Who is next?

After the discussion was over. Lahore studio of Platform. With Mr.Mushahid Hussain

The latest episode of Platform that I hosted from Lahore was special in more ways than one. I had to host it not only out of schedule but also got to sit down with a very learned guest, Mr. Mushahid Hussain. A well known figure in Pakistan and abroad.

We had an extra minute on air before we wrapped up the show. And because we were discussing startegic policy shifts of the west in the Middle East because of the revolt there, I asked Mr. Hussian questions that many wanted answers to, eversince thye uprising in Egypt.

Can we see a similar upsrising in Pakistan?

To this he said that Pakistan has never been through the kind of suffocation and repression. Pakistan has always had this unique way of recovering from different crises. As a society we have a democratic political culture.

But he did acknowledge that there was a distance between the ruler and the ruled, corruption and unemployment in the youth that had the potential for getting people out on the streets.

In Egypt it was the middle class that got out on the streets and made history. Is our middle class without that spark and enthusiasm that is required for revolution?

His reply was interesting. Our middle class is coming of age politically he feels. Pakistan's middle class is very vibrant. Civil society, media and judiciary -all represent that vibrancy. Therefore, Pakistanis donot , literally, have to come out on the streets.

Valentinian

Photo Credit:WR

Well I had heard much about how the ways of celebrating Valentine’s Day had changed over these years. That special someone is no longer supposed to be the only recipient of your love and affection in the form of chocolates, flowers or teddys. Mothers, Grandmothers, brothers and sisters can all be on your list to bestow upon now. Acceptable.

A friend of a friend thought it was okay to kiss trees on Valentine’s because after all its about showing love to the living and that friend was of the view that trees had feelings too. I thought it was a bit too much but then I came across news of some taking this beyond that..

Some in Rawalpindi chose to show up at the jail where Governor Taseer’s killer is being kept and showed their love for the assassin by bringing flowers and greeting cards for him. Really confusing. Supporting the killer for what he did and celebrating Valentine’s is really something in the opposite direction to each other. I guess it shows the kind of cultural and religious confusion that we often go through as Pakistani muslims.

But these events that often baffle and disturbs most of us who are grown up, are in a way enlightening up those in their formative years. For example on the Holy Prophet’s (S.A.W) birthday I felt like uploading a naat on my facebook page. I was going through different options on you tube , when I came across one naat that had a good dose of music arrangement put into it with the renderer wearing a bright outfit. Just as I was about to upload it my cousin’s 14 year old son came up to me and stopped me from it. I was strangely surprised when he advised me to choose one with no music in it . There could be many with extreme views out there, he said who would definitely not like me uploading the musical naat.He then asked me to choose something that would be acceptable to all.

First I thought the child had been terrorized by what extremists are capable of doing. He was scared of expressing his choice lest he invited their disapproval.
But then I thought perhaps the boy was acting enlightened. He was perhaps being tolerant of the views of those who differed from him. He was willing to adhere to their choice as long as he was also able to get his self across as well. In this case, using a naat to express love for the Prophet (S. A. W).

I guess these difficult times that our country is going through are in a way broadening the horizon of our children and teaching them lessons that syllabi might not be able to explain to them ever.

Jhoolay Laal!

Having heard so much about the Urs of Hazrat Ali Hajveri and the legendary blessings that the saint has had upon the city of Lahore, some kind people took me to see for myself what I had been talking so much about on the news. (Photo Courtesy: WR)

Trance seemed to descend upon the people, the buildings, the streets and the incense ( agarbatti) laden air as I with a couple of friends tried to make our way towards where our hosts were. The Urs of Data Ganj Baksh is in full swing in Lahore and we decided to visit it. More people were expected the next day on the ocassion of Chelum of Hazrat Imam.

Followers entering Data Darbar for Urs under tight security

A good job with the illumination

This evening though the worst fears have come to life. Two suicide attacks , one in Urdu Bazaar Lahore and one in Malir Karachi have devastated more families by taking atleast 13 lives uptill now. Expressing grief is beyond words and the manner in which people being killed in the name of religion simply deplorable and deceptive.

Beyond!

A view of the Shrine from the rooftop

Security last night at Data Darbar was no doubt tight. Thorough body searches plus walk through gates put in place at least at three points before one could reach near the tastefully illuminated shrine.

Abundance! Cooks delivered their best recipes of Halwa and Naan as a respect to Data

Peace and brotherhood- the actual message of Islam was making the followers present merry as ever . Hi on the pleasure of simply being in a vicinity where there were no divisions between a beggar or the elite, all helping themselves to food arranged by anyone for everyone. That's how naan and halwa and sweet rice and tea lasts all night, as the junta did the dhamaal ( dancing to drum beat) oozing tranquility.

With my hosts outside their Dera in Bilal Gunj area

Hypnotic!

The dhole performance I attended was that of Goonga Sayeen. It was breathtaking and the beat contagious. They donot charge any fee for performing at Data Sahib or any other Urs. Its what people give to them at their will..for they believe its all to celebrate the ultimate union of their Data with his beloved Allah. That's the concept behind celebrating Urs, my hosts told me.

Dhole and Dhamaal !Goonga Sayeen amid an ecstatic crowd

Dum Ghutkoo!

Trance and the works

Fans taking photos with Goonga Sayeen

Many might not be able to relate to the concept of Urs but these huge gatherings do point out that there is a great common between so many beings that makes them converge . Yet questions remain as to why the divides so stark that elements donot hesitate to take lives.

The climax subsiding at day break at the adjacent bazaar

ESS EMM ESS

Many things catch the eye while reading up towards my first broadcast of the day usually. For example, this report by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) that said something that came as a surprise to me.

It reveals that Pakistan ranks no. 5 in the list of countries whose people exchange the most text messages on mobile phones! Because I couldn’t figure out if that’s good news or bad, after a little inquiry I found out that one of the reasons that PTA gives for this nice position on that list is that the call and sms rates in Pakistan are the lowest ones in this region.

This surprises more than it gives happiness. In a way this again proves that in our country things that we ‘need’ are not only difficult to find but also beyond the reach of those who need them the most. Things that we mostly just “want” are easier to find dirt cheap.

Gas in winters and electricity in summers are a rare find. Forget about how much tomatoes cost or how expensive it is to get petrol for your vehicle these days. So, I’m not quite sure how much are these interesting and hard to understand cell phone packages and zero sms rates helping us build our lives as a nation. But one thing is for sure, it really has kept our sense of humor alive if not made us wittier.

Just when I was trying to recover from the funny version of late poet Faraz’s poetry, cooking expert Zubaida aapa’s tips came out as the latest craze. If that wasn’t enough, how munni earned a bad name for herself was another issue that did the rounds. Just today I woke up to Veena Malik’s totkay (tricks/tips)

But yes, sms is a cheaper and quickest technical way to complete the formality perhaps of wishing each and everyone on your phone contact list a new year or Eid, Christmas or any other festival.

So, next time you are stuck in that never ending queue of vehicles on a cold winter evening waiting to get CNG so that you can drive comfortably to work the next morning, start texting to kill time . Not only will you keep yourselves entertained but also bring more fame to the country. Who knows next time Pakistan might steal a place in top three from any developed country on that list.

Chapter Closed

10 years in one’s life is quite a significant amount of time. Its a decade.Just days left for 2011 to begin and I cannot help but look back at the last ten years of my own life.

I feel that where I stand today is a result of what I did with my life for the last ten years. This may not apply to many of you especially if you are in the tenth standard for example …because in that case if you are still in school and are pursuing an education ,so,you haven’t wronged yourself in any way yet!

Remember those fairy tales in which a poor man would often meet a priest on his way to a far flung land to carry out an impossible sort of task. That priest would often give that poor wanderer his charm and ask him never to stop, turn and look back or else he would become of stone! Strangely I feel like that wanderer at year end this time around.

The feeling of seesawing between if I should look ahead or look back at what happened is quite overwhelming. If one decides to review what happened, in that case it’s a challenge to look at both your success and failure. Of course we feel bad about things that we wanted to do but could not do. But there is a tendency to look mostly at our failures and over look our achievements.

There is another side to it too. Closing our eyes to our mistakes and smiling just at successes can be somewhat misleading . Perhaps the key is to clap at what we achieved and try and acknowledge where we lag.

Remember it takes a lot of courage to talk about our bad feelings. There was once a behavioral expert who said he would give money to anyone who would give a different reply than “Fantastic “to his question “How are you”?

No two words about the fact that these last ten years have been the formative years of my life. I kind of grew up in these ten years and that too in a world shaping up post 9/11 .But did I become a better human being? Err....don't have a clue.

Something I like about these last few days of December is the contagious hope that these days bring. This year they promise a little rain as well...

I wish you a Happy New Year i.e. 2011 and May all your dreams come true!

Zzzzzz......

Good !

At Mahatma Gandhi's resting place.

There are some news developments that everyone has to be devoted to.In the unusually quiet newsroom , there was just one voice that was echoing. It was US President Barack Obama speaking at the Indian Parliament ( Lok Sabha). A speech the entire world was watching and listening to.

So far the Indians have not gotten their fill of pleasure by any statement that Barack Obama has made during his trip to India. Reason? He hasn't embarrased Pakistan at any point. He again reieterated that perpetrators of Mumbai attacks should be brought to justice and that terrorism in AFghanistan should be dealt with appropriately on both sides of the Afghan border. He has also reminded India that it would benefit from a stable and prosperous Pakistan. And a little bit of scolding to the democracy like India for just silently watching the human rights abuses in Myanmar.

But then he said something in the Lok Sabha that became an instant headline in my next broadcast that was right after he finished his speech. US backs India acquiring a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

I asked Professor Sajjad Naseer if this backing was a defining moment in US India relations and if Pakistan should feel crushed by it? He termed it a political statement and also said that it hints at reforms in the UNSC that would take a long time to come about.

Mr. Obama has put up a nice balancing act in India. Pakistan is an ally in the war against terrorism and India can prove its sincerity to US by creating jobs back in US and support US exports. This has been a clear message there. The US President has also shown a realisation that issues between Pakistan and India are real and should be resolved by sitting down and talking. That's really a welcome sign beacuse people of Pakistan and India want peace between them.

However Mrs. Obama playing hop scotch and the couple dancing at Diwali would definitely be remixed by some university students in India with some songs and put up on you tube . That would always serve as a reminder what a good time the US first couple had in India perhaps justifying the huge expense that the Indian government meted to host Mr. and Mrs. Barack Obama.

Behind the Scenes

Covering floods in South Punjab...August 2010. Photo courtesy: Farrukh and Fayyaz

Beri( Boat) in Ali pur. Rations being transported.

On the Beri with Fayyaz , our driver who was great help during the trip

Our arrival at Ali pur . Army helping out there.

Mango

Me, Farrukh and Owais , the generous Multan correspondent

A beautiful field near Rohilaanwali

Audio check, Video Check!

An aerial view as we flew towards Rojhan

Preparing for the shoot at Rohilaanwali as I confirmed our next stop

This was a bad scene. Tonnes of wheat rotting at Kot Addu

Passing through the main bazaar at Kot Addu and taking notes

This water pump did work!

This is Niaz. The child was very curious what we were upto.

Preparing to use army's boat service

There we go! This is all flood water by the way, outside Khangarh

Flood victims build hope for supplies as heli approaches

They have to get out first. getting air dropped aid not easy

If you look hard , you'll spot packages being dropped

Some get it and some donot

Back at the bureau

With the doctor at Kot Sultan relief camp

Farrukh instructing me on my movement around in the kitchen

In go all the rice for Pullao

Farrukh wants me to say it again

Just imagine!

Taking a SOT for the report at Daira Deen Panah

Tired and Sad

Her eyes were melting into tears. Ameer Begum

Shahadat, Multan Sr. Correspondent showing me the city below

At Shah Rukn e Alam, Multan city

Pigeon feed.All for Rs.10

What can you say.......