Life inside and outside the Bubble

hamidm #9 While the Pakistanis you know may indeed be spending their time not doing anything other than chatting about the misery outside the bubble, as per the examples I gave in #14, there are many Pakistanis who do care and do spend time and resources.

As for the ``entitlement mentality of the poor`` that you talk about in #11, this is merely adding insult to injury. Hard though it may be to believe, the poor are no different than you or me or anyone else. The micro-credit scheme (one of the few worthwhile ideas to come out of the third world I may add) is based on this very assumption, and has proved correct.

andaleeb: I agree fully with you. There are indeed many well-off Pakistanis who step ``outside the bubble`` to help those in need. Many of these are expats who fund organizations like DIL (Developments in Literacy) and SOS (orphanages) or simply set up college scholarships for poor but good students in their villages. One gentleman, a retired colonel, has opened over 300 schools for girls in the most remote areas of Mianwali (places where families are scattered in small hamlets). And then we have Edhi and Imran in the health sector. So, well-off Pakistanis are second to none in ``stepping outside the bubble``. I myself spent an entire career with an international development agency, and the most rewarding time was when I stepped ``outside the bubble`` of five star hotels and meetings in ministries and went to some of the most remote and backward places on earth (where even the local government officials refused to go). I will forever remember the dignity in the eyes of the poorest of the poor and the weakest members of society (women and young children with aspirations of getting a school education) in places like Bangladesh.

The sad fact however is that there are too many Pakistanis who are content to live inside the bubble (the generals in their glass tinted flag cars, the maulvis and landlords in their pajeros, and even many middle class pakistanis). It is to these that the article is addressed, and properly so.

hi shan....shan rehman from froebels class of 2003? nice piece!

tahmed: man ppl care about what lies outiside the bubble...maybe u shud get out and realize that many ppl `inside that bubble` are making an effort to help and improve our country`s situation.

personally i think shan`s right but at the same time its how far u look into it and how truly u think u can make a difference. and charity definately helps...trying donating 10 bucks every month from ur paycheck and watch the difference!

Re: # 10
cayenne, i believe tahmed mistook u for someone else. take it as a case of misdirected anger. btw sania rocks!

Re: # 8

tahmed mian ......... i know a lot of people outside the bubble and do whatever i can do to lend them a helping hand but time and again i have been disappointed by the entitlement mentality of some of the ``miserable poor`` ........

............. nobody is arguing that most folks living inside the bubble could do more - but you cannot build a society based on charity alone ............ pakistan lacks the basic social and politcal infrastruture that is required for any meaningful progress and we don`t have to reinvent the wheel - the answer lies in secularism, democracy, pluralism and free markets ......... you and i can make all the donations to various chariities and adopt all the poor families we want, but it won`t make a dent in the big ball of misery ............ it will make you feel good, specially if it is tax deductable and you can get your picture taken with imran khan ................

............ as i get older, i have little patience for yet another heart-rending story .......... by this time i have heard them all .............

#8 by tahmed32 on April 20, 2005 8:07am PT
further to #7: as for cayenne missing the point - he.....................

Oh.Go on!!!.Spew forth more venom, if it makes you feel good.None of what you said is true.I may be over zealously indian, but some times facetiously too.I find many things in my country downright ludicrous.I wouldn`t say pakistan is worse off or better off than india `cause i don`t know.I will proudly trumpet my country`s achievements.If that gives you heartburn, so be it.Sania Mirza`s tennis ranking went up from 103 to 74.That an indian woman could get even this far in the highly competetive arena of tennis is an achievement.She`s only 19.Maybe she`ll go much higher.I gloat.If that makes you unhappy , so be it.But i certainly ain`t insulting pakistan in any way.It`s 9p,i`m meeting my friends at a local bar for a few drinks before i head home.I will drink to your health.I live in India, the land of free, loose and drunken beings.I love it.

Re: # 7

tahmed .... i disagree with your statement that ``Too many Pakistanis simply dont care of what lies outside their ``bubble``................ everyone seems to ``care`` as this article points out, i.e. if care means moaning and groaning .........people in pakistan talk about it constantly in the comfort of their drawing rooms and the chattering non-residents continue to wring their hands on the internet ..........everyone talks about it because it is cathartic and it makes them feel good and then they can go back to what they were doing ......... an enema would serve the same purpose ..........

further to #7: as for cayenne missing the point - he has the excuse of being a CREIP (creep) and therefore all he is capable of writing is about how bad pakistanis are. Talk about the weather, and he will tell you that the weather is miserable in pakistan while it is eternal spring in india. Talk about sports, and he will tell you that pakistanis are terrorists while indians are ``just like gora americans``. This is creep madness, quite obvious on chowk.

your (hamidm`s) reason for missing the point is simply what i mentioned below - the misery of the poor in pakistan means nothing since you got it made inside the bubble.

hamidm: i dont see any ``pride`` in Dunkin Donuts in the article. On the contrary, it is about the bubble that people like you and cayenne and most other desi babus live in. As I said in #3 below ``Too many Pakistanis simply dont care of what lies outside their ``bubble``. `` Your post just proves my point. You dont get it even if it is written in black and white as in this article.

Now go back and read this article a few times. Maybe the point of this article will sink in. Maybe it wont.

Re: # 5

cayenne,

excellent questions : ``Why are pakistanis so proud of their `McDonalds`s`` and `Dunkin Donut`s?.And, then criticize their existence``..........

.............. because we are a nation of hand-wringing dolts and hopelss romantics who find it easier to whine and moan and groan than accept reality and then get off our sorry duffs to do something about it .......... you are absolutely rigt when you say ``Social responsibility is a burden not only for the rich but for all sections of society`` - the miserable poor in pakistan are just as guilty as the upper classes when it comes to taking responsibility ..........everyone is blaming somone else .....

............... in the past india and pakistan were equally miserable, but in the last few years i have noticed a remarkable change in the attitude of indians - they are upbeat, optimistic, and hopeful about the future ........ why?...... because they are firmly on the path of secularism, democracy, pluralism and free markets which will eventually lead to prosperity for all ............. the pathetic pakis, on the other hand, continue to dither on the road to nowhere ................ so we will continue to see silly stories and lame lamentations like this .............. expect another heart-wrenching poem from temporal soon .....

Why are pakistanis so proud of their `McDonalds`s`` and `Dunkin Donut`s?.And, then criticize their existence.Such a paradox.Here in India we have international and national chains of every product from indian sweets to european pastries, Maruti`s to Rolls Royce, McDonalds to MarryBrown`s, Barista to Qwikys and Coffee Day , in other words one sees the wole spectrum of products available for the consumer to use and then discard, as it should be.All this is based on one`s income.Here in Mumbai, you will see a chai shop selling lard laden cookies in front of a coffee shop selling 20 different types of coffee and delicate cookies.Based on one`s income one goes to the appropriate place and goes on one`s way.That is democracy for you.


Poverty is an unfortunate situation in our part of the world.In india, our experiment of using a `free economy` as an engine for growth and change is bearing results, albeit slowly.But we have to start somewhere.Social responsibility is a burden not only for the rich but for all sections of society.Without that we will continue to see more poor children at traffic junctions

Re: # 1
i didn`t discover chowk till about a month ago. this was supposed to be called `globalization and subjectivity`, but, whatever, im glad it got read. a lot of stuff in here is a little exaggerated` - part fact, part fiction, part things just observed growing up. so it wasnt neccesarily autobiographical. i count shabbir, the man who still drives my grandparents around- and boota, the man who cooked for my family, as friends i can trust.
i agree with you about the hypocrisy. its always pained me that otherwise good natured, caring and well-educated people can live with it without any qualms.
its also unfortunate that rich or urbanized middle-class desis (including those in the diaspora) claim authenticity to their `culture` when their lives our incredibly different from the vast majority of the population- who aren`t urbanized, and certainly aren`t rich. this definitely happens on places like chowk, and pretty much in all national and regional `progressive` media representations. Even how the educated understand their history, something so fundamental, is from a certain class/urban bias.
didnt mean to rant..

Shan: How sad it is that while some pakistanis live in a ``bubble`` as you accurately put it, others live miserable lives. I found your reference to the ``The children’s eyes staring into the multicolored wonderland of Mcdonald’s`` to be particularly heart-rending.

At least you are conscious of this ``bubble`` and the misery of the urban poor. Too many Pakistanis simply dont care of what lies outside their ``bubble``.

shan:

...am reminded of this poem that i would like to share from my ilog...(no g this is not instant poetry;))

gajra*

he did not say anything
just thrust the gajras* in view
and looked with baleful eyes

when the traffic halts
other hawkers and beggars attack
seeking alms, selling wares
with timing, driven
but this kid and
his even younger sister
just look at you

they could be mute
i never heard them
the only thing i traded
was a dismissive
maaf karo! nahiN chahiyay**

yesterday stopped at red on islington***
and the scent of jasmine wafted in
i looked for baleful eyes

*-- a bracelet of flowers: an ornament of flowers for the wrist
**-- forgive me! don`t need it
***- a T.O. street

shan:

welcome to chowk!...

...as long as the lungs are fed air we continue to live in bubbles...the one you mentioned here was from inside one privileged bubble...a child of ten or twelve sitting in the back seat of a small upholstered air-condtioned car with a uniformed chauffeur...being accosted by a child of same age from the other side of the window...begging or selling matches, paper or combs...this discussion may get out of hand if i mention jab`r or qad`r ...fate or free-will ...destined or ordained...

digression: not so long ago the cars were not air-conditioned and we addressed them as uncle or chacha...guess times do change..end digression...

and then we grow up...inside different bubbles...i don`t know how long you have been on chowk...but there are folks here who still live inside their bubbles and look on others outside their bubbles as that child on the other side...with utter contempt...not with tolerance...not with compassion...and yet we invoke the same Creator and His messenger...bubbles!

rgds

t