Past tense, future perfect?

Sixty-eight years and we still have kids begging on the streets instead of being in school

“That was a great movie Baba — I loved the action.”

“Yes beta agreed. Tom Cruise rarely disappoints. I was in high school when Top Gun became a sensation. We all wanted to be called Maverick.”

“Maverick?”

“That was Tom Cruise’s character’s name, the hot shot pilot.”

“Oh, achha.”

Baba put his hand protectively over his daughter’s shoulder as they emerged from the cinema and headed to the car parked some distance away. The humid Lahore air embraced them with a relish that was clearly not reciprocal.

Baba’s Sundays were devoted to the Beti. Total focus. Total bonding. And this week, total Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

“Ok lemme guess your favourite scene,” Baba said with a grin. Tom Cruise hanging by the plane door as it takes off. Right?”

Beti laughed that laugh that made the entire universe laugh along with her. “Yes Baba. And yours too.” They both grinned while easing themselves into the car. The engine growled and the air-conditioner whirled to life. Relief poured through the vents. “Here we go,” Baba broke the momentary silence as he negotiated the car into the gushing river of traffic on Canal Road.

“Baba I know we are like 68-year-old now — I mean our country, but okay, can I ask you a dumb question?”

“Oye c’mon, you’re 10 now! You know you can ask me anything, and nothing you ask is dumb. You know that too. So shoot!”

“Okay so now that we are 68, why can’t we make movies in which people hang from the airplane door as it takes off?”

Baba turned his head slightly to look at Beti to see if she was pulling his leg. The twilight cast shadows on her face but he could make out clearly she wasn’t.

“Well, ahem,” Baba cleared his throat, “I guess because our industry is not that advanced, and we don’t have the kind of technology that Hollywood does. I mean look, we’ve got some real cool movies coming out so we’re not that bad. But yeah, I guess I get your point.”

“But why don’t we have the technology that Tom Cruise has?” Beti was insistent.

Good for her, Baba thought, but tough for me. He smiled inwardly. This should be fun.

“Well, we don’t have the technology because America developed scientists who experimented and discovered new things and …” he was cut off in mid-sentence. “Seriously Baba? Like seriously?” They have scientists? I know that! Well, why don’t we have scientists who can give us technology so we can make movies like Tom Cruise?”

Baba shifted in his seat. The traffic inched forward as motorbikes whizzed through the congestion like water gurgling in a rocky stream. “Dammit,” Baba muttered to himself, “I better brush up on my history reading. Should he start his explanation of our decline and the ultimate rise of the West from the sack of Baghdad in 1258? Or the invention of the printing press in Germany around 1450? Or the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215? Or perhaps, the reawakening of the West through Renaissance, and the Age of Enlightenment in the 17^th and 18^th centuries? Should he explain the Industrial Revolution, the steam engine and the rise of machines?

And link all this to Tom Cruise. Oh boy!

Beti was smart. Real smart. She sensed Baba wrestling with his thoughts. They had reached the intersection of The Mall. The car turned left and gently blended into the fast-flowing vehicular stream.

“Well Beti it’s a long answer and that too not a clear one. You know, so many people like you and me have been asking this question that you asked for so long. And the sad part is that we do not agree on an answer. Yes, we are 68 and we cannot make movies like Tom Cruise. But it’s more than just movies. We can’t make anything that countries like America make. We are happy buying these things and not interested in making them.”

“Why are we not interested in making them Baba? Are we not as smart as they are?”

Hey, hey Beti that is not true! You are the smartest girl in the world! No, that’s not it. But perhaps because they are more educated than we are. They know more about things than we do. I mean look at this road we are on. It’s beautiful. The Mall. I’ve always loved it. You know, my school is here on this road. We can build such roads, but because less of us go to school, less of us grow up to become men and women who can compete with more of us and produce technology that can make movies like the one we just saw. Does that make sense Beti?”

“Well Baba, then why don’t all of us go to school? What’s stopping us?”

Baba wanted to say, “because these idiots who rule us are guilty of the treasonous crime of keeping us an illiterate nation. Sixty-eight damn years and we still have kids begging on the streets instead of being in school. He felt anger brewing up inside him. The presence of his angel sitting next to him calmed him.

“Because Beti we never realised how important school was for us. I guess the Americans realised it. Perhaps we still don’t after all these years.”

They were cruising over the Sherpao Bridge and approaching the Fortress Stadium. Traffic had eased a bit but the heat hadn’t. The windshield was frosting as the a/c struggled to pummel the relentless heat.

Beti soldiered on. “Baba will we always be like this? Even when I grow up to be your age?” Then she did some quick mental maths. “Err… 37 years from today will be… hmmm… wait, yes 2053. It even sounds strange saying it. Will we be like America by then?”

Baba sighed deeply. “That’s the thing Beti, we all would like to think so. In fact, we all work in our own ways to make this happen. You know, we have a great country with smart people and many other things that America has. Yes, we can make it happen but we have to change many, many things. We have to change the way we think things, the way we do things, and the way we look at life. I know that sounds a bit complicated, but yes Beti I would like nothing more in life than for you to be my age and see our country be among the best in the world.”

They were nearing home. It was nearly dinner time. Beti sat in silence. She had a million more questions bubbling inside that smart mind of hers. She knew she had plenty of time to ask her Baba. He wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry.

Baba looked at the Beti and smiled. Outside, the world turned slowly on its axis, but inside the car, the universe was tranquil. Baba knew why. His heaven was right here, next to him in the front. And that was all that mattered.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2015.

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