Adil Najam
I know. I know. Enough of this already. Let’s move on now to something else. Things more important. That was exactly my thought too.
Until I saw this full page advert in today’s Dawn. Then, I could not resist. Look at the tag-line at the top:
“The Dilemma of Ustad Isa and Atkins.”
Ustad Isa, of course, was the architect who designed the Taj Mahal. And supposedly Atkins is the guy who did the Burj and is now trying to plagiarize his own design in Islamabad. The main text, in the middle of the advert, reads:
“One designed the Taj Mahal and the other, the Burj-Al-Arab. Both had the desire to improve upon or at least match the wonders they had conceived with their next project. We Don’t know about Ustad Isa and his team but Atkins had the wish fulfilled with The Centaurus, making it the first construction project in Pakistan to exceed global standards. To be above everything, The Centaurus was designed to be light years ahead.”
Till now I have found this whole thing intriguing and mildly amusing. A commentary on our aspirations as a society. A discourse on urban aesthetics. A debate about our role-models, about who (and what) we want to become, and who we wish to resemble. In that sense this project and its dreamt up graphics are no different from the dreamt up graphics of the 1960s PIA advert that we had written about early on and which continues to be amongst the most-visited ATP posts (here).
But this bit about comparing Ustad Isa and Atkins and my head spinning. Give me a break. Please! Comparing this to the Taj Mahal is a joke, and not a good one either. And if it has to be done, let someone else make the comparison rather than toot your own hand. Reminds me of a great Anwar Masood (here) humorous sheyr:
Ravi ka hai bayan, kay mairay saabqa pull par
choonTi koee kehti thi yeh sael-e-rawan sayfolaad ka pull daikho dehal jaata hai kaisay
hum tum jo guzartay hain ik saath yahan sayThe River Ravi tells the story of how on its old (metal) bridge
once a tiny any was heard saying to the gushing waters beneathlook, how this might steel bridge shakes and trembles with fear
when you and I move in unison near it!
Talk about being pretentious and taking undeserved credit!
By way of disclosure, I should say that although I admire the Taj Mahal as a building (and enjoyed visiting it); as a concept I remain rather underwhelmed by it. In this regards I am in the Sahir Ludhianvi camp (another great poet whose poetic inspirations matured in Lahore (see ATP post here):
Ik Shahenshah nay daulat ka sahara lay kar
humm ghareebouN ki mohabbat ka uRaya hai mazaaq
An Emperor has used
the crutches of his wealth
to mock at the love of the dispossessed
I guess this is because I have never been a fan of the Mughals (no offence meant, Owais!). I don’t particularly care for monarchy, and this set of monarchs had some rather nauseating habits; particularly the later ones. Of course, that does not keep me from admiring some of the works created by them – or rather in their name, by the sweat and blood of others (see ATP post on Anarkali here).
What ever one does or does not think of the Taj. The fact of the matter is that comparing this to the Taj Mahal, even by analogy, is insulting to the Taj. To paraphrase a famous American politician: “I have seen the Taj Mahal, and this is no Taj Mahal!”
Earlier ATP post on this hotel here and here. Earlier ATP post on advertising: good (here) and bad (here).
I have been a fan of this verse from Sahir Ludhianwi for a very long time. Somehow I relate to it despite still viewing Taj Mahal as an iconic masterpiece. As I walked down a main street in Boston last night I realized hat an old 19th century building had been renovated to incorporate the Indian style “jhaalar” trim on windows. ooked fascinating!
Speaking of Taj Mahal and romantic icons? Are there any such buildings in Pakistan that the general population is acutely aware of (or can be made aware of). I remember the Supreme Ishq video on TV spoke about one, but is that really it? I think we can also have more places to visit for a romantic trip with our siginificant other.
thank you for that Sahir reference. it is a beautiful poem by Sahir. i like the way you weave literature into everyday topics.
Dear Mr. Alam, I am sorry to say I am rather put off by the tone and anger in it. You like the building, say so. Why do you have to abuse and be disrespectful to those who disagree with you? And why do we always have to assume conspiracies, why assume that everyone has a hidden agenda? Do you?
I surf on this site regularly but this is the first time I am compelled to write, just becasue of this resentful attitude that occasionally surface. And yes I am PROUDLY progressive. And that means I will respect the right of “regressives” to hold their view but why be abusive. Why is it ‘hateful’ to Pakistan to say you don’t like the design of a building that was neither designed by nor is owned by nor will be constructed by a Pakistani? And why would it be hateful even if it were?
This post as others have said is about what our national aspirations are and what and who we want to be like. And such messages point to the problem on intolerance. We just can’t seem to accept an alternative view. Even on something like a building. If we disagree, then we have to abuse, we have to assume that people have hidden agenda. Thank God you have not (yet!) accused this site to be a ‘sahooni saazish’ or seen a ‘foreign hand’ in this. Actually, you do seem to!! (*grin*)
The hatefulness is in your message. I have never seen anything ‘hateful’ to Pakistan in this site and I resent your belief that any progressive is automatically ‘hateful’ to Pakistan. It was progressives who made this country. While regressives who dont not like ‘western democracy’ were mostly opposed to it. You are welcome to your views – its your country too – but please don’t impose them on me. Why do conservatives everywhere have to demonize those who they disagree with.
By the way, since I am on a roll, why are people assuming that everyone here is living outside Pakistan. I have lived abroad in the past. I now live in Islamabad (where do you live?). I do not like this building, but frankly its not a big deal and if you like it, good for you. As people have said, its a matter of taste. I myself do not think we in Islamabad “DESERVE” this building. I think we can do much better!
Finally, yes, I will take that bet you offer. What are we betting on!
Dear ATP people, I have seen on some blogs a line automatically comes up showing a flag and place of where people are writing from, maybe you should have that. I think there are quite a few of us from Pakistan who come hear regularly; a number of my friends here talk about it.
verysmart : I couldn’t agree with you more. The pretentious progressiveness of some of these progressives surfing the ATP blog is afterall evident. It appears that they want western democracy in Pakistan but can not stomach the modern structures in the same country?
There is some twisted irony here and I am not sure what the agenda is? Are they confused or just plain hateful of everything Pakistan. Easy to do when you have an adopted country but don’t they think Pakistanis deserve any of that?
So what if its plagiarised or isn’t a fit for the location? Did Columbus discover Manhattan? Was that a perfect fit for that locality? Think about it? I bet most of these critics will be the first ones to have their very first coffee in this beautiful building when it opens and then will brag about it…
Ramesh,
to make a fair comparison, you have to look at Karachi, not Islamabad. Karachi is the center of gravity when it comes to business and pretty much any type of trade. And in Karachi, office buildings are springing up quite fast…financial institutions seem to be taking a lead in that area.
Also, India has been having a lot of success lately but one has to keep in mind that India is a MUCH bigger country than Pakistan and a very sizable proportion of Indians are completely disenfranchised from this newfound wealth.