Better Living through Chemistry Re: # 10

Thanks for your feedback. You are correct that I should have included herbal treatments in my list of other treatment options alongwith yoga, exercise, etc. There are a couple of caveats: even though *some* herbal treatments have been shown to be effective in mental illness e.g. St.John`s Wort for depression, Valerian and Passionflower for insomnia, Gingko Biloba for memory problems, Omega 3 fatty acids for Bipolar disorder etc, the controlled studies on the efficacy of these compounds are mixed and at this time, they are not recommended (in the US at least) as first time/sole treatments for mental illness requiring the care of a professional.
In addition (again in the US), all these substances are classified as ``dietary supplements`` and not as ``medicines``. They are therefore not subject to the quality control that medications are subject to by the food and drug administration. It is therefore, the consumer`s responsibility to make sure they are taking a supplement that is potent enough and free of adulteration. Also, some can react with prescription medications so always tell your doctor.

Re: the role of religion in treatment of mental illness, I think a person`s strong religious beliefs can be a great help in recovery from any illness (they can also be a hindrance at times). I don`t think any reasonable person would recommend that someone not take any medicines or pursue any medical/surgical interventions at all and rely only on prayer to heal themselves whether they suffer from depression or diabetes. I did not discuss my religious beliefs in the article because I strongly believe a person`s relationship with his or her spirituality is their private business but, as always, everyone has a right to their opinion (as do I).

Better Living through Chemistry Re: # 4

Thanks for your feedback. If more people took responsibility for their health, we`d all be in better shape. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of some rather sinister forces when it comes to health related issues. The whole issue of `direct to consumer` marketing of medicines is one such issues where people are being persuaded thru mass media of which medicines to ask their doctors for, usually the most expensive ones leading to escalating health care costs here in the US. There are other issues of course, which I will perhaps write about at some point.

Better Living through Chemistry Re: # 4

Thanks for your feedback. If more people took responsibility for their health, we`d all be in better shape. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of some rather sinister forces when it comes to health related issues. The whole issue of `direct to consumer` marketing of medicines is one such issues where people are being persuaded thru mass media of which medicines to ask their doctors for, usually the most expensive ones leading to escalating health care costs here in the US. There are other issues of course, which I will perhaps write about at some point.

Better Living through Chemistry Re: # 3

That`s very good, harimau. I like how you managed to weave G.W.Bush, Jinnah, Pakistan and Iraq into the same post! Usually, these topics are guaranteed to start a vigorous flame war immediately which usually involves Arjun, Echoboom, Urstruly, Hamidm, Mantolives etc and involves slinging various and sundry insults about one`s ancestors, country and/or religion at each other. Obviously, most of it quickly becomes irrelevant to the topic at hand but can sometimes be entertaining and I confess, I do lurk around at times going thru some of the posts.
However,I firmly believe one should write what one knows about tho` of course, everyone has a right to their opinion.
Thanks for the feedback.

Better Living through Chemistry Re: # 1

Thanks for your feedback. It doesn`t look like people are too interested in discussing this even though I tried to keep it simple.

Maybe I should have written something about Indian/Pakistani politics or religion. That`s usually guaranteed to start a flame war quickly and is usually good for a few hundred interacts!

Rage of Angels I wanted to wait a while before I responded to the various ad-hominem attacks in the inter-acts section. At first I was taken aback by the (almost) universally negative and, at times, vicious responses that this article elicited. However, on reflection, it obviously struck a nerve so here`s my response.

Regarding calling poor people `poor` or `working class` (re:#4), what would Mr.Kulharee prefer? Something more PC like `lower middle class`, `economically disadvantaged` etc. To me *that* is a load of crap.

There is nothing wrong with being `working class` or `poor`. In fact, unless people who read Chowk and interact all live off their investments (i.e. on the labor of those who work to create value for them), we are all working class. It is only middle class, NRI/NRP, immigrant types who find these terms offensive. Get your priorities straight! The poor do the work that we don`t want to do or don`t have to. They work to feed themselves and their families just as we do. The man or woman sweeping your bathroom is working, same as someone writing computer code. There is no shame in it unless the computer programmer feels there is something unworthy about that job.

I have just re-read the article and find nothing `arrogant` about it. I wanted to describe the rage of those boys I saw who were, yes, poor and working class. I understand their rage, I sympathize with it, though I think it is completely misdirected. They should be marching down the Mall in Lahore to the Punjab assembly building demanding jobs, education and healthcare and I would be marching along with them (I have in the past).

Re: the issue of `misusing government property` or `using contacts` or sifarish to get things done, is that a joke?

If Mr.tahmed, Kulharee and all the other pompous, holier-than-thou interactors had ventured back to India or Pakistan in the last 10 years, rather than sitting in their comfortable living rooms in Queens or Fresno and passing judgement on others, they would know that (a) it is impossible (not difficult, impossible) to get certain things done in Pakistan without any sifarish or massive bribes or both. Among these are e.g. getting new telephone or electricity connections, land transfers, getting official documents or duplicates made and yes, getting stuff released from the Dry Port. Somebody implied that I should not even have hired a clearing agent! In which case I would still be waiting for my stuff to clear a year later. That is not a slur on Pakistan, it`s just the way things are, so get used to it.

Did I do the wrong thing by taking a government car? Maybe. I had my own car but find it difficult to drive in Lahore because of the traffic. There was also the issue of the riots that day and, as it turned out, I was right to be afraid. In the larger scheme of things, my taking a government car (which I didn`t insist on, it was offered, I accepted) was probably the wrong thing from the ethical standpoint but ranks way,way down. If we want to talk about corruption, misuse etc etc, let`s start with Mr.Musharraf and work our way down. I accept that argument though that two wrongs don`t make a right.

Re: what I should do for this `crime` to make reparations, I will assert,confidently, that I have given back to Pakistan way more than what I may have taken that day by using a quarter tank of gas. However, since service should be a discreet undertaking, I will say no more.

Re:#11, do I have anything `positive` to say about Pakistan, read the rest of my writings before making sweeping generalizations.

Re:#17, get a life! (and learn how to type and use capitals correctly!)

The Power of Positive Thinking Re: # 2

Thanks for your feedback, tahmed2 (I suppose on this forum one addresses people by their `handle`, tho` it feels a little odd. BTW, I usually go by just ``Ali``. I`ve been a doctor long enough now that I don`t need to hear the salutation every time and `doctor sahib` makes me feel positively ancient :-)

To return to your question, I would think that most of Pakistan`s `leaders` suffer the same neurosis as the general population. In other words, even they are not immune from being killed, deposed, imprisoned, exiled etc. Even our dear Generalissimo has had several narrow escapes. So in that sense, the `leaders` would place at probably the same rank as the average person in the Maslow pyramid.

As to your question about why Pakistan`s rulers are so reluctant to relinquish power, I think the reason is the same as in any feudal/dictatorial/despotic society. They are not rulers by popular consent and do not serve at the will of the populace. Thus, they would suffer the same fears as the general population, specifically, a dread of the unknown, of tomorrow, of change etc. One of the things that struck me about the average person in Pakistan in my last trip (I just got back a week ago) is the sense of utter helplessness and despondency that people feel. They feel, rightly, that they have no control over their lives, their futures or their destiny and thus there is no sense of civic pride, politeness, altruism, a desire to help others, improve their communities etc. It`s the most naked form of dog-eat-dog, eat-what-you-can-today-who-knows-what`s-going-to-happen-tomorrow.

On the other hand, inspite of India`s tremendous problems (poverty, rural displacement, communal violence etc etc), their democracy is alive and vibrant and their society, in general, seems hopeful and optimistic about the future.

Even a leader as despised as dear Bush has no fear that he will be exiled, or imprisoned or hanged if he relinquishes power whereas our dear General refuses to take off his uniform because he knows that will be the end of him...

Shades of Grey I wrote this after reading Zulfi`s article and he asked my permission to post it on his website www.zrana.com. I thought I would share it with chowk members.

Dear Zulfi; I read with interest your article “Shades of Grey”.

Let me clarify a few things and raise a few pertinent issues: What is this `movement` that you refer to that was ``initiated in 1936 along the lines of the Russian Socialist movement”?
I am aware of no such `movement`. Nana, like others of the time, was affected by the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. He became a member of the progressive/marxist/socialist current of that time (which included people like Hassan Zaheer, Sibte Hasan, Mian Iftikhar-ud-Din, the founder of Progressive Publications limited and publisher of ``Pakistan Times``, ``Imroze``, ``Lail-O-Nehar``, Mazhar Ali Khan and his wife Tahira, the parents of the well known student leader and activist Tariq Ali etc).

``...innermost coterie if you will. Their very identity and sustenance depends on being associated with Faiz and his movement.``

I must take strong exception to this statement since you are presumably including me and my family in this `coterie`. Those who know me well also know that not only did my relationship to Nana never help me in any way that I can remember, as I have pointed out in the article, it was a millstone around my family’s neck precisely because Nana, through his poetry and his work insisted on taking the side of the poor, the dispossessed, and the powerless. If he had compromised with the powers that be, perhaps we, too, would have been rewarded with land, estates, titles etc. Obviously this would have been at the cost of his almost universal adoration among ordinary people in Pakistan, India and the world over (some of which has been extended to us, his immediate family).

Regarding your questions, they seem too elementary for someone of your intellect.

``Firstly, how did a kid growing up in Sialkot and memorizing the Quran eventually become a socialist?``

If you are looking for an evolution of his political thought, you will have to read one of his numerous autobiographies. My opinion is that he could see, as can anyone who wants to, that organized religion, as practiced in Pakistan and everywhere has always been a tool in the hand of rulers to suppress, exploit and subjugate the common man while conveniently offering them their reward in a mythical afterworld. The *idea* of socialism though offers social justice, democracy, freedom of opportunity, respect for human rights, women`s rights etc. This, by the way, is also what advocates of religion (any religion) say they want, except: 1.They only want it for believers and the rest can (literally) go to hell and 2. Their actions betray their true beliefs (see above)

``Secondly, why did a man who rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel under the British Raj chose to be at odds with his own government.``

This is an even easier one. He joined the British Army in 1941-42 when the Indian Communists/Socialists changed their tactics from opposing the second World War as a war between two imperialist powers (Germany and Britain) to supporting the Allied effort after the USSR was attacked by Germany in 1941. Despite what we know about the excesses of the Stalin government in the USSR, a discussion of which is far beyond the scope of this post, it was, at that time, the only government in the world which claimed to stand for the rights of workers, peasants and common people.

Why did he choose to be at odds with the Pakistan government?

Because it was (and remains) a government of unelected bureacrats and senior Army officers representing the large land lords of the Punjab, totally unrepresentative of the people of Pakistan and indifferent to their suffering. He, and others, had initially opposed the partition of India along communal lines (as did Mr. Jinnah) and subsequently expressed his sadness in ``Yeh daagh daagh ujaala, yeh shab gazeeda sahar/Woh intezaar tha jis kaa, yeh woh sahar toe nahin``

``Thirdly, how could a person accept Lenin Award defying the national spirit of the time...?”

Surely you are joking when you talk about ``national spirit``? His actions were quite consistent with his beliefs that all workers in the world were a common fraternity and the idea of `national spirit`, like the idea of the nation-state itself was a tool in the hands of rulers to pit workers of one country against another, something that continues to this day.

The last 40 years have proven that he was quite correct in not allying himself with the rulers of Pakistan. Since that time, nothing has been resolved in Pakistan. We are again under military rule. Unemployment, education, civil rights, law and order; the same problems we faced in 1947 are nowhere near resolution and seem to be steadily getting worse. Let me also point out the `national spirit` of the majority of our medical college group members (including myself) who have voted with their feet and given a resounding `thumbs down` to Pakistan by abandoning it for greener pastures in the West.

``innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire between the powers to be and the socialist movement.`` This is incorrect. My family and I are proud to be the inheritors of his legacy. He was a conscious proponent of workers` rights, democracy, students` rights etc and we have tried to carry on his work. Our family has been somewhat co-opted into the mainstream since then, as tends to happen to all radical groupings. However ,my mother is a vocal proponent of women`s rights, especially young girls in rural Pakistan and has lectured extensively, travelled all over the world, made documentaries, raised funds and done all kinds of work for them. My brother is now following in her footsteps. He jokes that he has to do his `fluff` work on Geo, PTV etc to pay for his `serious` work. My khala and her husband have been active members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for years and have worked with Amnesty International, Oxfam etc etc. I assure you that none of us is sorry for our beliefs or our actions in service of those beliefs. Those beliefs are shared by millions in Pakistan and all over the world.

On a personal note, I did not write the article to elicit sympathy even though a couple of other people commented that it seemed a touch `whiny`. In my defense, all of the things I have written about and expounded on above, I understood late. At 12 or 13 years of age, all I wanted was to `fit in` (like a typical teenager). I hated that my grandfather was politically notorious and that we all were in the limelight because of him. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I realize that I should have been proud of what he stood for as I am now.

There are, I`m sure, many people who agree with your sentiment that he was ``somebody who wrote mighty good poetry - nothing more nothing less``. There are others who would disagree. Its like saying Einstein was a physicist, nothing more, nothing less or that Mr.Jinnah was a politician, nothing more, nothing less. I`m glad you like his poetry, but, as with all of us, our work is a reflection of who we are which in turn is a result of what we do. Nana was a great poet because he chose to write about the struggles of common people, he worked among them as a trade union activist, he edited a newspaper that gave voice to the concerns of common people and he chose not to become the official scribe of the rulers of the day.

A wise man once said ``We are not what we think, we are not what we feel, we are not what we say; we are what we do``. All of us might give that a thought as we wax eloquent about the problems facing the `Muslim Ummah` or the trials of common people in Pakistan while we live our comfortable, upper middle class lives in America.

Growing Up Red Re: # 45

Yes, I am Moneeza Hashmi`s son.

Growing Up Red Thank you to everyone who took time to read the article and respond. Writing it was cathartic for me in a way, although it brought back some painful memories. Thanks to everyone who loves and admires Nana`s poetry, I count myself as one of you. I wish I had begun to understand and appreciate his work before he died so I might have discussed it with him but c`est la vie...
I am not going to comment on the politics of his life or my own social/political/religious beliefs (that would require another article and I`m not sure I want to open that Pandora`s box ;-) except to say that yes, a person`s life`s work defines his life and those of us who chose to pursue goals higher than simply working for a paycheck pay a price for that (unfortunately, I haven`t had the courage to do that yet).

Thanks also to all those who have contributed titbits about Nana`s life that I never knew about. It has been informative and illuminating.

Growing Up Red Re: # 14
Yes, Adeel and I are brothers.

Growing Up Red Re: # 5

I`m afraid I don`t know if that couplet is by Faiz.

Death Be Not Proud Re: post #3 Ijaz; I have no doubt that Mani would be alive today if we had the equivalent in Pakistan of an EMS service where paramedics could have attended him at the scene of the accident and stabilized him before transporting him to the hospital. Unfortunately, human life is cheap in Pakistan and resources are scarce so....

Re: #4 Nooralain is right, the title of the piece, ``Death Be Not Proud`` is the title of a poem by John Donne (1572-1631). It begins
``DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so``.

For those interested in poetry, the stanza can be found here http://www.bartleby.com/105/72.html

For those looking for more works from Donne, check here http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/

The Relationship That Heals First off (and Re #9 Sobia), my apologies to Chowk readers for inflicting another article on you all so soon.The first one was posted almost 6 weeks after submission and I assumed this one would take that long as well.I promise not to write anything else for at least another month :-)

Re#1 Scout ?????

Re#3 Shankar, very well said.Your reply would make a nice article itself.Thank you.

Re#4 Dionysus, I was actually trained at Baylor which is a heavily psychoanalytical program and the patient that I described in the article was actually in `insight-oriented long term therapy`(translation: psychoanalytic therapy) with me.Personally (and with apologies to anyone who has been in analysis), I think Freudian or analytic therapy is only marginally useful at best and the very structure of the therapy (i.e. 2-4 times a week for years) tends to exclude almost all people that I currently see (blue collar, poorly educated).I think more highly of Cognitive and Behavioral therapies with a more `here and now` focus.

Re #6,7,8 Thank you all.Yes, I think the focus of the article was something I believe in strongly(and is illustrated nicely in his book,`Sacred Hoops` by one of my idols, Lakers coach Phil Jackson), `listening without judgement`.We all tend to bring pre-conceived notions and prejudices to situations specially when it involves someone close to us and suspending those beliefs while lending a supportive shoulder is often the best thing we can offer.

Sobia ,see above.

BTW I`m going to Lahore on Saturday so you all will probably not be hearing from me (sigh of relief all round!) for a couple of weeks but after I get back, I`m probably going to write an unbearably sentimental piece about the home-land, so sharpen your knives everyone!

Cheers :-)

Aap Amrika Main Hotay Hain?? (Do You Live In America) Re: #117

Dionysus

I couldn`t agree more and thank you for the compliment.I was beginning to think nobody was talking about the article anymore.I was told by another writer that unfortunately, most discussions on these boards tend to degenerate into name calling along India-Pakistan/Hindu-Muslim lines.I`m glad you liked the article and let me add that I agree about conditions in Pakistan and the burden that common (read :not rich) people have to carry.All the more reason for intelligent, motivated people to return and try to improve things. I for one fully intend to do so in the near future.

Cheers!

Aap Amrika Main Hotay Hain?? (Do You Live In America) Re: #77

I couldn`t agree more.It is in fact this corrosive feeling of isolation that constantly nags at me and makes me wish I could go back today.For most of us, there are of course, other considerations.Some people like me came here to get an education and now find it difficult to give up the security and comfort we have become accustomed to.Others support families back home and can`t just pack up and leave but I think my father said it well when in response to my eternal complaint about missing home he said``Of course, you miss home; you are not connected to anyone or anything; living means connectedness; your feet are firmly planted in mid-air!``