Poor People are Dogs or Even Worse!

a typical hypocrat!.. doesn`t have to be so... it should be `A TYPICAL PAKI`... whats been injected into our veins, the viens of the whole nation (if u consider it to be 1!) is inferiority complex... we all live with it and if at all we get a chance to opress someone we feel elated... may the opressed one (phycially, mentally or in any other way), be someone of the street or a woman from the family... this is how we have become... this is how everyone one acts..... good for all but the weaker one!.... wahtever!

if this is a true story..what else do you expect from a feudal; it runs in his veins..he is a typical hypocrat, a pseudo progressive!!

I am sure Aqil is not alone. He has plenty of company.

Equating poverty to virtue is downright silly. I grew up in an urban area. I have seen plenty of cases where poor folks who steal. If they caught they are given thrashing of their lives.

kaurasach #49

`` To those who think that this treatment is the only language they understand,

then, why do you yelp like currs when Arabs, Westerners, and British mette out the same treatment that you `deserve`. Next time the Arab slaps you and treats you like a dog, YOU deserved it and that is the only language you understand. ``

Once in a while I really think desis deserve the bad treatment they get.

Re: # 51

Hamzaad`s posts are always amusing for two reasons:

1. they contain opinions that are entirely unsolicited
2. they are such models of convolutions, Hamzaad Shab should really market them as a halal yoga program....not that he`d split any profits from using my idea...

Um...could someone remind Hamzaad Shab that this piece focused on male engagement with the exploitation of girl child labor? Hamzaad Shab is welcome to write his fantasy about feminazis cracking the whip on pregnant slaves who are forced to use their own blood to provide the ink for a feminist newspaper...I mean, really, tell him to go all out.
It wouldnt be much different from all the other male perspectives we get on every aspect of women`s lives....we know it mortally wounds Hamzaad Shab to have to read the text of women much much smarter than himself...and that would be enough for me....

Re: # 37

http://chowk.com/show_forum_topic_post_list.cgi?tid=00025755

`#37 by Saminasha on October 12, 2005 5:03pm PT
There are many ways to interpret this work.

Here`s what I admired about it:

The author looks into male violence and his own inability to confront it. Aqil, for all his platforms, seems to descend into the condition that inhabited his father.`

Levitating on her own farts and feeling holy about it, samina has concluded that it was the maleness of Aqil that burst out those words and that attitude. Surely it is inconceivable that an Aqila would utter those words. Also this attitude must have been learnt from the father and NOT THE MOTHER because.. whogivesashit.

What has happened in samina`s life that would urge her to feed on the misery of a poor woman and her child, in a land far far away, and appropriate the victimhood to include herself? Answer: whogivesashit.

Would a parasite, living off the educational welfare system for imbeciles, know that servants in Pakistan are treated mainly and shabbily by women of the house themselves. Would the `elder` women in samina`s house (who also told her fairy tales and lullabies) recount how they treated their servants or, alternatively, how they were treated as servants in India? Answer: whogivesashit.

Re: # 48
Me too, these type of events happen in small towns(meerut, hyderabad, nagpur) etc.

Thing that bothers me is that people who participate in this Nanga Pan are actually respectable part of the society.

To those who think that this treatment is the only language they understand,

then, why do you yelp like currs when Arabs, Westerners, and British mette out the same treatment that you `deserve`. Next time the Arab slaps you and treats you like a dog, YOU deserved it and that is the only language you understand.

Delhiwala,

I understand, I was enraged at the sitation in Hyderabad. I was shocked to know that such incidents are still prevelant.

#36, it`s the rich who drive philantrophy efforts. practically speaking, there`s nothing wrong with cause marketing. free lunches induce beggary. give and take is not a bad idea, there is some incentive to contribute. fat free appetizers are not a bad idea either. Just because someone is rich does not mean he has to carry the entire world`s burden on his shoulders.

so what`s new? isn`t nearly everyone a hypocrite, about something or the other, sometime or the other? there are many aqil-types in feudals, so? that doesn`t diminish their worth in any way. every top to bottom school in the west is littered with them. they do ayashi on some poor babaji`s sweat, write great reformist theses, do pro bono internships at the UN, then go back and lord it up. big deal. you can`t really even blame them. it`s the way they were raised. plus, even aqil-tyrants have their uses. you can`t expect one person to change or even challenge the system, he`d be a fool and look like a simpering simpleton to even try.

as for the poor child, she`s a poor child. circumstance. you pet them, pity them, and forget them. we do it everyday.

Re: # 43

dear mantolives:

about the other side...i liked what you said. what they think is their right and what we think is ours. let`s mutually respect that.

vis BMW: there`s absolutely no reason to loathe it for either its beauty or my inability to get one. at least, its manufacturer has a provident fund, health insurance and a right to appeal if someone`s to be fired. as i mentioned in my previous post: keeping the balance is important. also that i am not much into cars, i am pretty happy the way my suzuki rolls! series 7 or 70, i shall never loath it.

adios.

Re: # 42
Sorry for calling you a dude when you are a woman.
Are you enraged at what happened to the “victims” or enraged at me?

FYI, I don’t that think I will ever become normal in terms of my pure thinking and innocence. When I encountered these incidents I was very young, just starting high school and used to be in a totally different frame of mind. At that time I simply had no clue about how to respond to this harshness and injustice of life. I guess I was very sheltered by my parents, now I feel sorry for these people and the system around me that made me helpless then to not act. I am trying to change everyday and my Guru`s teachings are helping me to transform. Dear Aman BehenJee, my Guru and his teachings have given me solace and strength to deal with situations like those. I am striving to overcome my fears and challenges that I encounter, and I falter every day and then strive again.

If I can measure the horror then I would rate the looks of that little boy and girl sitting side-by-side outside the Nizamuddin Mosque in Delhi with no hands/legs/toungue staring blankly like a statute hoping for some money, and then a Goonda standing not too far behind observing how much money is donated by pious Muslims. That sight freaks me out; even now I remember that pock-marked face of that bastard wearing a skull cap.

Last time when I was in Delhi, I did go there(I love Lodhi Garden Estate and that whole area), and tried to locate the kids. There were gone, you could other beggars but not those, on enquiry I found that they might have moved over Jama Masjid area.

Sad.

mubakr,

Dear socialist brother...

Don`t worry... most on the other side will say the same thing in reverse...

`Even if a BMW or a Merc driver is a socialist...`

By the BMW is a great car... have you seen the 7 series Long Chasis that has become fashionable in our cities now?

Don`t loathe it because it is beautiful.

delhiwala,

firstly, i am not a guy and secondly i was enraged when i read abt what u had written.

EVERYBODY:

first: this is both fiction and reality. the shattering of aqil`s image is real and so is six years` old girl. my friendship with the character is partially fictional but it did exist for quite some time.

second: i did protest and asked him to cool his temper when it happened in a different situation to what i have written about. there was no point of writing about all the discussion that i had had with him. i left in disgust and have refused to take his calls on my cell since then. i do not have any hopes that my friendly sermons would ever going to change him. so why befriend a someone who`s so hypocritical in ``practice and preach?``

third: vis intercon-socialist, i think this terms is pretty apt but as we should all bear in mind that keeping the balance is important. let`s not presume that all socialists should have certain kinds of personalities and they should stink with fatigues on them having flowing hair and beards. intercon-socialism is wrong. it definitely is. dall roti provides perfect nutrition for the day.

fourth: comments hinting that chowk is full of psuedo intellectuals...well, i would rather exist with any form of intellectual exercise than none. even if a socialist drives a BMW or a Merc...i would not have much of a difference if his treatment of fellow human beings is acceptable. if one is powerless to create new ropes then wisdom lies in working with the available ropes.

fifth: thank you all for your comments, criticism and above all: feeling the tone of what i wrote.

pretty sad. one shouldn`t take feudals unwilling to sacrifice their heritage seriously.

just as one shouldn`t take the pak army seriously. the latter are as bad.

Re: # 38

Dear Shah Ji, Now I understand. Thank you. And yes, Dil wada hona chahe da ay. And what a beautiful Shayr by Iqbal. Subhan Allah.

Re: # 21

Thank you dear kulhari for the interact. Poor and rich, as I said, being relative terms you can consider any body rich or poor depending upon the person with whom you are comparing one. You can call even Akbar the Great a poor man if you consider the technological facilities he lacked as compared to a common man of today. You cannot call Jesus a poor man as it was delberate `Tiaag` (self-denial) which he practiced. They say Jesus had a comb which he threw away when he saw a man combing his hair by his fingers. There was Gandhi wearing a `dhoti` and living with the Achhoot Dalits though he could have anything. So I think it is meaningless to talk about poor and rich in abstract terms without reference to any particular person and that too with reference to his mindset as `Koi mal mast he, koi haal mast he aur koi zaat mast` as Allama Iqbal says:

``Nigahe faqr mein shaane Sikandri kia he
jo gada ho kharaaj ki woh qaisari kia he``

There are many ways to interpret this work.

Here`s what I admired about it:

The author looks into male violence and his own inability to confront it. Aqil, for all his platforms, seems to descend into the condition that inhabited his father. Once away from the city and back ``home``, he realizes he is afflicted with the same pathologies that allow such cruelty to the least powerful. That is something honest-that ugliness can resume, lives just underneath our skins.

The narrator is begged to stay with Aqil for reasons we can only speculate. Perhaps he is a reminder of life outside this desh. Companionship. A lifeline that helps Aqil out of this violence. At the very least, he is a witness to this condition.

The narrator is as trapped in his own powerlessness as Aqil is his cruelty. That the narrator confesses this, confronts himself bitterly is interesting. Yes, he should be angry at Aqil...some have suggested he intercede. But he does something more believable with the range of human behavior-he hides. He becomes complicit.

That in itself is a considerable revelation.

Human misery is one lucrative business. Similar to the term “inter-con socialist” … there’s one tossed out by an acquaintance who works for an NPO: “cause marketing” is what they do. His face beamed with joy as he explained rubbing elbows with the rich socialites, corporation chiefs, and all … as his group makes marketing pitches to have-it-alls of the society.

... “cause marketing” ... what a disgusting charactreization ... I thought. It`s a detached look at human misery from high rise buildings, driven by power point presentations, and followed by fat-free hors d’oeuvres ...

#31 so assuming that you were a rich (or not poor) Desi, i gather you would prefer to be neutered? Imagine top-class mental desease treatment and all the organic cat-food you can eat!

Re: # 22

No the sunglasses were not important. He reflectively believed the boy had stolen it. Later the realization of guilt induced remorse.

Re: # 24
Dude, you are sarcastic in nature. I could have done lot of things, but I did not.
We all have shortcomings and so do I, I am trying to learn to rise above these shortcomings. Life is my teacher.

Another reason for Pakistanis to contribute. News item from washington post on contributions in the DC area. But one thing to cheer about (as noted below in this article): By contrast, the South Asia earthquake is generating a passionate response among Pakistani and Muslim communities because such a large area affected was in Pakistan.

Charities Report Low Donations for Quake Victims

Excerpts:

The massive earthquake that killed an estimated 30,000 people in South Asia has kindled an outpouring of cash from Muslim communities here and elsewhere but has elicited a far more feeble response from many other donors, aid groups say.

After donating about $1.3 billion to help the victims of the devastating Southeast Asia tsunami and then contributing $1.7 billion to support relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina, many donors appear to be running out of steam.

...Agencies and charity researchers say ``donor fatigue`` might be part of the problem. The third major disaster within a year simply is not registering with Americans as strongly as did the previous two.

Aid groups say they believe Americans have not lost empathy for the victims of new natural misfortunes.

``There is a little bit of shell shock that`s going on among donors,`` said Janet Harris, vice president of development for the International Rescue Committee. ``The tsunami got a huge response. . . . Katrina got a huge response, and I think that people are a little caught off guard by this one.``

Mark Melia, director of annual giving for Catholic Charities, which has raised only $65,000 for earthquake relief, is hopeful that donors will come through.

``I think that people are feeling empathy,`` he said, ``but it`s just going to take a little more asking this time.``

Virtually lost in the shuffle are the recent mudslides and floods in Guatemala, triggered by torrential rains, that have killed at least 600 people. Charities report that relatively few donations appear to have been triggered by that natural disaster.

By contrast, the South Asia earthquake is generating a passionate response among Pakistani and Muslim communities because such a large area affected was in Pakistan.

At Ramadan prayer services Monday night, worshipers at the All Dulles Muslim Area Society in Sterling donated $40,000 in cash and checks to Islamic Relief, a California relief group. Another collection will take place during Friday services at the mosque.

Close to 40 percent of its members have roots in Pakistan, India and Kashmir, said Parvez Khan, operations manager for the mosque.

``It hits home for everyone,`` he said.

All I can say is that Kutta/Bily and other pets that live in USA are better off than many rich DESIs.
If Waheguru/Allah/Ram/Jesus/Budha/Bill Gates wants to help then I recommend that please take these poor DESIs and make them born in USA as Kutta/Billy/Mouse/Armdello/Snake/Fish/Iguana or even a Tortoise.

Pet Food and Pet Care is approx 8 Billion industry and people spend money on pets here as if it was water:
1. My American friend takes her Cat for Psychology Treatment to a specialist doctor, just because she was sneezing more often due to allergies.
2. She spents money on a Dr to diagnose a rare form of tumor that will shorten the cat’s life.
3. She pays $5 per hr for Cat Sitting to kids.
4. She does not visit her parents even on Christmas holidays because her cat is sensitive to the noise of people.
5. In Providence RI, there is a Pet Dating Club, where you pay $40(RS 1600 approx) per evening; she takes her cat there once a month.
6. Biweekly Pet Grooming costs ($25) wash, shampoo, conditioning etc.
7. She buys Organic Cat Chow from WholeFoods, average cost per week is $50(Rs 2000 approx).
8. Last but not least, Cat Toys, Mouse Pad, Winter Clothing, Injecting Electronic ID Chip in her Paw, Making stamps from stamps.com for her cat, Mugs with Cats Picture and many..many etc.

Now you tell me whether my American friend`s cat is better off than millions of poor in India/Pak or not.

”Uppar Waley En Gareebon ko Goray Logo Ka Kutta/Billy bana ke Bhejj”

Re: # 22
I did try but not hard enough.... I guess I was spellbound, it was all so shocking for me.

Support UNICEF`s Emergency Programs in Pakistan



UNICEF`s Emergency Programs in Pakistan

This is exactly the kind of adaptability these Parasites have developed..

and this is the reason , they have a perpetual sway over the power Pegs in Pakistan.
...and with this Kind of adaptability, they have ensured that they will Never Loose Power
in Pakistan.

see , their chemeleon Like , outer persona, with it they mingle in , with the forces that are their enemies, and then break all efforts from the inside....This is how they gain
inside access to all those forces , which could harm their Interests, they join them,
and portray themselves as one of them, Just like a chemeleon, they Mingle in , with the
enviroement, ....and at all the strategic moments Make their Moves , to thawrt any attempt which is against their INTEREST.

... In Pakistan , Every New Empereor has about three years , to do what he can, after which , these Chemelons Manage to effffectivly nullify any sincere efforts to change the System.

Just Look at Musharaff.... His first three years.....and Now....
In his first three years he was making the right noises and maybe the right moves, but now he has effectivly be made a Hissing dragon, but without Fire...... Just look how they have managed to change even his mindset........ and he now thinks ..... poor women get themselves raped .... for Visas and Money.

.... Just look around.... and you will find them every where, .... they now define a new breed of feudals, Who are not only feudals but are educationists, Industrialist, Politicians, Army personal, Philintrophists, ...... and what not....
... But that is just their Outer Persona,...... they always strike from within ... whenever their interest feel threatened......

Typical ...

``He was the perfect personification of a romantic revolutionary that I thought Pakistan needed.``

This is the problem my friend... we are always looking for a damn romantic revolutionary. The problem is not with Aqil who is a run of the mill south Punjab rich kid-bleeding heart hypocrite (it is an entire breed)... the problem is with you, who is looking for damn romantic revolutionary.

There are many on chowk... all pinko liberals.... who resemble this fellow completely... I can think of one stock market guru from the US who often enlightens us with his pearls of wisdom...


Ali1,

To be honest... I have not come across any Jamat-e-Islami wallahs who drink. One thing has to be said about these Mullahs... they are not hypocrites... they truly believe in their way being the right way.

Also on the other side of the spectrum... whatever their faults... I have found MQM wallahs quite committed as well... they are the real deal... no romantic revolutionaries there.

Mubashir:

It’s difficult to pinpoint the emotion stories like this elicit….somewhere between distress and disgust I guess. It’s not simply a matter of Aqil’s behavior; what’s more troubling to me is the mindset, which condones it.

But the ending brought home the idea that we are resigned to the dualities shown here...that was even sadder.

Butt should not have walked away silently from the crime scene just to write this story for CHOWK later. If i were him i would have certainly told my friend on his face that this is no proper way to speak to a 6 year old child.

delhiwala # 14
you could have called the police

kulharee: #18

i don`t know if i agree with what you`ve said. some friendships do end when one realizes that their friend is not the person they claim to be. it isn`t always possible to stand by a person and bring him back to ``ideals``. i know. sometimes i can`t stand by my own shadow! :)

- -
the other thing i was thinking about, in terms of jawahara`s question, and in terms of some of the narrator`s words is that this story probably had to end where it did to describe aqil`s action. but what about the narrator`s reactions. . . from ``i will always support you aqil, no matter what. . . .`` to ``he always amazed me. he did not disappoint me this time too.`` is the ``end`` necessarily clear as to what the narrator`s thoughts were here?

our own perceptions betray us as well. . . .

delhiwala # 11,

why did you not stop the boy from being beaten up. obviously your glasses were more imp than the boy.

>>>>You are 100% right. The poor-rich in fact is a relative term. The rich have both sympathy and hatred for the poor but the latter have only hatred for the rich<<<<<

Shah ji, that’s one messed up assumption if I ever heard one. Where did you hear that the poor have only hatred for the affluent? Did you know that Jesus only had one blanket as his worldly belonging and even the dogs of Nazareth were richer than he was? Do you believe that he hated everyone?

Poor people don’t hate rich people, they just don’t like stuck up rich assholes that think that being born in a well to do family makes them somehow gifted and somehow they own the world.

I agree with you that poor/rich is relative. It is comforting to run into waiters and cabbies in NYC whose families back home own “Murabbas”. Zimindaar my ass.

Frankly speaking ,
The poor are worse then the dogs anyway.

Right from the day they are born till they die , they are treated like dirt . baicharay tukroN pai pultay haiN...cant get any decent education , decent living , decent medications if they are ill...even if they get some minor diarrhea or disease , they die right or left....

I have always prayed to God...Allah MiaN...eik kutta extra bunna dai , pur kisi ko ghareeb mut bunna....

Re: # 7

urstruly

You are 100% right. The poor-rich in fact is a relative term. The rich have both sympathy and hatred for the poor but the latter have only hatred for the rich. Doesn`t the very term `poor` mans `the down-looked one`? Have we not divided the world even into 1st, 2nd and 3rd class. The 1st class world doles out aid and charity to the 3rd world but do the latter love them for that. They are always contriving how to bring them down. This is the play of pride and jealousy (Hassad) inherent in all human beings. We call one poor with a sense of privilige and pride and he hates us for that. How truly Mian Mohd Bakhsh, a Punjabi poet, depicted this fact in his couplet:

Niichaan di ashnai koloon faiz kise na paaya
Kikar te angoor charhaaya te har guchha zakhmaaya

I think that Butt has no balls (pun intended). He should have not only slapped Aqil on the face real hard (like in a Bollywood Movie – dialogue pesh-e-Khidmat hey: “Aqeel, main nay tumhay Khuda samjh kar Rakha or tum ko Bout bana kar Tumhari Pooja ki, magar tum itnay Haramkhor niklay – tum ab meray leay galee kay os Kutay kay barabar ho jo sirf Bkhota rehta Hey magar os ki BhonkaiN koi nahee sunta”.

I also agree with Ana. Once you have made a friend, you can’t just end friendship on someone’s low point. You stand by the person, and hope to bring him back to the ideals that first made you call him your friend.

Re: # 16
Good Point, nut such type of harsh realities happen more often in Paki/Indi Land not in Europe. That is why everybody talks about these countries.

i have known quite a few people like aqil. i`ve been warned about men (and women) like him. yes people do like to talk the talk - it is walking the walk where they falter.

and i`ve been thinking about jawahara`s question. not to defend the first-person narrator of this story, but when you`ve practically adored this person like the narrator seems to have, and then are ek dum shocked by his verbal violence, it isn`t all that easy to have an immediate response to such behavior but to express silent shock. of course once that registered, then perhaps aqil should have been called on his cruel behavior.

and where and why would this story give the impression that this happens ONLY in pakistan. hypocritical behavior like this happens all over the world. it`s not like cruelty and evil are restricted to pakistan, and anyone who would think that is beyond ignorant. i guess we are rather touchy and defensive about our qaum if we were to assume that people would think this happens only in pakistan.

Re: # 5
Maybe he is already here.

Re: # 13
Yaar Godot,
I don`t know what to do in such like cases except feel sorry and put my head down in shame like a looser. I am very serious when I write this.

I have seen these beggar-kids in absolute low abused form as you can imagine, my dog lived in 1000 times better conditions than these 3-5 yr old boys/ girls who are made hookers or sold to brothels.

Once I saw a stripped naked young girl(14-15) old in a 4X4X4 cage in Old Hyderabad, Head Randee was offering her for 200 Rs for breaking her virginity(Laung Utarna ceremony) to these lusty Jatt Punjabis who were drunk. This was near the business area, not too far from the thana and a famous Mosque. She was sobbing and totally deviod of shame after 12 hrs of being in the cage, on further enquiry Dalal said that this is how they break these girls.

I spat on my Punjabiyat Mardangee and never saw these so called friends again. One of them who got this girl was accompanied by his Mama(mother`s uncle), a rich Jamindaar of Jalandhar.

How can we accept such like things and not do anything?

Events like that were very instrumental in making me migrating to West.

Anyways, thanks to listening.

Re: # 12

Delhiwala -

Back when I was in eight grade in Pakistan, I read a book Mera Naam Mungoo Hai It was a true story narrated by a little boy who gets kidnapped and what happens to him was what you write. It`s the cruelest account I have read to date. When I hear stories like that, I wonder about the nature of man and the cruelty he is capable of inflicting on a fellow human being.

I also want to mention another sad incidence that I saw in Nizaamuddin Auliya area of Delhi.

If you have ever been to Nizammudin you would know what I mean. There are professional beggars with deformities such as no hand/leg/toungue etc. On further enquiry I found that a gang of criminals steals babies and cut their hands/feets/toungues and make them beg. These babies are shipped from far off places like Bengal or Hyderabad.

This was the most sickening sight of my life just outside the entrance to Hazrat Auliya`s tomb(like a good Delhiwala I used to go there) and then see these beggars. Local thanedar when complained to said that he cannot interfere in Muslim affairs. What a Khusra!

Meanwhile, rich Muslims come and throw a ruppe or two in the begging bowl and do their Tsk-tsk and offer Moong Halwa, and the show goes on.

Mr Mubasir,
Is this fiction or real?
I have seen similar things in India also.
Once I was missing my SunGlasses and everyone in the neighbourhood pounced upon this poor little boy(Maid Servant`s son). She left the house crying and this kid got a bad beating from everyone in the neighrbourhood and his mother because he was last seen admiring my American goods.

Next day, I found the SunGlasses fallen under the Car seat.

I could not locate this woman and her son since then and this still haunts me.

It is very sad to see little kids, just like our own serving us like Dogshit.

I tried to reason with people in India and everytime I get the same answer ``if we dont employ them they would be worse off or become thiefs etc``.

Ye Kaisa Insaaf hai!!

Re: # 7
You must be out of your mind by attacking the poor people.

ha! This reminds us of some of our resident chowk liberal buttworms.................

specially nazar hayat khan, who got a PIA woman employee kicked out because she objected to his smoking in her office.......

PS Actually, other side is pretty much the same: the large number of jamaatis (leaders and not rank and file) who drink and fornicate is amazing....

2 number liberals, 2 number mulla, 2 number dehriyay... jeevay Pakistan!

This is a story. It seems that people are treating this like a real life experience.

People have to find their niche in the society and they find it sometimes in areas that are not exactly representative of their personal life. Aqil found his niche in the city as a social worker and he did what he had to do to excel. He may be a horrible person in his other life but in his life as a social worker, he apparently did a wonderful job as has been portrayed by the author. Now his failings as a human being are mostly hidden from people who admire him for his work.

People live dual life. People from the rural areas, when they move to the cities try to adjust to the culture there but they become what they actually are once they get back to their roots.

I bet if this was a real story, Aqil would not even consider his attitude towards children as abhorrent. This was all normal. He grew up with that but he would never repeat that in his other life, the life of a social worker in urban setting.

Mostly, people who move between cities and the rural areas in Pakistan or even in India would know that it is fairly common. The son of a rural zamindar would behave differently in Karachi than he would in Mirpur Bathero, Bulri shah karim or Jhok.

A good example is Mustafa Khar. People would recognize the name immediately. You see him in Karachi gymkhana or the Sindh Club and you will find him a perfect gentleman but he would treat people like sht from his charpai in his village.

This duality is a part of our culture. We don’t see this in the West as the culture does not change a whole lot from the rural areas to the urban areas but in the subcontinent, the life in a village and especially villages where zamindar still rule, is different from the life in the cities.

For primarily city dwellers that have not seen the village life extensively, these differences are often surprising but for people who regularly move between cities and villages, there is nothing unusual in this story.

I have read this story with different characters several time.

We may not like it but the conventional wisdom ``Inn haramzadoN ko ziada sir par nahiN charhaana chahiyay`` has some truth to it. The truth is that that the technique seems to work quite well. Any ideas for an alternative and similarly effective but proven technique?

Mubashir,
Anger stirring, but lends an air of helplessness in the end. Being a native multani, I could understand that roughness in the punjabi dialect without the need of the translations, but it only infused more disbelief to the whole saintly image that was built up in the first few paragraphs.

I agree with Temporal that we should be wary of the mere lip service types, but godot`s comment left me wondering.. chances are people like Aqil read this post on chowk and satiate their sense of intercon-socialism. How do we tell them apart? Hell, you just might find a post from one of those here raving about this very same article. Like I said, anger stirring.

Mubashir –

What a heart-breaking story. How does one instill humanity in ignorant minds?

While Aqil would most certainly make a shining Chowkie and his fans will be going wah wah, one would never know the reality. What a pity.

Mubashir:

…as they say in urdu “qual aur fay’el maiN tazaad”…

…this person wants to talk the talk…but walking the walk is what differentiates imbeciles from men or women

…tariq ali, while interviewing bhutto in dacca intercontinental circa 1970 coined a word …intercon-socialist… there is no dearth of intercon-socialists

…but lest this gives the impression that it happens only in pakistan, let me say the world is full of those who pay lip service to ideas and ideals…we all must be wary of them

rgds

t

In rural Punjab (of which I am a proud native) shyt runs downhill. Everyone from Kalsoom to all the way to Nawab of Kala Bagh, everyone does tatay Chuknay (testicle lifting) of those more affluent than they are. Our society is pathetically hierarchical. Child labor is instututainalized in some parts of Punjab. The only way to deal with it is by humiliating those who are engaged in this. First offence, take one tractor and one cow away, 2nd offence, take a piece of land away, 3rd strike take their Hooka away.

This was really poignant and so very sad. I have on question though...if this person is (was) such a good friend of yours and you had bonded on social issues in the past...why didn`t you call him on his mis-treatment of the child? I am just curious.

wow.