The pleasant and the unpleasant

Pakistani Labradors now considered among the world’s finest, thanks to the many notable breeders in Pakistan.

Just the other day, I had occasion to visit the swank Liberty Market in Lahore to pick up a friend who was staying in the Sunfort Hotel, to bring him to Wah for a few days. I parked my car in the parking festooned with fancy ‘P’ signs complete with a minder who collects the usual Rs20 as parking fee.

My favourite ‘Henry’, my younger Labrador who had just disgraced himself at the Dog Show, which was held the day before, by not picking up any prize at all(!) was also travelling with me and so, as I waited for my friend Aamir Mughal aka Pir Saeen on Twitter, who was staying at the hotel, I took Henry out of the car so he could stretch his legs before the four-hour journey to Wah.

The car park was absolutely filthy, littered with plastic bags; toffee wrappers; cigarette ends and empty packets; dust that had caked into a solid cement-like consistency along the sides; even Styrofoam packets of long ago eaten beef-burgers. It was absolutely disgusting and brought to mind an article in same vein written by friend Masood Hasan in The News recently.

But before I go on, let me say that the standard of Labradors in the country has improved manifold with Pakistani Labs now considered among the world’s finest. Let me say too, that while there are notable breeders in Pakistan such as Babar and Mohammad Nasrullah Khan of Daska; Tasveer Shah of Lahore; Colonel Nadeem of Kohat; and Farid Khan of Islamabad, the major credit for this goes mainly to the venerable Colonel NM Roy, who is also the President of the Kennel Club of Pakistan.

Colonel Roy is not only a breeder of fine dogs, he is an internationally acclaimed judge who has judged Dog Shows in places as diverse as Australia; New Zealand; the Philippines; Bulgaria; and as I write this, is on his way to Cyprus for another one! May he live long and may his guidance of our club continue for many a year. Incidentally, Colonel Roy and I go back some 38 years when he, a Colonel, was posted in Rawalpindi and I, a Major, was at GHQ. What great times those were… makes me sad to just think where we were then and where we are now…

Anyway, back to reality, and from the pleasant to the unpleasant. What has made us the filthy people we are today, with not an iota of civic sense? Masood is right when he says that even people riding in BMW 7-Series motorcars will have no compunction in chucking out garbage from their cars. Indeed, I saw someone riding a brand-new Rs20 million Land-Cruiser zoom past me on the Motorway with a ‘follow’ Double Cabin SUV with three Yahoos brandishing Kalashnikovs tailing it (dangerously, I might add), chucking out empty drink cans from the window.

As an aside, it is now de rigueur for the nouveau riche in Pakistan to have one, or if you have Rs2 billion in the bank and not only 100, two ‘follow’ Double-Cabins, which become a dangerous nuisance for other lesser beings on the road/Motorway as they bear down on you to force you away from the Excellency riding in the Land Cruiser/BMW/Mercedes/Range Rover.

Incidentally, is it true that certain rich and powerful people can influence the Motorway police HQs to message the speed patrols to not check their little motorcades for speeding? I myself was ticketed once for driving at 131 KPH when one of the afore-mentioned two-car motorcades whizzed past so fast that my car was literally buffeted by the slipstream of the two behemoths in plain sight of the speed camera. Those vehicles must have been doing something like 180 KPH but I was duly pulled over. Also, don’t police all over the world’s freeways allow a 10 per cent margin, meaning that in a 120 KPH speed zone you would be allowed to travel at up to 132 KPH? Anyone?

Anyway, what am I moaning about when we well know that all animals are not equal? Thank heavens then, for the likes of the gentle Colonel NM Roy and his dog shows. Thank heavens for little mercies so one can take one’s mind off the arrogant Yahoos who roar about in their fancy chariots littering the landscape with their garbage.

To conclude, I have to pay tribute to my young friend, the aforesaid Pir Saeen, Aamir Mughal, researcher par excellence. One has turned to him on many occasions to look for a reference and he has never disappointed, not only coming back with several different versions of a story, but also any follow-up news on it that one had missed completely. Young Aamir is virtually an encyclopedia with the memory of an elephant (!) recalling events with great clarity, and honesty.

One so wishes there were more like him so that the correct history of our country; its people; and its various upheavals could be told to the Young Turks who are only now coming out of hibernation (kudos to Imran Khan) but who know next to nothing of our tortured past. It is imperative that they learn from those who know; for if you don’t know where you are coming from, how possibly can you know where you are headed?

Oh and yes, one has to show one’s revulsion at the propensity of our ratings-crazy TV channels giving out sensitive information such as the transfer of dangerous prisoners from one jail to the other. This sort of ‘news’ is not broadcast in any other country of the world, except possibly the Central African Republic, or Chad! Government officials who are responsible for such incredibly damaging leaks must be proceeded against vigorously, as should the TV channels who broadcast them. PEMRA, are you listening?

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2014.

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