A Mathematical Genius Gill Sahib:

Your article is very interesting and timely. It explains a lot to me and I am able to appreciate the ``The beautiful Mind``

Sometimes when I read the comments or replies it seems to me that Chowk is choked by Neanderthals who mostly discuss their personal problems without any relevance to the topic. Their replies or responses are full of personal prejudices and they let it all hang out.

Good luck to you and keep on writing.

America’s Responsibility This is a very interesting question. Britain in hey day of its coloninal power was never hated so much by the common people in its colonies. Surprisingly, older generation of Indian and Pakistanis fondly talk about British rule in the subcontinent. In my opinion there are a few reasons for this hatred against the USA as follows:

1. American policies are based on short term vision and quick fixes. They never think about the long term impact. Recent example is Afghanistan. After the demise of USSR, Americans packed up and went home leaving local war lords to fight each other. They could not care less about what happens to common people.

2. American officials always cultivate and mix with the elite of the society. The elite could be military, bureaucracy, industrialists or feudal lords. They have so far not communicated with common people or devised programs that positively impact common people of any country.

3.National interest is considered paramount by Americans. However, in a global economy the interests of common people all over the World are also important. As a sole super power, America should look into the common interests of the whole World.

Having said this, I do not think America will change. America is a very dynemic country. Any person or corporation that can not compete in changing circumstances goes out of the loop.

What other countries can do about it? I believe that immigrants of various countries can play a role in impacting the policies of this country. The successful countries have a strong lobby here and get the attention based on their efforts.

Poor countries do not have any lobby, so nobody listens to them.

Running Naked About a century ago, various nations of Europe were fighting each other. There was constant balance of power struggle between dominant powers of Europe. Two World Wars came as a result of this power struggle. Then, the masses got educated and now they can not be exploited by power hungry leaders. So European common community came into being and now Europe and all Western powers are living in peace and harmony.

India, Pakistan and other Third World countries are at least one century behind. Since their leaders are influenced by illiterate masses, they become prisoners of their own rhetoric. All of this talk of War between India and Pakistan is really absurd.

The leaders of bith countries must realize that both of them are now nuclear powers. Agreed that India has enough fire power to destroy Pakistan, but India will be crippled too. All of their dreams of becoming a South Asian power will be gone for ever because a crippled country can not stand and becomes easy target for bounty hunters.

My advise to common people and leaders of both countries is to make a new beginning. It has already poisoned the minds and hearts of people on both sides due to previous wars.

Let the new generation begin with a legacy of peace so that all hatred accumulated is drained out of next generation.

The leaders must realize that South Asia has a lot of moral, cultural and social refinements that they can offer to the whole World instead of seething anger. May the better angels of our nature prevail.

The Forgotten Children of God Please tell this to any of your Hindu friends. First of all they will never accept it. Even if they accept it, they will be quick to point out that it is changing now. I had an opportunity of conducting a tour of Indian engineers in Europe. I found out that one engineer always had a room to himself while all others shared rooms to save money. Later on I found out that he was a Harijan or Dalit and no one wanted to share room with him.

One of the main factor in India`s partition has been untouchablity of all Muslims. The reason has been that most of Muslims were converts from Dalits or untouchables. This discrimination has even continued in Pakistan.

A tourist in India can not figure anything out. This is a deep religious feeling that is hard to change. I have to admit that ancient Munis and Rishis were very smart. They created a system that has continued for thousands of years keeping their off-springs on top.

Just look in matrimonial ads. in any Indian newspapers in India or even in USA. They mention caste as a normal thing.

I wish the Dalit lady good luck in her efforts in education of western people.

Top Ten South Asian Pieces of Music Music, poetry and literature reflect a personal taste and goes back to early stages of a person`s life. However, I could not escape noticing that the selection is tilted towards sad and spiritual songs. In the subcontinent, there has been a long era of tragic songs and tragedy films.

Later on it changed and gave way to violence. The violence was shown as a reaction to injustice. Slowly it is fading away giving in to romantic films.

If you like to survive and come out of natural disaster then you need upbeat songs that can encourage and motivate to come out of the situation. I believe that Jazaba Junoon sung by Junoon is one of the songs that inspires courage. Similarly there are many such songs. The question is whether one wants to come out or stay there.

The Killing Fields of Karachi This is in reference to the leadership of Urdu speaking people not only in Karachi but all over Pakistan. The leadership can either use negative or positive ways to react to a situation. It is very easy to blame Punjabis or Pathans for all of the problems that Mohajirs face. It is not logical or rational to blame US, India or Punjab for all of Karachi problems. Just look at the senseless murder? Can anyone say that someone from outside came to do do such ghastely crime. It was his next door neighbor for heaven`s sake.

In my opinion, a positive leadership would have taken the task of building up Karachi and Sindh and make it an envy of all other provinces. However that was not to be and MQM followed the path of revenge to the crimes committed. The fact is that due to the leadership in Karachi which is mostly Muhajirs, Karachi continues to go down. The Industrialists, businessmen started moving out. That caused unemployment among young people and frustration. The frustration led to the spread of crime among young people. .

I remember Karachi as a very peaceful city with everyone busy with their own life. I believe that time has come to step up and take the responsibility of correcting the situation instead of blaming someone from outside of Sindh province. It is about time that MQM starts rethinking and cooperate with with their own people who want to make Karachi a peaceful place. They are in majority and thus hold the key to prosperity of Karachi.

Paki Students in the US: a Female Perspective So all Pakis are out in the open. What about Americans and American born desi kids on campus? Every type that you have counted do exist and this is a reflection of our society back home. At the same time, let me narrate my experience with the Americans. One great quality about American people is that within a few hours of flight from USA to Europe, the American sitting next to you will tell you everything about him or herself. As soon as the plane lands, he or she will not even say good bye. I have met Americans who have not met their old men (Father) in ten years.

On the contrary, Desi people travelling in a train make friends for life.

Lastly, try to borrow money from American and you will find out. One time I succeeded in borrowing $50 and the guy went on calculating the interest he is going to lose and said so.

I am not defending the behaviour of Paki students on campus. I can assure you that if a Paki girl is in trouble on campus, some Paki boy will come to rescue her at all costs.

The Making of a Successful Marriage Dear Gnomad and Adila:

I appreciate your understanding of message that I have tried to develop. In the beginning, I thought that somehow people from South Asia are smart and more cultured as compared to Americans. The reason being that we have good family values. Now I realize that human being act according to the circumstances. No wonder, that the second generation of immigrants has similar problems in the USA.

Although, I can understand that certain marriages are doomed to fail, I also believe that a large number can be saved if the people analyze the problems.

All of the challeges that I narrated in my article can be faced and solutions can be found. We owe it to our children and society. The children from broken homes have less chance of becoming good citizens and the whole society has to pay for the mistakes.

The root cause of many social, psychological and drug related problems can be traced to broken homes.

If you liked the article, then recommend it to others. This way maybe some people can make their marriages successful.

The Chicken Hawks Of Pakistan A very well written article about Kashmir and its role in the future relations between Pakistan and India. Military by its nature can not find elegant solutions that can change the history. This work has to be done historians, diplomats, politicians and statesmen who can look into far reaching implications of an action.

A lot more work need to be done to understand the motivation of Talibans, Jehadi organizations, liberal elements in the army and general public.

I believe that isolation, sanctions, trade cut offs have never solved any problems. These actions have always created desperation and people without hope have taken the extreme actions.

Afghan people have suffered for many years. Instead of helping Afghan people and gradually

developing a dialogue with Talibans, the west has slapped sanctions as if to punish a kid. Similarly, India instead of finding a democratic solution has used a heavy handed approach with great loss of human lives and property.

I believe that a solution lies in helping Pakistan and Afghanistan to come out of the economic problems. If Pakistan goes bankcrupt, then the general public has no other hope and will become Jehadi, fundamentalists or Talibans.

The Making of a Successful Marriage Dear All:

I have closely followed the discussions and comments on the Chowk. After a few comments on the topic,the conversations goes at tangents and sometimes ends up in personality clashes. Disagreements are fine as long as they are related to a point of view or a topic of discussion.

Religion and belief are sensitive issues. No one is convinced without understanding or empathy. Pakistanis have tried to portray a picture as if everyone women in Pakistan has all the rights. Indians have projected ideas as if discrimination and ill treatment of women does not exist in Indian society.

I have travelled in India and Pakistan and I know that both countries have similar problems. There are tremendous problems of poverty, population and pollution. The people of both countries especially youth must develop understanding and respect the views and religion of others.

Europe resolved their problems after the second World war. It is about time that young generation of both of these countries realize that

fighting does not solve anything.

Finally, I believe that people from South Asia may not have happy marriage but have stable marriages. A stable marriage is better than divorce. I have seen so many young people who live in poverty in single parent homes. These people grow up as unhappy individuals and take the revenge on the society.

Everyone has right to his or her own opinion and ideas. Develop your own ideas and follow whatever works for you.

Thanks for all input. I enjoyed arguments and counter arguments. Perhaps South Asian can become very good lawyers.

The Making of a Successful Marriage I like to thank Chowk and all readers who have taken time to read and comment.

Every human being passes through a unique experience and that determines his outlook towards life. This article reflects my observations with personal prejudices. Here are answers to few questions that readers asked.

-The statistics indicate that one of two marriages fail in the USA. That makes a divorce rate of 50%.

- Gay and marriage are two terms in contradiction. The marriage is generally a committment undertaken with the blessing of any religion. If a person does not believe in religion, then in USA they can live together or find a religion that accepts

Gay marriages.

-I agree that economic situation of women keep them in marriage and I have seen many of them. As women gain more financial independence the divorce rate among Desi people will increase. Perhaps, this is one of reason that next generation of South Asian has a higher divorce rate.

Lastly, I like to submit that Ideas do not die. The institution of marriage developed in all religions and in all cultures to provide children with a stable atmosphere. It is not going away any time soon. So the people should keep the things in a proper perspective and understand the dynamics of this relationship. Most of the problems can be resolved and life can be very enjoyable.

The Old Pakistan is Dead, Long Live New Pakistan I do not understand the point of this article. Does the author believe that should not be Pakistan? Is he commenting on the mismanagement of the state of Pakistan. Everyone knows whta happened or what is happening. I am surprised that such nonsense is even published.

Falsehoods Galore If Pakistan has friends like Ms. Fauzya Khan, then I believe Pakistan does not need any enemies.

I have read and met a large number of Pakistanis who will talk bad and trash Pakistan in every writing on occasion. I have lived in Pakistan for years and visited India at least dozen times. I respect human dignity and have friends of all religions.

In Pakistan there is a poverty and corruption. But it is not institutionalized. How would Ms. Fauzya feel if she was born in scheduled caste or as untouchable. She has to go and live in India for some time to experience the prejudice. However, I would agree that highly educated liberal indians are decent people. But they are very few. Visiting India and living in a five star hotel and meeting only elite group will not tell the whole story.

Finally, let me give example of millions of refugees who like my family came from India. we passed through an ocean of death and destruction and started our lives at ground zero in Pakistan. For millions of us Pakistan has been a great blessing. We have achieved the highest education and have great careers. I sincerely believe that it would not have been possible in India where the Hindus even discriminate strongly against low caste Hindus.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Pakistanis are not smarter than western people or vice versa. However, pakistanis who have migrated to western countries and have achieved success do not represent ordinary Pakistanis. The successful Pakistanis have to be educated, intelligent and hard working. The main difference is the strong institutions that allow deserving and brilliant people to reach their full potential. I have seen highly effective people become total failure in Pakistan because there are no institutions that allow fairplay. Japanese,Korean and other western people add up by working in unison whereas Pakistanis and Indians subtract from each other.

other

Pakistan in the Year 3000 Dear Dr. Pervaiz:

After reading the response to your articles, I have come to conclusion that you should consider a serious website other than Chowk to articulate your views. The replies had no relevance to the topic discussed.