I look out the window at the beautiful mountains, the clear blue sky, and the wonderful winter sunshine. I see cars driving along the road – from the luxury four-wheelers, to the economy small cars. Busy people. Peaceful people. People going about their daily lives. People working hard on their jobs to feed their families, to fulfill their ambitions, to make something of their lives, to raise their children, to love and to live.
Then I hear the news of some terrible incident somewhere close by. The contrast between what I see all around and what I see in these isolated incidents is jarring.
And I think to myself, we’re peaceful, friendly people – we deserve better.
I walk out of a meeting and reflect on the people I have just been talking to. Intelligent, smart people. People with a sense of purpose, a sense of direction, with ideas, with the will to find new solutions, to overcome every obstacle and succeed. Articulate, intellectual people who fill you with confidence and hope.
Then I switch on the television and see a public figure harping on the same rhetoric he’s been spewing for years. He has no ideas for the future, he has no inspiration for his countrymen, he offers little hope and little sense of direction. The contrast between the people I meet everyday, and the people on television is jarring.
And I think to myself, we’re an intelligent people – we deserve better.
I finish reading a book on our history, our traditions. I think about the glorious selfless individuals who once led us, about the people who were kind, who had honor, who had values, who put their principles before themselves.
And then I think of our current crop of people in authority and the contrast is jarring.
And I think to myself, we are a people with a proud history, with a glorious tradition – we deserve better.
I drive along the M2, taking in the wide lanes, the lovely countryside, the clean, efficient service areas. As I stray above the speed limit I get pulled over by a traffic sergeant. He is polite but firm, courteous but confident. He doesn’t even hint for a bribe, simply writes me a ticket and advises me to drive more carefully for my own safety.
Then I reach the city and get mired in traffic again, the road is crowded, the lanes are narrow, and patience is running low. The contrast between where we are and where we can go is jarring.
And I think to myself, we are capable of so much more – we deserve better.
I visit the market and stopover at the video shop. I browse through DVDs of the latest hollywood blockbusters, and a dazzling choice of music from around the world. I head over to the bookshop next and spend a pleasant hour leafing through literature on every topic under the sun and from around the world. The place is buzzing with people, moderate, intelligent people with an interest in the world around them and a hunger for the creative outlets.
Then I turn on a foreign news channel and see a couple of guys discussing Pakistan as if it were some prehistoric backwater filled with people disconnected from modern life. The contrast between how we live and how people see us is jarring.
And I think to myself – we deserve better, we deserve so much better.
I have no answers.
I don’t know how to bridge the contrast between the reality of a great country, with proud people and glorious traditions; the equally jarring reality of a greedy, spineless set of people holding them back; and a suspicious world that is bent upon painting 170 million people with a single, morbid brush .
But I know this: change will come, change is inevitable. We have too much potential to go down as history’s footnote! We deserve better!
Farid Ahmad blogs at ‘How Many Roads Must a Man Walk Down.’
last year while staying at lahore gymkhana club, courtesy of a retired general, two american friends and i were refused service in the club restaurant.
the reason was a club rule left over from the colonial days that required men to wear a black tie and dress shoes. the manager was very courteous, he brought shoes and a tie for the american male friend. he refused to wear tie and the shoes and we had to leave without food. mind you he was wearing shoes but not dress shoes.
after 62 years since independence we deserve to have our own rules.
1-I don’t think the Pakistani policians are the worst in the world by a long margin; if ‘corruption’ was the criteria then as many as one-third of Indian parliament has either ‘convicts’ or highly tainted people. Even the ‘most successful democracy’ in the world–America–a majority of population distrusts and even despises the Congress. But none of these countries want their army to take charge. So why do the bloggers always single-out Pakistan’s politicians by using the worthless cliches of ‘corrupt’ politicians?
2- As I see it, Pakistan’s main problem is not really of ‘governance’. It is the high birth-rate combined with (yes) relatively low natural resources AND the presence of millions of religious zealots. Musharraf used to, quite casually, say that 99% of Pakistanis are peace-loving. So what is the 1% of 170 million people? Mind you, these kind of religious fanatics are very, very hard to beat. A North Korean hardcore partisan is likely to back-away when life in danger but these militant fanatics are, to quote Musharraf again, are like ‘walking missiles’. Only about a couple of them managed to kill Benazir Bhutto and scores around her.
3-And, yes, most comments are correct: We get the leaders we deserve. And why is that a surprise? Are these leaders hoisted upon Pakistan by the Martians?
Very well-written!
Excellent post—-we are real good and deserve much better. Be proud of being a Pakistani where ever you are
Take a moment to reflect on what “we” means. “We” means the educated middle classes of Pakistan. Everything depends on whether the Pakistani middle classes will give up on Pakistan and pursue careers abroad, as is increasingly happening, or if they will choose to stay in Pakistan and bring about a sweeping change. Remember that the French Revolution was started by the middle class. The question is how to prevent pessimism and apathy among the middle classes.