All a matter of perception

Perceptions and stereotypes are difficult to shift, and few more so when they are as embedded as are the perceptions of Pakistan by those who do not live, work or visit here. Having lived and worked here for nigh a quarter century I have yet to come close to getting blown up though I have been within hearing distance of a couple of large and deadly blasts — though this was more than a decade ago now. As for getting caught in the crossfire well admittedly there were times when I was working in Northern Areas in the 1990s when it was all a bit tricky — but again long ago. In terms of actual risk to life and limb the vast majority of my OH-MY-GAWD moments have been the result of natural events — rockslides, earthquakes and avalanches all having come a bit close for comfort on a number of occasions.

Yet try telling this to anybody outside the bubble and, as I was reminded on two occasions in the last week, there is considerable resistance to believing anything other than the worst. The reasons for this are not difficult to find and at this very moment Dear Reader you are looking at one of them. Newspapers, both online and hardcopy as well as every format of the electronic/social media are brimful of just how bloody awful and downright dangerous life is for all of us here in Pakistan. We live in fear of our lives, are dreadfully oppressed by a demonic government and cannot get through any given day without paying a bribe to breathe the very air that surrounds all of us.

Naive I am not. Long exposure to a country that is awash with ills of every hue and stripe burned away whatever rosy tint there was to my vision decades ago. The ‘honour’ killings, the sectarian butchery, the treatment of minorities and the subjugation of women, the exploitation of the poorest, the crippling days of hard labour endured by millions upon millions and the criminal neglect of the education system — yup, all there and on daily display. Likewise acts of terror that beggar the imagination — schoolchildren gutted at their desks, suicide bombers that detonate in crowded markets and the negligence of governments both provincial and federal that ensure that primary health care at point of need is primitive, poorly managed and underfunded. All seen.

And yet and yet… the horror is not the whole picture. Indeed it is not even the majority of the picture all of the time for everybody because Pakistan like every other developing or indifferently governed country is not a living hell 24/7. Or for that matter those countries which are more developed, richer in everything, less corrupt — but equally willing to trumpet their own deficiencies and misfortunes at every turn of the road.

Currently France is convulsed by strife caused by the government desire to change the labour laws. The UK is gripped — allegedly — by referendum fever relative to whether it should remain in the European Union or not. Much of Europe appears to be close to being overwhelmed by a tide of refugees fleeing the wars of the Maghrib and the Levant. There are countries that genuinely are crushed by misery — Venezuela — as well as Syria and Libya. There is, in short, no shortage of bad news wherever one looks but it is not uniformly so and most definitely is not uniformly so in Pakistan.

Not only are things not as bad as they are painted both within and without they are actually and yes, let us say it without ambiguity, they are getting better. We sat in a cafe ruminating on the state of the nation over a hearty breakfast and almost reluctantly found ourselves wandering down a positive path. There really was less loadshedding when we compared different parts of the country. It really was easier to get around courtesy of reviled mega-projects and grumble as we might the current government was actually not doing too badly. Not doing wonderfully well either — but considerably better than its predecessor. So clean the glass next time you look through our windows and you may just be surprised at what you see. Tootle-pip!

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2016.

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