" Both lovers then departed, looking for each other in opposite directions, a theme universal in its pathos, because we all spend our brief lives doing just that, even if we are physically share our beds with the same person every night for years. Always we carry an image in our head of a better partner, of an ideal person, which blurs our chances of finding happiness."
The above is an excerpt from the chapter of a book that I am currently reading " Scheherazade Goes West - Different Cultures, Different Harems" by Fatema Mernissi, a professor of sociology at the University of Mohamed V in Rabat, Morocco. Professor Mernissi presents a well-documented and researched comparison of two types of harem: the Islamic harem and the western harem, which is rarely recognized for what it is. Some of you might have heard of Scheherazade, the heroine of "The Thousand and One Nights" (or better known to many English readers as The Arabian Nights).
It's an entertaining book, which I have been reading - since end of December - in between of my other books on quality.
Here's one of the review about the book:
One of the of the most striking points that Professor Mernissi makes is that the Koran clearly states that women are the equals of men and that when Muslim men do lock their women up it is because of their deep fear of that fundamental equality. Western men began to subscribe to the opinions of Kant, who stated that women should never study mathematics history or geography as this knowledge would destroy their beauty. Historically, powerful Muslim men have enjoyed the company of educated and witty women, and considered this to be seductive, while Western men have followed an opposite path. Professor Mernissi's comparisons of the two cultures give a balanced view and are thought-provoking. Ever since Alexis de Tocqueville allowed Americans to view themselves in a different mirror, we have been fascinated with how others see us. Professor Mernissi holds up a mirror to the Western democracies that readers will find illuminating as well as entertaining.
(Sarah Reaves White )
To read more about this book, visit this page.
That's among other things that I have been doing today, besides reading the quality stuff 
. It's public holiday today as the Hindu devotees celebrating Thaipusam.
In Kuala Lumpur, the festival is celebrated on a mammoth scale at the Batu Caves temple on the outskirts of the city.
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