Immigrants: Na Idhar ke, Na uddhar ke ``Some of these flaws were not new to me, but sitting miles away in Canada, I had created a utopian picture of Karachi, neatly contructing it by conveniently eliminating the ugly.``

Every immigrant does the same especially during the first couple of years or so of the move...

We moved to Toronto some sevenish years ago and always thought we`d go back and settle in Isloo or Karachi. Earlier this year it hit me though that unless I managed to win the lottery without buying a ticket, I don`t think I could move back and live a decent life there. And I`m not even talking about owning the biggest house on the street or having the swankiest batmobile. It is the small things like being able to pay your bills online, not being jerked around when you go to a government office to have stuff sorted out, etc that I`ve learned to take for granted. You need to buy this kind of customer service back home and I simply don`t have the resources to do that. I don`t want to grease a clerk`s palm just to be able to pay the electricity bill on time.

As opposed to most Pakistani Canadians I`ve met, I love this country. Canada and Toronto particularly have to some of the most accepting and open places on this planet. Some months ago, I met a brigadier sahib who was working as a dealer in the illegal dish business. He started complaining about the discrimination and racism rampant in this country and how immigrants are marginalized professionally, etc. He concluded his bulletproof argument by praying to the Lord to let this country burn from Quebec to Prince Charles Island. At that point, I realized that there was no point of arguing with him and took my leave.

Terrorism and the Muslim World re #1:

``…please understand the urgency of my query… i have to recommend some colleges or universities to a friend’s son….and if you help me in pin pointing your alma mater…i would eliminate that one from my list…and hopefully then i would not lose a friend…or worse a friend his son…``

wow... must say that for someone whose writing is as terrible as yours, you sure have an attitude dude. weren`t you the guy who was ripped apart by one and all for that philosophical masterpiece on the war on terror and its implications for bearded people when flying? I repeat for stress - wow... chowk is a mighty funny place.

anyway, didn`t read the article. probably won`t either.

I survived. However… Aarya:

while whatever discrimination you had to face is regrettable, having lived in Islamabad (although briefly) Islamabadis IMO have somewhat justified grievances against Afghan immigrants. too many of them seemed to be involved in shady, underhanded sort of stuff like guns, smuggling, prostitution and the rest of the usual suspects. I know the PC thing is not to generalize etc but fact of the matter is people do generalize. too few constructive examples such as yours come to fore to make people change their mind.

either way, I hope that you will find that your adopted home and its people will become more and more hospitable as time goes on and as some of the scars of the gun culture, the drugs etc from the soviet war, and the taliban era heal.

re: #18 ``They snicker derisively everytime some paki thinks he`s an afghan..``

this is a classic example of the phenomenon known as talking out of one`s posterior. why would a ``paki`` ever pretend he`s an Afghan? I can understand a ``paki`` pretending to be gora or black but Afghan? you Injuns really know it all about ``pakis``, don`t you.

re: #15:

man if this is how all international relations talks and negotiations take place, are we in some deep shit or are we in some deep shit.

Mercy beau-coup? outstanding article. especially this bit is so true:

``Does it not strike a discordant note that an Indian has been sentenced to death by hanging for detonating bombs five times, resulting in deaths and injuries, and has confessed to being a RAW agent, and yet the External Affairs Ministry comes into the picture to rescue him? Even more strange is the fact that top Pakistani officials are engaging in a dialogue on the subject.``

the antics of the Pakistani govt always leave me speechless. the man is a terrorist who was blowing up innocents. they shouldn`t just hang him. they should make an example out of him. show the world the face of real ``cross border terrorism``. and then throw the bastard to the dogs... but that would require some intelligence, some common sense which in a monarchy like the current zill-e-elahi`s govt is sadly absent. it is outrageous that the issue of presidential clemency is even being mentioned. it wasn`t the zill-e-elahi`s family members that were blown up by the bombs planted by this bastard. the man is a terrorist and must rot in hell with his kind.

Views of an Indian in Pakistan the same old patronizing bullshit... I want the time I spent reading this crap back.

Let’s Play Cricket ``The sight of Pakistanis waving the tricolour and congratulating the Indian supporters, who had crossed the border to witness history being created, must have definitely warmed the hearts of all those peaceniks who advocate more people to people contacts.``

While the Pakistanis were waving the tricolour and congratulating the Indian supporters in lalaland, Pepsi India was coming up with ad campaigns that were derogatory to the Pakistan cricket team to widespread support from the Indian public.

But wait.. I thought this series was about dosti, jeet lo dil and all that other BS? I guess Indian public wasn`t down with the whole dosti shebang. Stupid delusional ``Pakis``.

``India won on the field, Pakistan off it, but cricket emerged as the real victor.``

Again, less of the cliches please. cricket will do all of jack shit to ``bring the people together``. In the awards ceremony after the match in Centurion in WC 2003, Indian supporters actually booed the Pakistan captain, Waqar Younis, who happens to be one of the all-time greatest cricket players and was playing his last tournament. Waqar sitll saw something funny in the situation and managed a smile. Tendulkar, the man who can do no wrong in the eyes of India, did not even have the grace or dignity to accept his man of the match award with some humility.

After the good old Pakistanis had bent over backwards for their Indian guests and been good, dignified losers (almost too good and too dignified for my taste) in the dosti series, the Pak team went over to India for the BCCI jubilee match. Salman Butt, a 20 year old, kid playing in only his 3rd or 4th game almost single-handedly won them the match. It was a special day. It marked the making of a new star and a cricket fan would have applauded the brilliant showing of this 20 year old who had beaten out physical and mental demons to lead his team to a win in a very good match of cricket. But instead Indian fans were busy mourning the one that got away. So, much for reciprocating jeet lo dil.

``That is because Karachi cannot be equated with Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad, they say, doesn’t witness the kind of sectarian and political violence that Karachi witnesses regularly.``

The first sentence made sense. The second one was shocking. Karachi has its problems but I will remind you that in Karachi, Hindu/Muslim mobs do not go out rampaging in the streets looking for Muslas/Baniyas to butcher respectively. Karachi does not see bloodshed in the scale of thousands taking place in the time of a few weeks. Besides, Karachi is the heart and soul of Pakistan and this is coming from a non-Karachiite. So, a comparsion of Karachi and Ahmedabad is ludicrous.

---

``And finally, if Pakistan does play in Ahmedabad, then the Great Pakistani Myth about life being dangerous for Indian Muslims in Gujarat will get absolutely punctured. That, as everybody knows, is simply not permitted in a country which is still in denial 34 years later about the realities and truths of East Pakistan/Bangladesh 1971. ``

I`m sorry but you really have to get over us. I mean as a Pakistani I couldn`t give a shit about what was going down in your country. You guys want to butcher your Muslims, please go ahead. Indian Muslims want to take revenge for Gujrat, please go ahead. WE DON`T CARE.

We`re dealing with what you claim to be our denial of 34 years and we`re doing it surprisingly well. But, after 58 years of denial maybe it your turn to get over the partition? It happened and it is here to stay.

Peace.

Night of Henna in San Francisco Looks and sounds extremely cliched. But I hope that it turns out better than expected.

Independence ``And why do I still cringe with shame when I think of my country and my people, and independence. ``

How does any of this reflect on the country? You`re blaming the country for the attitude of some horny goons? Wow, makes a heck of a lot of sense.

BTW, when something like this happens, it is a lot more useful and effective to react immediately and physically instead of writing on an article on a website blaming the whole country for such unfortunate incidents.

The Glory of Pakistan Cricket Had I read this article a year or maybe even a couple of months ago, I would have completely agreed with the author`s viewpoint. The PCB might be one of the worst organized and run sports bodies in the world. If the Pak team were an NBA franchise, the NBA would have stepped in long ago and dissolved the PCB. But is the PCB to blame for every ill that afflicts our team? Certainly not, in my opinion. Blaming the PCB is certainly the traditional thing to do but things are not as simple as that.

If there is a need to hire a paid, professional CE for the PCB and for it to be run by an executive committee and not some zill-e-elahi imposed by Hazrat Musharaff (RA), there is perhaps an even greater need for the average fan to be educated on the importance of consistency in selection and general stability required for building great teams. Most of the PCB`s perceived hasty ``actions`` which are trashed by armchair critics like us are only reactions to the effigy burning idiot fans who feel national pride is hurt when Shoaib Akhtar is prancing around with some aussie chick.

---

``Have a close look at these numbers folks! Not one player from the top 10 list of PCB’s own domestic season made it to the Australian tour. Some of these guys (Shahid Nazir, Hasan Raza, Yasir Arafat to name a few) have been performing year in, year out, and not getting selected while mediocre performers get the nod and the results are there for all of us to suffer through.``

Rana Naved, Ifthikar Anjum are in the team only because of their domestic performances. God knows they don`t have the sex appeal of Immy, the genius of Wasim or the willpower of Waqar. And unfortunately, it is also true that fans have absolutely no respect for them.

Rana runs in and bowls his heart out every single time he`s given the ball. The guy plays with the enthusiasm of a rookie every single day. He is given the new ball today and is dropped tomorrow. They make him bowl at the death overs which often spoil his otherwise decent analysis. But he doesn`t complain. Sure he is no early nineties Waqar Younis but give the guy a flipping break. Not every Pakistani bowler is going to be a Wasim or Waqar.

Same goes for Iftikhar. I read Woolmer`s QA website very religiously till some months ago. And I`d see these 15 year old kids log on and throw out all kinds of names that they wanted to see in the team. Iftikhar was the most popular player on the site and going by the posts on Woolmer`s site one would have thought he was a reincarnation of the King Khan. When Iftikhar finally got a game and didn`t take three consecutive hattricks like was widely expected, the SAME people actually had the gall to ask for the guy`s head after ONE flipping game.

Some other names you mention:

Shahid Nazir:

This guy was a terrific bowler. I remember his early days in international cricket. Started out brilliantly in the 97 World Series Cup. Used to bowl at a lively mid eighties pace but more importantly got prodigous swing if I remember correctly. Don`t know when and how he faded away from the scene. Now, I`ve read that the guy has lost a bit of pace since his heydays. Will our fans forgive the guy for this deliberate and heinous crime?

Fazl-e-Akbar:

The guy is widely renowned and rated as the best new ball bowler in Pakistan. Was given ONE game against an in-form Indian batting in the last match of the series. Unfortunately he didn`t take all ten wickets in each inning as was expected by our understanding fans. Our fans still haven`t forgiven him despite the fact the guy bowled with blisters on his feet. Unlike Shoaib Akhtar he didn`t cry off into the arms of his mommy at this injury. He stuck it out for the team. And yet the guy is banished into the quicksand that is our domestic cricket.

Riaz Afridi:

He got a game recently. Did okay. Needs to develop his game further (and desperately improve his action but that is a sidenote). The only thing I remember people saying that he did not have enough pace. So, the PCB selected the guy based on his stats and promise but if he is not fast enough for our fans, what is the PCB to do?

``I, for one, am sick of seeing Inzamam, time and time again, hang his head low as he walks back to the pavilion after another loss of his wicket knowing well that Pakistan’s chances of winning have gone down the drain with him. His slow and dejected walk says it all for the state of Pakistani cricket. His broad shoulders can’t take it anymore and neither should we be reclined to accept our fate as a loser team.``

I don`t think things are that bad. This was probably an accurate assessment maybe a year ago. We have improved a lot since as a batting team. It is our bowling that has regressed which is not too suprising given that we had two of the greatest fast bowlers opening our bowling till a couple of years ago. But the emergence of Shobby Malik has added a lot of steel to our flaky batting order. Youhana has also begun to slowly come into his own as a world class batsman. Inzi remains the giant who we still look to to save us from doom but Youhana and Malik are coming along.

Now lets look at Malik. How many fans and experts were in favour of Malik batting at #3? Not a single one (!) including me though I always had a lot of respect for his game. But Inzi and Woolmer stuck to their guns and Pak fans should be thankful that they did. Malik has since transformed his game such that he went from being an offspinner who could bat usefully to a full-fledged match-winning batsman (at least in ODIs).

``I ask the cricketing gods this: How many Chairmen of national cricket boards in other countries run to the President’s Secretariat to select a Committee member, or captain of their cricket team? Is that the system we are destined to live in? Is this part of our golden mantra of “Enlightened Moderation” where a Chief of Army Staff-cum-president-cum-savior of the nation, picks every lowly member of a sport’s administration team? Does El Presidente have nothing better to do?``

This I agree with. All this running off to the presidential mehal every time Pakistan loses is absolute BS. Musharaff should stick to walking the political tightrope and leave cricket to those who understand it.

``Wake up my fellow Pakistanis.``

Amen. If they don`t, the PCB will continue to succumb to the immense pressure imposed on it by a cricket loving public that even after fifty plus years as a nation has not learnt to take victory and defeat in the right stride.

``you pick the top 10 performers of every season, run them through the national cricket academy, and select the best among them to play for the country.``

Again, only if the fans allow it.

To give yet another example - I think most people will agree that Salman Butt is possibly the biggest batting talent out of Pakistan since one of my favourites (Youhana) came into the team. The guy has shown outstanding potential. Sure he has weaknesses on the leg side etc. But he thinks about his game and grows and learns every single game unlike Sami and Shoaib who seem to unlearn even the basics with growing experience. And I`ve seen people actually call for Salman`s head after maybe three or four failures in the recent games. They`ve forgotten how he stood up to the relentless machinery of McGrath and Co in the tests concluded LESS than a MONTH ago.

So, let us first develop the patience that is needed to see great teams evolve. Champions are not made overnight. Legacies are built by being consistent with selection and by showing faith in the selected players - two things that the average fan is incapable of understanding or conceding.

After nearly a decade of following this team, I can say that Pakistan is finally headed in the right direction (at least for me). We`ve got a decent PCB head, a chief selector who is consistent in selection even if he is forced to be so by the coach and captain, a great coach and some good young players who don`t think they`re superstars and don`t have the emotional baggage and scars that some of our veterans carried. We`ve put the matchfixing scandal behind us, most of the prima donnas have retired or are injured and will be hopefully be on the way out soon. Only areas where we need to pay more attention are finding a replacement for Shoaib Akhtar, trying to develop good fasties and grooming a captain. Otherwise things have never looked as good for Pak cricket as they do now.

And that is my brief two cents. :)

Socio-political History of Modern Pop Music in Pakistan NFP, what`s with repeatedly misspelling Abrar`s name, man? it is Abrar-ul-Haq not Abrar Ahmed.

Proud to be a Pakistani? I was going to answer you point by point but Romair has already done an excellent job of that. As he said, some of your points are quite valid but some are highly exaggerated and thus, inaccurate and take away from the few valid points you make.

I am a Pakistani and a damn proud one at that. I have no desire to destroy India (I have more Indian friends than I do Pakistani ones). However, I must say that I`m almost ``sick`` of discussing good or bad of India ``the state`` . I just have no wish to have anything to do with India or IOK.

I`d much rather that we start discussing our own country for a change and make our Pakistan a priority. It`s been 56 years since Pakistan came into being and I am a member of the third generation of its inhabitants. Even my parents didn`t see the partition or even any effects of it. And yet everything we do or don`t do either revolves around friendship to almost superficial levels with India or extreme and irrational enmity towards it. Maybe we should actually start focusing on our own problems in our own country?

Muttiah Muralitharan so, what is the author trying to say here. the article just reads like a condensation of very well known facts of Murli`s career. though could make a fine orbituary for Murli orbituary one day.

Murli can get a thousand wickets if he wants but the point remains that he is a chucker. heck, if I was allowed to throw like that I could have been playing international cricket too. I`m told I had a very good ``effort`` ball when I chose to use it.