Adil Najam
Sepoy, of Chapati Mystery fame, sent me this picture before. It is a crude sheyr (verse) crudely written at the back of a bus.
Girls these days are so proud of their beauty
They don’t know the first kalma, but speak in English
Sepoy said it made him chuckle. It makes me chuckle too. But it also makes me shudder a bit. And not just for the (lack of) poetic skills displayed here. The verse and its display probably says more about the way we view women – especially young women – than it does about the state of poetry in the country.
Notwithstanding the fact that not just rhyme but reason is also missing here and the first and second misras have little connection, the verse does suggest what is viewed good (knowing the pehla kalma) and what is not (speaking in English).
All too often people will presume that a certain behavior correlates to certain moral positions. I remember how we wrote on ATP about an Ad in Dawn’s classified section for
Thinking about the ad and all the societal assumptions imbedded in it still makes me mad. As did this interesting post from ATP friend Mansoor on Metroblog Karachi, where he writes about a new way of stealing cellphones that as practiced in Karachi.
A girl is standing at a bus stop, waiting to catch a bus to go home and talking on her cellphone. There are quite many people around and its daytime.
Two guys on a bike pull up in front of her, the guy on the back gets off the bike, comes in front of her, and without warning, plants a loud slap right on her face! The girl is stunned, cant even utter a word. He then shouts (for the benefit of whoever is listening) “kitney dafa bola hai! Abba ka cellphone nahi lay kar nikla karo” (how many times have i told you, not to take dads cellphone out), grabs her cell, gets back on the bike, and they both drive away.
The girl is too shocked to say anything and just stands there, her hand holding an imaginary cellphone to her ear. People around ignore the situation thinking its just some family tiff or the other…. till she screams out “ye mera bhai nahi tha!!!!!!!” (he was not my brother!!!!!)
What I found notable is that even though the post generated intense discussion it was mostly focused on crime prevention and law enforcement and very little about what – to me – was the most shocking line of all:
People around ignore the situtation thinking its just some family tiff or the other…
Wait, wait, wait. Please. It is OK if someone comes and slap their sister or wife or daughter in public? Or even in private? And the rest of us will say, ‘OK, its a family tiff.’
I must confess that I am shocked most because in my heart of heart I know that many people will, in fact, do exactly that. And, that, is the tragedy of it all.
Ghalib, wha di u say?
For Azra
dear i can say one thing with utmost assurance that american men and european men stare at women that u cant even dream of!may be they dun stare at u! but they do agree with it!im not favoring pakis or bieng i guy syin tht but it makes me ponder that manier times ppl in this country look at the fellow person as sign of identity “like oh she/he seem pakistani” intentions are what u can say!im a born US american trust me this land is foriegn for us even if we live here for 100 years! looking at women is bad ppl do it shud be condemned but naing ur native country where u have ur roots is bad be proud to be of ur roots as if u call paki men tht stare men include brothers husbands fathers too! its simply bad to stare y we stare here is most of the time not in the contet tht u have taken it into.its like among many and eyeing on some one like u!try next time the guy that stares u go to him an ask y he is! that will help the cause not like the comment u made “u men…” totally irresponsible!
i muss say respect women as the nations that havent done so have perished!
FER JAMIE
i understand ur feelings its different in country sides mush of the traditions there are strong what i meant was cities in u know what goes on! but ppl think in pakistan everythings rotten where its not! totally not!
This is just one way in which women are exploited . There are so many other more dangerous ways in which through sex and sexual pressures men make women naked in some many ways other than just hot desire. What is sexy to men can be disgusting to women.
I tend to agree with Pakexpat. We’re making a mountain out of a molehill. Its just a lament, nothing more,nothing less.
As for the Ad, thats just Pakistani-speak for “I can be a good secretary” – we’re reading too much into it, given most posters are western-implants.
Dear Rana Sahib. How is ‘angraizi boolna’ immoral behavior?