I'm going to be very random in this post because there are a lot of things eating me from inside so bear with the disconnected flow of thought please.
1. What is up with the world?
Bangkok..India...Pakistan.
We are on a roll.
It's sad...frustrating...deeply saddening.
2. Egypt has it's issues honestly, no person alive thinks their government is spot on-
but they don't harm their fellow men- they don't snatch what is not theirs- they don't become drastically violent.
3. Pakistan is in a league of it's own.
I met a guy from Yemen very randomly while exploring the Citadel.
We ended up spending the most of the afternoon together museum hopping inside.
By the end of our adventure he turns to me and says,
"Wow, you are so normal for a Pakistani- all the ones i studied with suffered from some big time superiority complex and major attitude problem."
:S
How i pray he met the "wrong bunch" while living there and not every Pakistani abroad loses his sense of humility after migrating to the world of so called "better and brighter" prospects.
4. Which brings me to the growing issues of "prahay likhay jahil" in our country.
They are on a serious rise. An unbelievably serious rise.
Let's all say this together, loudly and clearly,
"The world revolves around a point.
That point is NOT you."
5. Be tolerant.
Be safe.
cheers,
kAy
Posts
19 comments:
Hey kay..i agree with you on everything....nations are either power tripping, or on their way. the damage they do on their way doesnt seem to be a concern. as for the mumbai-situation-blaming-pakistan thing, i dont even know what to say. there were controversy theories out before the attacks ever happened.
and my pakistani brethren...oh how i agree with u.
most of them (stress on most) here (in canada) do seem to be the wrong bunch. the pakistanis here are like the lebanese...a whole lotta pride, not much loyalty to anything, self centered. i have had a hard time becoming friends with pakistanis for most of my life now...........and at the sake of sounding creepy, i must tell u that u are one of the pakistani girls i admire most. and i dont even know u! lol..
nice post btw. i love the first frame. do u actually do ask people for permission before u take a pic of them? or are they part of a general picture, cropped?
Ok, I'm throwing this at you from a debate's point of view. I am NOT being jingoistic or anti-Pakistan, something I mean to make clear. There are some 'pade-likehy' people who attribute this latest attack to a severe inferiority / jealousy complex that Pakistan bears against India. What's your take on us? And I know all of Pakistan is NOT involved or to be blamed. Need more people like us out there in the world to believe it.
Divvs i have a very broad view on these terrorists acts. To be very honest, this along with Marriot blast along with the three blasts in Lahore last week are all pawns in the game to prove Pakistan is full of terrorists- lets bomb/invade/take over Pakistan asap.
These are the "reasons" being forced on my country to give way to qabzo-fying it and having total mufta freeee use of the port...and in a very very long term plan; discovering and then greedily hogging the jewels that lie in Balchistan.
so no, i think Pakistan and Pakistani's are pretty screwed on their own to throw a terrorist act of jealousy towards India. However, it IS possible (politically if you think about it) that this whole "blame Pakistan" thing is a result of a deal INDIA has made with the Rulers of The World...thus, one more reason to "go in and destroy terrorists in Pakistan and oh yeah... there will be collateral damage...LOTS OF COLLATERAL DAMAGE." so much so that the country may be barely recognizable after that.
I'm saying this all in a very blah and out there way- but its actually quite a smoothly done operation.
Kind of like East India Company way back when. It's happening in Pakistan now...and India JUST might be helping speed up that process.
But again, these are just theories. Another one is that the Rulers of The World just want to make certain the link b/w India and Pakistan remains as pathetically sad and weak as ever. because "god forbid" (gasp) if we unite we are one hell of a resourceful and strong subcontinent who won't take shit from the rest of the world.
unfortunately, this terrorist act worked. the link we formed just a day before... the trust we managed to build post '71 is completely broken.
Looks like i won't be chilling at Nariman point any time soon in the future.
Looks like very few people will be chilling at Nariman Point for a while, including me. And I don't need a visa. That's THE most tragic thing about such acts, the fear they manage to bring about and cloud the minds of people. I am very determined to dine at the Taj Mahal once it is rebuilt, which I'm sure it will be. It's just an act of solidarity saying nobody can rob me of a meal wherever in my own country. I won't get emotional here but you're right, the average man on the road finds it harder to trust the other side now and it's bound to get worse, this "diplomatic war" through telelvision channels and of course, the politicians.
What must be remembered is that people such as me don't want the IAF to storm Pakistan and help take the nation over and search for terrorist breeding camps, but, in places that they do exist, they must be "smoked out", through cooperation and activitiy from both sides. This cannot be done if the politicians of the Pakistani government continue to be defensive.
And this whole ISI episode is just a joke, I was pleasantly surprised by the immediate acceptance of the request and it just turned out to be too good, too soon, not so true.
I'm not so sure about the Qureshis and Patils and Zardaris of the world, but, let it be made clear that WE fight an enemy that is common.
yes, i think all of us are determined to make normality prevail...even if we become obstinate (like in your case dining at the Taj and in our case not canceling the performing arts festival that was bombed a few days ago in Lahore).
we can't let them win.
however, the "smoking" out is something i cannot say "sure go ahead-why not?" to. Maybe its possessiveness over not wanting to be bombed because they "THINK" osama is hiding in Peshawar or because obama wants to chase and avenge the death of 3000 Americans and doesnt care how many innocent Pakistani's he's managed to kill along the way. I'm sorry, i just cannot see the correctness of such moves and "collateral damage" is a term i've come to hate with a passion now.
i fail to see the logic in blaming a nation for harboring terrorists when that nation itself has been suffering the MOST at the hands of such attacks. i mean THINK ABOUT IT...whhhyy theee fudge would we WILLINGLY keep these assholes and WHY are you killing OUR innocent people in attempts to smoke them out because you THINK we are willingly keeping them??
it's an inhumane insane action and reaction!
I hope you guys across the border stay safe and sincerely hope nothing bad has happened to anyone you know due to this.
So far, nobody I know has lost their lives. I used the term "smoking them out" almost in jest. Good Ol' George. :P But, if there persist these terrorist groups, training, hiding and spreading their acts of cowardice belonging to a certain region, some action must be taken. And I'm afraid the government in Pakistan is much too tied down. It's just as tied down as the Indian government is. You can safely say that The Indian Army won't come marching in, having declared war because there is always a Muslim vote bank to be safeguarded. Not that it is the ONLY reason that will stop them from resorting to war. I would never advocate it and have said the same to people who have suggested it in their moment of overwhelming emotion.
Several, several dimensions to the geopolitics. :)
i swear!
inshallah things will become better.
the idealist in my refuses to let the cynicism give in just yet!
sakhmeth: sorry for the late reply to your comment: i sincerely hope you came across the wrong bunch of pakistani's too...but you know, this attitude issue i speak of doesnt JUST happen when such people go abroad. I mean when i was in egypt the one thing i noticed that hit me smack in the face was the fact that if we were sitting in a group of say 6 or 7 and a new person walked in to join the party, he or she would make it a point to go around shake hands and introduce themselves and SMILE. ive never witnessed that from where i come from. here, we tend to ignore the other person...( even if we have met them before) and its this superior attitude they give off to seem disconnected and cool-blank and poker faced and suddenly there is a chill in the atmosphere around you.
and even though i love meeting new ppl and had an awesome time in egypt i hate socializing in karachi- prefer to just stick to my small group of friends who i have known all my life.
having said that...friends and family are very close to my heart, Karachi is where they all are at...thus,home is where the heart is.
ps: i usually DO ask for permission when taking such a close up shot. But in this particular case ( 1st frame) i did not. She actually came in the way of a city shot i was taking and when i saw her turn to look at me i clicked quickly then politely asked her to move to the side. She never knew she had been clicked and i got a good shot! :)
Every time I visit your blog, I'm tempted to shout "KAy for president!" outloud ...
There is no shortage of conspiracy theories out there. I don't mean to sound condescending at all but Khaula, blaming it on the superpower won't solve anything. We need concrete and substantial evidence before we ever point fingers. India needs to learn that as well as Pakistanis.
Yes, all the trust that we built has vanished because of this incident but it's never too late to start again. We have to keep trying. That's what diplomacy is. Diplomacy and dialogue.
I don't blame the democratic govt to make extreme overtures to India so as to prevent what happened in 2002 with the General as a leader when we came to the brink of war. I'm not saying we should bend backwards but before we, or anyone else for that matter, starts throwing out accusations, we need to look in our ourselves. And see what we need to change. Then the rest will follow. We have to be the change that we want to see in other people.
PS: Nice parallel to the East India Company ;). Never heard that one before. Reminds me of my O-Level Pak studies exam.
a comment on this post is making me cryyyy! it's MY line! grrrr ;)
i am praying for worldpeace, just so you know. :)
good debate!
my baby's so smart.lol.
you've basically replied and saved me from the bharaas thats been building up inside me.
ive been tempted to blog about this so many times in the past few days...but i get so riled up, i lose all context and my writing skills.lol.
yawar: i am not blaming the super power...i'm merely stating that they are the ones with the motive and they are the ones practically ruling us.
as for looking within ourselves for change...i agree with you... sure...we can...but give us some unprecedented space without breathing down our necks and let us grow....like a fish can only grow in the amount of space of the tank it's given...give it a tiny tank it will remain minuscule.
the super power is doing whatever is best for it's own country...that's applaudable but it's greedy...very very greedy and that is not in the best interest of the whole world.
khizzy: i know what you mean...thank god the debate on this turf has been logical and respectful- i usually avoid political debates myself coz sometimes ppl lose their cool!
good gosh! this is such a well articulated thread! thanks for the reply kay. i know what you mean about the superior attitude. certain nations/cultures, owing to their history, have an innate superiority. right off the top of my head, i'm thinking lebanese (my best friend is lebanese, and feels that all other arabs are inadequate. she's got some pretty strong opinions which i'll keep offline :)). pakistanis too, we do come from the mughals after all. americans, because of their current narratives which will one day become history. the english, years of colonial rule.
on the flip side, some of the most *whats the word i'm looking for* humble? people i've met have been srilankan (particularly the tamil), sikhs, latinos from ecuador and peru.
but anyways, i'm in the middle of my last exams of my last courses for my masters. this blog is a lovely little reason to take a break :)
hope karachi's spirit isn't as bad as i fear it is!!!
so i went to bed last night (in canada, which is supposedly neutral territory) and the last thing i saw on tv was the CBC guy talking about pakistan breeding terrorism.
after a restless night, i woke up this morning and the first thing i saw on tv was that report that's coming out today about how pakistan (or maybe iran) will conduct a nuclear (or biological) attack on a world city in the next 5 years.
is it just me or does the US claim to know when and where this attack is going to happen? Who should be blamed then?
on a different note, how can normal, nice people (people like you) be framed so negatively by third parties? how do the people gain control over their own image again? and if there really are so many good pakistanis out there, how would one mobilize them into coming together and orchestrating a mutiny against everything powerful without further reinforcing the 'terrorist' stereotypes?
surely, there is a way. i can't believe so many of us are blinded and can't see the way.
when's cairo-a'arbah coming out?
I told you...the world is not short of conspiracy theories. Everyone and their mom (and Dada and Nani) know what's going on. You see, we all have an internal link to the databases of CIA, Mossad and ISI.
But I'm going to keep to it being a well-articulated thread =). Look, just like every beard-growing, gun toting Muslim out there (I'm one of them) blames external forces for all the bloodshed and violence in Pakistan and in the Muslim world, the rest of the world pitches all Pakistanis in the same tent as anyone who feels that jihad means sacrifice of the limbs to attain eternal salvation.
PS: Thomas Friedman wrote a great article on why Pakistanis can mobilize to condemn Danish cartoonists but not militants who terrorized Mumbai.
You've abandoned us! Hope you're doing okay!
no nooo i have no abandoned anyone!
i am extremely tied up in applications and a project at the moment..not to mention December madness of weddings!
am just on an internet break!
will return soon!
lol. its amazing how different cultures have different traditions attached to each month. i work in retail, and despite the failing economy and recession, December is christmas madness. angry, hungry, too cheap to spend money customer everywhere!!
but anyways, happy internet break!
Post a Comment