Skip to main content

Mirror Mirror on the Wall


I have often heard from non-Pakistanis about what Pakistanis are like, ‘You know, you are not like that and I have seen that Pakistanis, individually, are very nice people, some of my very good friends are Pakistanis but collectively they are/have...’ And then they proceed to tell me what ‘these Pakistanis’ are like and these vary of course, depending on the nature of their encounter but invariably a distinction is made between Pakistanis ‘individually’ and ‘collectively’. And, yes, this description is quite insulting and presents a stereotypical image. So I tried to remember from the almost three decades of living in Pakistan to see if I could locate this collective that behaves in this identical manner but I could not place them and that’s when I realized that maybe things have changed in the decade that I have been living outside so every time I visit Pakistan (which is every year, without fail) I try to look for this ‘collective’ that would represent the now almost 210M Pakistanis. But no, I have not come across them yet. I see, Sindhis, Balochis, Pathans, Punjabis, but actually no, I don’t meet them, I meet people from Karachi, Hyderabad, Multan, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, then again, I don’t think so, oh yeah, I meet Muslims, Parsis, Christians, who am I kidding, I have never really known their religious leanings, well of course, I meet the gaon wallas and shehr wallas, hmmm, not entirely sure about that either because these distinctions are not so clear, people who live in Shehrs often come from some village and continue to have strong affiliation. So where does this collective reside?

I think it simply boils down to one thing that at any given time, one can only represent oneself and if we are honest we will admit that if we are called upon to say WHAT we represent, we wouldn’t know. It takes so much self reflection, basically a lifetime of reflection. Mystics tell us that the more you reflect, you reach a stage where nothing exists, there is no ‘I’ and without I there is nothing else either. All is subsumed in the ‘One’. I ask the people who point fingers at others and tell them that they reflect on others what is inside them because one's sight is restricted by the prejudice that comes from within. You can only see what you anticipate. Maybe this ‘collective’ resides in you and not outside and maybe it is you who needs to break free from this collective. Maybe then you will see the good in each human being and yes, in Pakistanis too!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Captains!

Haven't written in a while and those following my blog would know by now that whenever something disturbing on the world scene happens, I stop writing. Its an irony because usually writers provide solace through their writings while I, lose all power of expression when I am disturbed. And then what is there to write? Follow any newspaper from around the world and there is only one message that you get: Pakistan is rapidly slipping into an abyss! I was born in the 70s and have grown up in the 90s, I have vague recollection of the 80s even though I was not old enough to understand what life under Zia's martial law was like but I have seen relay race of power between Benazir and Nawaz Sharif in the 90s but never in our history have we been so unsafe. Where every person big or small, significant or otherwise, powerful or weak, rich or poor is exposed equally to this invisible enemy. Call it what you might, Taliban, extremist, jihadi, Al Qaeda, seperatist, a murderer by any name is ...
3 comments
Read more

Snapshots

Naseem, is a six year old girl. When I met her she was sitting on the charpoi with her mother and constantly clapping but without any mirth. Her hair was cut almost to her scalp. I was told that she was a miracle child, she had been suffering from severe acute malnutrition and her family and relatives had almost given up hope that she would survive but she had proven all stats wrong and was sitting right in front of us. Physically, she was on the mend but her mental growth had been irreversibly stunted. She did not respond to any movement, any gesture or sound, her mind was somewhere else... A little boy, hardly seven, sitting on the curbside on an otherwise busy junction but at 0100AM he seemed so out of place on that dark, deserted road. As we stopped at the traffic signal, on the road perpendicular to where he was sitting, my attention was drawn to his posture. His slumped back was towards me and as I watched, two cars stopped on the lanes furthest from him. He made an ...
2 comments
Read more

A classic case of putting your foot in your mouth!

Its been a couple of days since Imran Khan and Reham Khan announced their separation and decision to divorce. Nothing out of the ordinary there, as the decision to marry was also theirs, except maybe the timing of the announcement which coincided with the local bodies elections and may have had an impact but thats something which would be very difficult to gauge. What I do find quite extraordinary and almost bordering on incredulous is the amazing audacity of PTI supporters to present this break up as a result of some sort of principled stand by Mr. Khan. The idea being that Ms. Khan wanted to play a role in party politics and Mr. Khan could not bring himself to allow this so he had to sacrifice his marriage for his principled stand! How utterly outrageous is this! This is not principled stance but rather immaturity and shortsightedness. These two got into this relationship out of probably love and, I would assume, mutual admiration and respect. It was definitely not an 'arranged...
1 comment
Read more