Adil Najam
On your left is the picture of the flag of the Czech Republic. On your right is a ‘Check’ (or, rather, checkered flag; often used in car racing. The two should never be confused. Except for the fact that ‘Czech’ is pronounced as ‘check.’
Ordinarily, this should not be a problem. But right now the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic is visiting Islamabad, and the Capital’s PR people have adorned flags on flagpoles and a number of (very) large banners to welcome him in the spirit of good hospitality. The only problem is that instead of putting the ‘Czech’ flags on the banners, they have ‘Check’ flags!
I saw these while driving back into Islamabad on the from the Airport. I rushed back to see if I would figure out who was responsible for this little gaffe and maybe alert them to the mistake before the Czech PM arrived. Unfortunately, it turned out that the Czech PM was already here.
I wonder what he and his team thought of this. Did they even mention it to their hosts or did they just keep politely quiet? I also wonder what they thought about the banner that read: “We Pray for the Czech Progress and Prosperity”?I am sure they liked the sentiment, but maybe they also wondered why Pakistanis are praying for Czech progress and prosperity instead of working harder for Pakistani progress or prosperity. On the other hand, maybe they do not think as hard about what is written on banners as I do!
I have no way of knowing this, but my theory of how this might have happened is this – Someone tells someone to find out what a Czech (read ‘check’) flag looks like; they look up ‘check flag’ on Google, and that is the one which makes it way on the banner.
Nice story for a chuckle? But how would you feel if the Pakistan Prime Minister goes to another country and they mess up the flags this way?
When totally dull and ignorant people get higher positions in a nation like Pakistanis, what other can we expect from them.Musharraf is the head of these highly educated people.
I really wish I could reveal my identity and share a ‘behind-the-scenes’ experience with you guys – particularly of the Queen’s visit to Pakistan. But that was almost a decade ago.
I guess the idea behind “Idiocracy” is proven correct here, even though a little fast tracked.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/
Self analysing laugh is a good laugh.
Learn from your mistakes and move on.
Thank you and drive through.;-)
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The second problem with Czechs is, that we are the most atheistic country. So sentence “We pry for …” has in Czech meaning “We hope for …, [but we know that you have no chance to win]”. But we love (even black) humor and culture distance is SO big. Prepare for some scandal after Pakistan prime minister visit Czech republic.