Back to the Pavilion

DECEMBER 2002 - The English Roundabout more or less sums up the attitude ands way of life that governs this little island we all know as Britain. Coming from the chaos and rampant disorder that characterises life in the sub-continent, roundabouts never cease to amaze me. Although by modern standards of traffic regulators, they do look archaic and perhaps more technically advanced nations of the world, see them as another British quirk, they indicate, to me at least, why countries such as Britain have surged ahead while we have remained consigned to the backwaters. The roundabouts are based on mutual respect and trust. Those who are on them first, have the right of way first, those who follow, have the second right. It is not rocket science but a simple rule that regulates life and here the British follow it almost as second nature. So do all the nationalities that live and work here or are casual visitors like myself. Watching so many roundabouts at work the last ten days, I have been forced to wonder why it has been impossible for us to understand, respect and follow simple laws that would have made life infinitely easier and less tension-ridden, but having said that, we all know too well that rules don't cut much ice with us. We seem to thrive on disorder.

Mercifully there has been no news from home. Lost somewhere in the northern parts of Wales amidst stunning woods and bracken-laden rust hills and gentle, winding smooth as silk roads, Pakistan and the shenanigans of those who live and rule their, have been mostly shelved to the back. But only last night, I hear that while the tottering government of Mr. Jamali totters on, the MMA has decreed in that troubled province of NWFP, that progressive thinking is going to be their central theme as they run riot till they are lifted from the scene one day - how and who will do that, now remains another longed-for dream. Apparently, Friday is going to be declared as the holiday to replace Sunday. Of course remaining cut off from the rest of the world for half the week is not of much concern to people who have been cut off from this planet by seven centuries or more of oblivion. In the same spirit of going forward, apparently bus terminals will now have provision for women to perform ablutions and say their prayers. It remains only a matter of time before more 'progressive' reforms will flow from the MMA that will assure our women of a future loaded with respect and opportunity. Of course for all these gifts we have many people to thank including the departed Gen. Naqvi and of course the 5 year guaranteed President. He has achieved what the beards could not in half a century - a chance to rule the country and make a royal mess of it at last. It was bad enough that under the cloak of spreading the word of God and guiding us morally deviant lot back to the right path, they had managed to spread entirely wrong ideas about a straightforward religion and created a situation where the rituals overtook the spirit altogether. Now their warped ideas will have the force of law. What hope can there be of addressing the larger issues that hold Pakistan in a vice-like death grip? On these, the MMA is happily silent.

It was Mr. Lee Kuan who said that there was no hope for a country where yesterday and tomorrow were the same and he didn't say much more. For those who stand by the MMA, there is not much to gain by addressing the issues that assault most Pakistanis because this life is worth nothing - just a train stop in the great journey to the great beyond. No wonder then that education, Medicare, law and order and other equally mundane items find little mention in the think tanks of the MMA. They are focussed on reforming our souls and we should all kiss - no that will surely be forbidden, say goodbye to all the things that other countries continuously strive to improve. The army where thinking is discouraged as a policy has made another mess of things - it is not the first time and certainly it will not be the last. In the wings or out in the front, the brass has called the shots as soon as that frail old man was laid to a much deserved rest half a century back. If the country is still lost in debates on what day of the week should be a holiday, the army has much to be blamed for. In their worldview, all civilians are morons because they can't march left-right, but since the civilians have hardly been in a position to plan anything long term, why continue to heap abuse on them? The answer to national disasters like the glorious Ms Bhutto or the buffoon of the sands, is to go on trying to put in place a system where, in fits and starts to begin with, better people will start to emerge - the type for whom the holiday will be a non-issue, but of course no such thing has happened or will happen. Instead, the 'new faces' that the General promised are here and by God they do look new. This is the stuff nightmares are made of.

English society may not be the answer to mankind's dream, but there is a lot to learn from them. It is not rocket science and it runs largely on the principle of living and letting live, of respecting each other's rights to privacy, opinion, etc. There is a basic consideration at work here and it may not shape a nation, but is surely the first of many building blocks that create great nations. Look at us. With a legacy of civilisation that was shaping the world while others were still rubbing stones and wondering why nothing was happening, we have simply thrown away the opportunity and become the dispossessed of the world. While our masters have built personal fortunes on scales that still boggle the mind, the common people have sunk deeper and deeper into the mire. In the General's country the poverty line grows larger by the minute and the numbers of the millions who swell its pitiful ranks climbs higher, but there is no advocate for them. We will never be a welfare state or one even remotely resembling it, but some of the basics were very much addressable. Why has it been so difficult for the power-brokers to throw a few crumbs to those who make up the country? Why go on pumping money into arms and what the world now calls, 'the weapons of mass destruction' just to retain control? These and other questions are largely irrelevant in the larger context of our travails, but these are questions that have to be asked. My generation hoped for a great deal from Mr.Bhutto who let us down completely. Since that brief moment where we thought we stood a chance, to now, the fall has been steady. Looking at the satellite picture of Pakistan inspires in me the same hope that I experience when I gaze into the eyes of Maulana Fazal ur Rehman.