2008: The World We Lived In

Suicide bombings and suicide bombers, militants and world militaries, honor killings and honor killers, dictators and war lords their names are different but their roles by definition are common.

At the helm of 2008 is the innumerable destruction caused by each of the entities globally. Pakistan is a classic case study for anyone who wishes to understand the role of these man-made institutions (read: monsters). Each one of us in our lives has seen, read or dreadfully have fallen a victim to their acts. Each one of us has bled to gloom, shrieked with fear at the atrocities these man-made monsters committed openly throughout 2008. They have been active for decades now, but 2008 has been the year of these self-proclaimed saviors of honor/Islam/solidarity & freedom (acc. to their own definitions).

They are the modern day Mr. Hyde, an outcome of power struggles gone wrong and out of control. The Bush administration spent US$90 billion (by conservative estimates) on the War on Terror alone. To the people dying of starvation in Africa, Asia this figure alone could have saved lives, homes and more so given birth to new lives altogether. It is about channeling precious resources in the right direction at the end of the day.

It’s ironic that we debate and promote efficient use of resource in the face of deteriorating resources at global forums such as the defunct institutions such as UN, WTO, ASEAN, and so on but when it comes to practice we go back to deep rooted need of being the most powerful. Power for sure leads to vicious deeds – lessons of this reality are found in modern day history alone. But who is noticing.

As offense in the middle east continues to gain momentum, Gana elects a new President (amid Hopes and Fears), Sri Lanka vowes to cleanse the Tamil tigers, Pakistan-India continue to battle over who did what for the Mumbai bombings and more, the shaking of the earth goes practically unnoticed (my elders use to say earthquakes were a way of God jolting man to reality and telling him to take a note what harm he may be causing to people around him) – I wonder what kind of a future our world leaders are planning to paint for 2009 but more importantly at what cost?

Would the cost be the same as we have seen in the last decade?

1. More lives lost to war
2. Growing divide of the richest and the poor nations
3. Africa, a sinking continent
4. Race for nuclear weapons and investing in artilleries
5. Business investors loosing confidence in long-relied business firms/partners
6. Assassinations
7. Recession and job cuts
8. Oil prices
9. Water
10. Recurring viruses and plagues

Is it all that grim and gloomy - yes. There are good stories out there too. Hats off to the brave crusaders, peace activists, journos, leaders who continue to brave the darkest of weathers knowing they're outnumbered by the Mr. Hydes of our times.

I live in an era of "to each his own". Its time to go back to doing the right things, no matter how small. Even if each civilian today started out with doing the right thing which was as basic as being civil to the people they meet on the street - the world we live in can have a second chance...

Have we already reached a stage where we no longer feel for the unfortunate, less privileged, the weight WAR, bloodshed, human misery carries with it? Reminds one of a song by Johnny Cash. No matter how unrealistic it may sound to the advocates of prosperity, I feel this song paints our times aptly, where we have forgotten to feel altogether because at the end most of us are trying to survive in a world of our own.

I wear this crown of thorns

Upon my liar's chair

Full of broken thoughts

I cannot repair

Beneath the stains of time

The feelings disappear

You are someone else

I am still right here

What have I become

My sweetest friend

Everyone I know goes away

In the end

And you could have it all

My empire of dirt

I will let you down

I will make you hurt

If I could start again

A million miles away

I would keep myself

I would find a way

(Hurst - Johnny Cash)

For you a thousand times over!

It breaks your heart. Everytime you watch the conviction, the blind faith, and the bright note the heart-wrenching ending, it breaks your heart.

Kite Runner is a remarkable story, which uncovers a thousand tales never told of children forgotten and lost in war. It's easy for anyone to say that war torn countries like Afghanistan, Bosnia, Palestine, and many more have lost generations to war. The weight this statement carries alone is enormous only if one stops to think of the darker stories that happen behind the three lettered word W.A.R.

Six months ago, a Swiss research company had published man made calamities vs. natural calamities. The findings indicated that in 2007, man made calamities outnumbered natural calamities. Furthermore, casualities caused as a result of man made calamities were more than the later. It comes as no surprise that the calamity which topped the chart was WAR. Now that will be no real news for children who have grown up witnessing the battle of war and peace; power and corruption; hate and violence; fear and plain fear.

Kite Runner communicates the elements and demons of war that affect innocent lives. Lives which had so much more to give, cherish, and live for. And how it all comes crashing down in an environment of political turmoil. It bares out the consequences of war that pass on from one generation to the other. One of the moving messages was through a key character, Baba (Aga Sahib) who stands for his principles and is fearless to show it. Baba symbolised the progressive and enlightenend sons of the Land.

"There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. " (Baba to Amir Jan)

Another aspect in the Kite Runner is the the sacred bond of friendship between Amir Jan and Rahim Khan that is put to test time and again. But it leaves you crying and wondering why don't the good deserve wining over the bad?

However, Baba's message to the audience is a strong one. Live, fight and adapt while the tale of friendship that the plot of the movie revolves around makes one wonder the cost of chances hesitance or fate is high. It can cost one a lifetime. And yet, you still sit up and smile and yell for you...a thousand times over!

Excerpt: Looking Back

Of Life and Uncertainties
Author:Anonymous



Looking back all the time is healthy if you do not constantly carry remorse and regret. Looking ahead with promise or hope is healthy too. If you can not decide what your fate will be tomorrow, it holds promise. If you don't pretend that the mistakes you make today will surely lead to your death, then life is brighter and happier. There is still time to find out if the mistakes you make today will really be mistakes or just lessons you learned to understand yourself better.

Hold trust to your heart... Let your soul live its life lighter without punishing it constantly for not being better, slimmer, faster, brighter and sharper. Let it float and some times be impulsive so it has a chance to relish. Otherwise, it becomes a prisoner of your container.

Most important, read. Read a few lines, maybe a prescription, a comic strip or news on the net. Something that leaves your mind tick tocking about life outside your bedroom. Live it up. Tomorrow is in no one's control, specially not yours.

Chae ka Cup

Chae Ka Cup
[In English: Tea Cup]

A cup filled up to the brim with strong, black tea; a dash of milk, and no sugar. To be served while really hot. That’s how he liked his tea. My grand mother or my mother use to make and give my father his morning tea till my siblings and I were old enough to play as the substitutes. This was a classic morning ritual in our household.

My father’s prized asset was the antique Victorian tea-cup he bought to enrich his daily ritual. The tea cup was a standalone piece that later came to be known as “Abbu kee chae ka cup” or sometimes just “Abbu ka cup”. It was a cream-colored tea cup that had hand painted golden pattern all over with multi-colored motifs on each side.

‘Chae ka cup’ had no substitute. Every time my father was served tea, it would be in his ‘Chae ka cup’; with guests around or during his trips to the hospital, Chae ka cup went everywhere with my father. The only time it was left behind when he would travel outside the city for fear of damaging it.

‘Chae ka cup’ was given a special place in our kitchen. It was placed at the top shelf next to the tea pot. While all other tea cups remained concealed behind blue colored aluminum cabinets, ‘Chae ka cup’ enjoyed high visibility and high accessibility over its peers.

My mother never fussed about my father’s preferences for antiques nor the tea ritual that had been in practice for over 3 decades. The only issue she fussed over was my father’s habit of taking too much tea. He loved his tea; 3 cups of tea was a pre-requisite to kick start his day. She gave up fussing the day she realized that the children in the family were marching into their father’s footsteps. Each child had to have their own tea-cup that later converted in to distinctive tea-MUGS, much to her dismay. All for one and one for all!

‘Chae ka cup’ has been moved to a more premium visibility but low accessibility location now. It sits behind a thick glass wall, next to its more colorful, baby-boomer cousins, Noritek, inside an antique cupboard. The cupboard and the ‘chae ka cup’ seem to complement each other well. Both have served their owners well and have loved the attention during the heydays.

An occasional glance at ‘Chae ka cup’ rings a familiar sound in my head and it leaves me smiling. ‘Chae ka cup’ has earned that special place. It’s a place which is irreplaceable and makes it an asset of memorable values.

Here is to the smaller rituals of people you loved and wished would never go,
The small rituals which leave there first impressions,
which grow on you as you get to know the person behind the rituals.
The small rituals you’re remembered for among your dear ones
and that make a person.
The small rituals, which are passed on,
Remembered and missed the most when you are no longer around.

KD
Forever loved-Forever missed
(June 22,1944-Oct 10,2005)



Author’s Note: This is neither an ode to tea-drinkers nor to tea cups, tea or anything related to tea. This is an ode to my father as I mark the 3rd year of his departure to a ‘better place’.

It’s an ode to one of his everyday rituals. There were too many but all rituals cannot be recorded in a post owing to:
(a) Low reader interest in subjects of personal nature
(b) Emotional clutter
(c) Poor memory
(d) All of the above

Of Bumper Stickers and Life's Puzzling Answers

' Naseeboon Wali', painted in yellow right behind a noicy rickshaw was a gentle reminder for me that I was indeed a lucky person not to be travelling in one. Funny but true, I have a history with bumper stickers and billboard signs. They talk to me.

The thought first occupied some shelpfspace in my mind during one of my bouts with depression back in 2006. While driving back, my eyes got stuck to a billboard sign, I recall blogging it on my deactivated blog as my readers gasped saying I had lost my mind. Depression does funny things to you, and in my case this was literally funny. It was something on believing I think, but it had made a home run with me at that point.

In came the donkey cart with a bumper sticker on it that read, 'Managing Director'. It came at a time, while I was come back after one of the many ad. agency meeting and thinking why am I doing this? In one of the many early morning rides to work, the eternal motvating one liner written behind a rickshaw was, 'Mein bara ho kar truck bunoon ga' (I will grow up to be a truck). Some motivation that proved to be. Talk about inspirational analogies.

Truth of the matter is I've stopped reading management literature on Motivation, Learning, Growing and Life. I have excess of these one liners that make me sit up and think and relate too. It comes easy, readily and makes sense. After all this time, I'm learning that creative thinking or creativity for that matter does not come easy. Neither does it come inside air conditioned offices or off-site meeting rooms. Its out there and hits you when you least expect it. I'm finding some of life's difficult answers that way. The good thing is no matter what the truth, it leaves me smiling.

Next time while you're on the road, look for your signs. Not up at the sky stupid! Right behind rickshaws, billboard hoardings, and other similar bumper stickers. Like the saying goes, "the medium is the message" :-)

61

We've hit 61, we're still surviving.

From being labelled to the most dangerous state in the World to a failed state to a great country but a horrible nation, we've heard it all. We're still standing.

Our music has progressed too. At 61, as anthems blared out of every radio and television set talking about unity, hope and prosperity Shehzad Roy's musical satirical stood out from the rest. The effort on part of Roy stands much appreciated. Atleast someone decided to speak out and paint it right. Next came in the initiative on 'Ye Hum Nahee'. Various artisits joined forces to communicate a more neutral Pakistan through music and a single song has led to the creation of an anti-terrorism foundation. At 61, we're struggling with the brand image of Pakistan.

This year average Pakistani households continued to demonstrate their patriotism by raising the Green flag on their balconies, rooftops, cars, etc. The Government, like every year, declared it a public holiday to give the working class a break from their taxing work routines. At 61 the only thing that is readily available in Pakistan are public holidays and human lives. Both are inexpensive and in excess.

Life expectancy in Pakistan is 62 years. At 61, the land itself is still standing at the cross roads. Cartoonists sketch the state as an ailing figurehead gasping for oxygen in an ICU. Our leaders are still arguing, our economists are panicking, inflation remains the hot topic other than ofcourse Musharraf these days. Our thoughts - jinxed!

Oddly enough two decades ago, I would often hear the older talk about partition. How gruesome it was, how they wish it had not happened or how things would take shape in Pakistan in the future. I always thought that would never be the case. Sadly, they've been proven right over time.

At 61, the youth is energetic and talented but not convinced of the future of this country. There are some who still believe in it. And I hope the number does increase overtime. How soon, thats anyones guess.

At 61, Pakistan has opportunities. Tremendous opportunities and a talent that can surpass any standard. But sadly enough we're lacking a clear, steady and honest direction. When will we stop looking at our past, cut making promises of a brighter Pakistan and just for once focus on the present - the here and now?

At 61, Pakistan is braving it all.

Paradox of Our Time

I found this in my Inbox this morning, and it made perfect sense to be uploaded on this site. This makes the most appropriate thought of today - Sp.


Author: Anonymous

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, thro waway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

I choose to share.