience. If people have objections to any of the material they should use the feedback facility to voice them, and argue their case. I would like to know how other contributors and visitors feel about this."--Ali Rasheed, Maldives, 8 Feb 2003
REPLY: "The fact that authors of Last Among Equals and The Loneliest Boy in Male’ withdrew their work is very sad indeed. I don’t know about Equals but I understand that visitors of the website have been demanding Loneliest Boy be withdrawn due to its adult content. I do appreciate the author for coming up with a very bold, sincere account of a man’s sexuality and most probably this was the only means through which he could’ve publicised it. Same goes with Equals; publishing it in Haveeru is out of the question. Since this is a personal website not monitored or governed by any state laws I don’t think contributors should be by any means discouraged to convey their messages across in literary form."--Sharif Ali, Malaysia, 13 Feb 2003
COMMENT: "I was wondering if the contributors of the site would like to talk to each other about their writing. When I started out (that was like four or five years ago), I was lucky enough to get ideas, support and inspiration from people like Hilath, Bushry, Halid and many others. I feel that it would help all of us if we can have some kind of pooling of information. We should try and expand this whole thing. Right now we don't have so many contributors but I am sure we could make it better if we all tried. What do you guys think?"--Mariyam Nadhrath, Australia, 7 Feb 2003
REPLY: "This is not bad idea. So to that end I wonder how this could be brought about. I am interested in the idea but I don’t know how to go about it. Anyone got any suggestions?"--Hursheed, Maldives, 16 Feb 2003
COMMENT: "Very happy to keep in touch with you guys and really appreciate your contribution to make us (the audience) fully satisfied with exciting short stories like Girl in the Shadow, The Letter, The Visit, She, and The Island. I am really happy and proud to be with great people like you. I hope you guys will make us really entertain, and I also believe that this is an expression of your interest to make us aware of different aspects of our life, environment, and the world, etc. Hope to see you and look forward to read more exciting stories, articles, and poems from you guys."--Mohamed Sobah, Malaysia, 26 Jan 2003
REPLY: [Comments anyone? Email me]
COMMENT: "Do you think the short stories on your site are getting too lovey dovey? I’m sure there are more interesting and powerful emotions that can be explored in short stories. Too little variety would make your site boring. I think you need to take care and be real picky about what you intend to upload. The balance is shifting too heavily in favor of romance stories. One more thing: How come we never see your comments/thoughts/reviews on the poems and stories on your site? Shouldn’t yours be the first?"--Hursheed, Maldives, 25 Dec 2002
REPLY:
"Thanks. I've started reviewing, and you already know who the first victim
is! "--Hilath,
Maldives, 7 March 2003
COMMENT: "I got a comment from a friend of mine that she thinks the stories are too focused on love relationships and sex. I told her that there are few writers and thus few articles and yes there are a lot of such stories but if you take a percentage you'd find that it's not so much ."--Maryam Nadhrath, Australia, 10 Dec 2002
REPLY: [Comments anyone? Email me]
@ Sharif Ali's short story "SHE"
COMMENT: "Thanks Nadhrath for your feedback and compliments. I don't think there's any need for you to be gender-cautious about commenting on the story. It's just an imaginary, exaggerated tale in which the protagonist happens to be a doomed woman. As for taking the issue of names in detail in future, well, it depends on the kind of story I come up with next. This story is pretty much reliant on humour and Ii've made fun of virtually everything. I'm glad the humour worked for you."--Sharif Ali, Maldives, 15 Dec 2002
REPLY: [Comments anyone? Email me]
COMMENT: "Thanks Hursheed for your feedback. As you said there won't be anyone who even remotely resembles Sheeza. That's intentional. I've exaggerated her character so much so that she doesn't resemble anybody. I didnt want to offend anybody. As for the moral of the story, there's a lot. Yeah, love ain't always mutual, love ain't a game, the power of true love, arrogance won't get you anywhere, accepting people the way they're, aestheticism and its consequences, what goes around comes around, loyalty, justice, the list goes on."--Sharif , 15 Dec 2002
