Disastrous Designs

DECEMBER 2000 - The chief explaining the getaway of the Heavy Mandate on TV the other night, made little sense. He might have convinced some of the country’s established dimwits about the great decision and that’s about it. However, he made far more sense talking about our natural talent for destroying whatever we build. He said that this country was the graveyard of incomplete projects. One set of rulers destroyed what their predecessors had started, only to watch their successors destroy their work in turn. In the end, we all lose.

This is actually the mind-set, which grips everyone who has anything to do with policy or its large or small-scale application. Everywhere, petty and small-minded people set out to destroy whatever exists, not caring to evaluate the consequences or examine the fundamentals of what they are tearing apart. When this happens regularly and on a national scale, there can only be graveyards to rue, monuments of one man’s folly and another’s vanity. Rarely has any Pakistani leader seen work begun by someone else, appreciated its utility and allowed it to reach completion. Of course, in many instances there has been little to mourn about because most public projects are undertaken more for self-projection and personal gain. Thus when these are abandoned, there is little to cry about. When Mian Nawaz Sharif, embarked on that disaster called the Motorway (or the lunatic housing project), few were convinced that it would ‘usher in an era of prosperity’ but so determined was the PM - encouraged by his self-serving supporters, that the project was pushed through at our expense. When he fell and BB took over, she set about changing the parameters of the project, paying no heed to advice that this would turn the Motorway into a death trap. All she wanted was to prove that Nawaz Sharif was wrong. In the end, the project cost far more than the obscene amount it was costing from day one. BB is gone, so is Mian, but the disaster exists, a millstone around the nation’s neck. This is the real tragedy, that we have to keep paying for all the disasters these people dream up.

The Pakistan School of Fashion Design seems to suffer from the same malaise. Reportedly, some people are busy breaking down what is a promising and unique institution. From what one learns, although the PSFD is only about six years old, it has achieved a great deal. In a stint of about four and a half years, under Navid Shahzad’s guidance, the School has won 31 nominations and 17 awards in international design competitions, competing with thousands of entrants from far more privileged and advanced countries. No small achievement this. 90% of the crop of about 60 graduates have found very good jobs with salaries starting upwards of Rs 15,000. There are not many institutions that can claim such a distinction. In January 2001, the School hopes to link up with the world’s largest fashion institute, the London Institute of Fashion. Teachers have been trained abroad and even graduates have had the opportunity to work their way into the faculty. There is now an excellent reference library which houses 60 original research papers on specialized areas of fashion design and 38 reports on fashion and textiles. Huge sums of money have been saved in the last few years and sensible policies put into practice to make the School the kind of institution that can truly benefit the country and offer exciting and lucrative careers to young men and women in an industry that is fast expanding all over the world. The School’s mission has always been to add value to the textile industry, with knowledge, expertise and aesthetic sense, to improve ready to wear fashion lines. It is not a huge enterprise and has about 150 students in all, yet it is the one project out of 30 financed by the Export Promotion Board that has actually delivered. The School has so far made its mark on the local fashion scene and is set to play an exciting role in projecting Pakistani fashion abroad. However, instead of recognizing the School’s achievements, politics has reared its ugly head and one of the first victims is the Principal who must have played a large role in this success story.

As always, when we have a success story, everyone wants to climb on the gravy train and make a killing on the hard work of others. In such a scenario, back stabbing, plotting and scheming rise to the top and good people are toppled so that vested interests can reign supreme. If the School was a disaster, no one would want to touch it, but because it has proven its credentials, there is a scramble to take over and milk it dry. This year’s graduating class put on quite a spectacular show at the Annual Convocation. But while the Minister showered praises on the School and its leadership, plans were afoot to topple the Principal. New applications for the post were underway even then. The stage is now all set for a murky show, as a board has been constituted to ‘select’ the next Principal. Not unsurprisingly, on the selection committee are members who are a couple of grades lower than the applicants who are to be interviewed !! To add to the grime, there are vested interests at work, determined to refashion the School to their liking and agenda. In the hurry to advertise the post, the Board of Governors and the School’s Executive Committee have been by passed. The new terms of the job have been carefully tailor-made to fit the ‘pre-selected’ candidate and the mockery will unfold in January.

It is of course possible that the School may maintain its progressive trend but experience dictates that interference in a good project is usually disastrous and the motives of those who desire change need to be carefully and impartially considered. Navid Shahzad may have many critics but there is no doubt that she has injected a new life in the School and opened many doors for her students to get good jobs and promising careers. In most countries, people would let a good thing be, but not here. One person’s success becomes another’s envy and the losers are always either innocent people – students in this case or worse, the whole country. Another tombstone is added to the national graveyard. A few profit, have their moment of false glory and fade away but by that time the institution is damaged. How much the minister really knows is hard to determine but surely good sense must prevail before it is too late.