Owais Mughal
With apologies to Allama Iqbal:
aa gaya ain laRaai meiN agar waqt-i-JAZZ
qibla ru ho ke zameeN bos hui qaum-e-Hejaz
The following photo is courtesy of Mr. Waheed M. Zuberi.
It shows a traffic policeman busy talking on cellular phone while controlling the traffic through a busy intersection. The photo was taken on a Clifton, Karachi Road at 5:15 p.m. on April 9, 2008. Another person who was with Waheed while this photo was taken writes in his comment at flickr.com that:
It is important to note that the traffic was totally ignoring the policeman (as u can see in the pic) because he first stood and dialled the number ignoring the movement of the traffic – which caused traffic on all sides to start moving – he then casually raised his hand which again did not bring much of a result..
Notes:
(1) “Jazz” is one of the most popular mobile phone cards in Pakistan
(2) Correct misra of Iqbal is: aa gaya ain laRaai meiN agar waqt-i-namaz
@Okha_Jatt:
The verse is absolutely correct. ‘ain’ means ‘ right in the center of’.
Nice photograph.
Thanks, Mr. Zuberi for this photo and observation.
Not sure if I should chuckle and just file this image away as yet another funny, common, daily, acceptable hapenstance in Pakistani society and say the usual mantra: “who’s going to do anything about this anyway?” Well, anyone who witnesses this actually happening surely can give it a shot. It takes many drops before you can fill that proverbial bucket!
I think it’s wonderful that we Pakistani’s are able to take note and point out “what’s wrong with this picture” more frequently now than ever…however, do we really know what the next step would be in order to make sure such negligences don’t continue to happen over and over again?
Would we know where to report this traffic policeman’s complete disregard for his responsibility to this job? Is there a place to file a complaint? What if a major accident resulted and someone got seriously injured? Would he have to pay the price? Would reporting this incident even make a difference? Yes, if enough people did report it to ‘proper’ authorities (!) perhaps. What do our laws, our institutions have in store for such on the job negligence? If anyone in the US or UK observed this type of slacking off of an official of the city/government, they would probably report it (there would surely be a proper channel to follow) and most likely there would be some recourse or action taken. At least a case history would be made at minimum.
When there are consequences, accountability, and checks & balances in civil society, then people tend to clean up their acts and start following the ‘rules’. If we cannot hold accountable, the individuals who are responsible for maintaining basic order and safety in our civil society, what hope will we have for those higher up in the rungs? Action brings change. Observations don’t…but it’s a good start.
The person traveling with Waheed rightly pointed out the inconspicuousness of the Traffic Cop. It is also important to point the hanging wires out of the street pole ;)
And the fact that a heavy vehicle (the tanker) is allowed to commute on a busy road amidst light vehicular traffic.
The best would be to point out that the same tanker is boasting the logo of one of the private TV channels in Pakistan. Check it out!
Allama Iqbal say ma;zrat kay saath,
mohabbat mujhay un no-jawanoN say hai
uraatay hain jo shab bher chat per patang.
chat–roof top
Hi Awais! another short “correction” for the above verse
aa gaya “laam” larai mein agar waqt-e-Jazz.
Larai starts with laam not ain ;)