So when Salman asks the question: “What is the matter with us?” (April 29), one is suddenly jolted into realising that this man of great reading and greater travelling and greatest wit, is also subject to the every day vicissitudes which plague us the moment one leaves the safe space of home. Tracing one of his journeys on the Apricot Road to Yarkand gives one the false illusion that one can actually get away from the unholy mess that our cities have become and the unruly mass that our people have become. That Salman finds our landscape pillaged, our historic sites looted and public facilities trashed, somehow validates the growing sense of alienation that creeps up every time I stop the traffic to rescue an injured animal, or to attend to the needs of a man collapsed on the side of the road, passersby uncaring, oblivious of this stranger’s plight.
That human kindness and decency is something which seems to have been measured in a small cup and distributed amongst the few is a fact which I do not want to accept. But what about common sense? Is that, too, an endangered species in this Land of the Purely Moronic consisting of people who choose to cut off their noses to spite their faces? Who choose to light up their cigarettes right beneath a no-smoking sign and then who argue when you point out the irony to them? Who push their suitcase-laden trolleys onto your feet in an effort to be the first in line on a flight which is six hours delayed? Who blacken the face of a woman who chooses to marry of her own accord, but whose immediate family did not have an issue with that? Who mourn the birth of a girl child and then spend their life’s earnings on getting her married? Who celebrate the birth of their sons and then proceed to emasculate them, smothering them with a mother’s misplaced love? Who insist that women must bear many children and then who bury that woman when she can’t bear it anymore?
But these are just the foibles of ordinary people. What of the Babus of Bureaucracy who decide the fate of the humble populace? Of course there are many babus who deserve nothing but praise but what about the gentleman whom I met recently to discuss the fact that the pool of water at the temple complex of Katas Raj, considered by orthodox Hindus to be Ram’s tears, is drying up due to the fact that several tube wells have been installed on the source of water which fed it? Other than refusing to accept any responsibility for the blatant disregard of environmental and conservation concerns, this gentleman proudly puffed up his chest and declared that he was a geologist and therefore was also an archaeologist, since both professions concerned themselves with things “below the surface of the earth”! That he was bumptious, rude, and ignorant is bad enough, but what about the t-shirt he wore to work, the logo “Disco Queen” embroidered in red thread above his pocket? What indeed is the matter with us? Plenty, with all our mother prayer!
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2012.
COMMENTS (21)
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An English friend of mine came at mid night, he was drunk. When I asked him "hi ...... you are drunk " . He said I.. a..m not d..r..unk. 99% of our people are doing wrong and saying in the same aforementioned way we are not doing wrong.This is what the matter with us. None- the- less the article is good.
@Ahmed ataullah: No, dear friend your ancestors were peace-loving Hindus, who were forcibly converted to Islam, in order to save their lives from tyrannic Muslim invaders (who/whose ancestors were also Hindus, only).
Conversion to Islam gave them a savage life (but still it was a guarantee to be alive), and many also converted in order to gain all kinds of favors from inhuman invaders, apart from saving their lives and property. Please remember, God wants all his children to live in peace Email: drkartikaypandey@gmail.com
@Dr. Kartikay Pandey:
"...You are successor of ancient Hindu tribes, you bravely faught, and drove Alexander away...."
Have no idea what history books were taught to you but Alexander was the one who defeated Raja Puru (Porus). Son of Porus who crossed River Jhelum from the southern flank to attack was killed in action. A rebellion among Alexander's soldiers forced him to march back. The soldiers were tired of fighting and could not take the sizzling heat anymore.
@Ejaaz:
No my dear, your ancestors did not belong to far away places, named by you, but were unfortunate Hindus, who could not withstand the barbarism of Muslim aggressors, and converted to Islam, mostly to save their lives, and property, or, to make some petty gains like favors of jobs, etc. You are successor of ancient Hindu tribes, you bravely faught, and drove Alexander away.
Email: drkartikaypandey@gmail.com
What is wrong with us? We call ourselves Muslims without knowing what it means to be a MUSLIM.
This article could have been thought provoking without the information of your personal heroics.
What's wrong with us is that we are the best. All of us, including you, are God's gift on this earth.
Strawberry or not, the I am the best attitude, just plain simple exposed another intellectual as just another tart.
This is all a result of a society that is highly intolerant and controlling. We can not tolerate dissent and discussion. It starts at home when children are scolded if they question their parents. It moves on to school where the teachers feel that in order to be respected, they must be obeyed. They somehow get a sort of a power kick from this. Once we get married, it does not end as our spouses expect the same obedience.
People living in the land of the pure feel pride in associating themselves with the invaders and conquerors and claim to be the descendants of the Arabs, Persians and Greeks. In reality most of us are part of the indigenous population and are descendants of Hindus.
Being a product of a repressive society impacts everyone's psyche and most of us end up with psychological problems that stay with us for ever and end up in forming the character of the nation.
@Ejazz
Thumbs up! You said it as it is.
An entertaining and thought provoking read. Now, to your question ' What is the matter with us ?' My answer to this is simple : We suddenly had 'religion' thrust upon us and all else taken away.
Every thing that can go wrong with a nation has gone wrong with us. A major surgery is needed for survival, mere pain-killers and symptoms elimination is no more an option. The fundamental issues need to be focused upon and addressed on emergency basis.
On the other hand, who is going to do this? Nobody is willing to take an initiative, everybody is waiting for a Demigod to appear from no where and just change everything that ails us with a move of a magical wand.
Only the people of the land can bring an actual change, we studied in the west but unfortunately, there are fundamental manufacturing faults embedded in the DNA of the people of our land.
How can we overcome these faults????
@Ahmed ataullah: Exactly. The civilization we are creating is all around us. Despite the fact we have tried to eliminate Panjabi from panjab, unfortunately the majority still speak it as their mother tongue. But then they are the descendants of the natives. The Arabs and Turks among us have been and will continue to emigrate to better and richer places.
Have we ever tried to teach our nation the basics of life and social norms? its just a mob growing up under the influence of corrupt and unmannerly behaving society. Babu class is a class of audience who sit and watch the show to make money, it another non serious quacks generation which needs conversion to relativistic professionals who believe in hard work and then proud of success.
We are just visiting this land as we are mostly Arabs and turks by descent. So, why care about the history or language or dance or music of years past. Our ancestors didnt play a major role in that anyway. The old stuff is all too indian for us. Seriously we did split from our eastern neighbor because we didn't like to be "them". So, this is the logical conclusion. I can live with that as long as we can create our own different civilization all over again. After all that is what the Spanish conquistadors did in south America after they vanquished and slaughtered the great inca empire. Nobody calls them confused. Why us?
What is wrong with loving Baghdad, Samarkhand, Bukhara, Farahan? Human beings are not insects to be confined to little pieces of land. A raised soul soars above these man-made distinctions.
This is what differentiated us from the civilized world, and please do not expect the babus/sahibs to act as public servants or dress accordingly. T-shirt at workplace and that also with something written on it tells a lot about their characteristics. Does i'not?
katasraj is not a place where Lord Rama's tear fell but that of Lord Shiva. Anyhow, the destroying of hindu religious sight is in line with the barbaric muslim invaders, the 'descendants' of whom are the pakistanis (or so they claim).
Feryal,
What is wrong with us? Nothing. We do not consider this our land. We all hail from either Arabia or central Asia. We are more attached to Baghdad, Samarkhand, Bukhara, Farahan, etc. etc. etc than to the places in this land that "our" ancestors conquered and ruled. The natives were our subjects and served us. We are ashamed of the language of the natives. 60% of us live in Panjab, but we are ashamed of knowing or speaking Panjabi. We prefer not to even teach our kids in Panjabi because we know it is the language of the cow worshippers. What more proof does one need? When the land is not ours, why should we bother taking care of it?
f.a.n.t.a.s.t.i.c.