meethapani

  Rising From the Ashes Natural and economic disasters, wars, revolutions and genocides, have dotted the timeline of history leading to the collapse of countries and sometimes whole civilizations. At a personal level, people hit rock bottom with life-altering injuries, loss of loved ones, collapse of business ventures, loss of home and community due to wars, natural disasters or even bad personal decisions. People need hope to pick themselves up and carry on. One of the most revisited images through the ages is that of a mythical bird, the Phoenix, rising from the ashes of its own destruction. The Phoenix builds a nest of scented wood and resin. The sun’s rays burn the bird and the nest to ashes, as it emerges once again in a new form. Something old needs to be let go to make space for the new. There is much talk of the downward spiral of the economy of Pakistan and its institutions. A country that already rose once out of the trauma of Partition, Pakistan has been dogged by nay-

  Rising From the Ashes Natural and economic disasters, wars, revolutions and genocides, have dotted the timeline of history leading to the collapse of countries and sometimes whole civilizations. At a personal level, people hit rock bottom with life-altering injuries, loss of loved ones, collapse of business ventures, loss of home and community due to wars, natural disasters or even bad personal decisions. People need hope to pick themselves up and carry on. One of the most revisited images through the ages is that of a mythical bird, the Phoenix, rising from the ashes of its own destruction. The Phoenix builds a nest of scented wood and resin. The sun’s rays burn the bird and the nest to ashes, as it emerges once again in a new form. Something old needs to be let go to make space for the new. There is much talk of the downward spiral of the economy of Pakistan and its institutions. A country that already rose once out of the trauma of Partition, Pakistan has been dogged by nay-

  The Heritage of Trees Today trees are valued almost exclusively for their role in mitigating global warming, generating an urgency to plant trees and save forests.   Pakistan is proud to be 4 th in a list of hundred countries that have planted the most trees in a year. But trees are so much more than a tool for human survival.   The poet W H Auden wrote “The trees encountered on a country stroll, Reveal a lot about that country’s soul” The Japanese closeness to nature is expressed in the art of tree shaping. Whether full grown trees or miniature Bonsai, it is a homage to the essence of the spirit or Kodama of each tree has a specific personality. It can conversely reflect the restraint that has also come to define Japanese society. Whichever view one takes, the tree is seen as an art form. A walk through woodlands must be done slowly, without hurry, with time to observe and absorb its beauty. The 170 trees that regrew after the Hiroshima bomb, called hibaku jumoku (survivor tr

  A Sporting Chance Level playing field, it’s not cricket, the ball is in your court, calling the shots, front runner, down to the wire, hitting below the belt, jumping the gun, taking sides, out of one’s league, a sporting chance, throwing in the towel - these are just some of the terms in daily use that indicate the central role of sports in the social psyche.   There has been no civilization or nation that did not integrate sports and games in their social life.   Sports generally refer to competitive physical activities, while games include mental or physical activities that are played for enjoyment.   The Ancient Greeks introduced formal sports to the world with the first Olympic Games held in 776 BC, with events such as foot and chariot races, wrestling, jumping, and discus and javelin throwing. Many   Greek sculptures and paintings immortalized these activities, which were a celebration of the perfect human body. They believed their gods took human form, and celebrating th

  Stepping into the Unknown For the last several months, most Pakistanis have woken up every morning wondering what unexpected twist of politics awaits them, a bit like the film, Don’t Look Up – will the meteor hit the earth or can it be turned into an advantage? One can argue that every next moment of our lives is a step into the unknown. The Sufis urge us to live in the present as we cannot change the past and cannot know the future. Yet from the time of our birth, we are programmed to plan our lives. We seek the security of the familiar, walk the well-trodden path. As Churchill said “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened”, reluctant to challenge their well-established beliefs. Yet human society has depended on those who willingly step into the unknown - scientists, engineers, inventors, educators, explorers and all those working to extend the edges of knowledge. All the Prophets stood up armed on

    The Culture of Me First How did we get from pehlay aap ( after you)   to pehlay mein ( me first) ? The pehlay aap culture is associated with Lucknow, the epitome of what is called Northern Indian culture, the region most influenced by successive Muslim empires. Lucknow came into its own as a cultural centre with the decline of the Mughal Empire. Here evolved the highest forms of poetry, tanz o zarafat( satriric)   prose, music, dance, theatre, art, architecture, elegant fashion, refined pastimes, innovative cuisine, even intellectual courtesans. Tehzeb ( a cultured way of life ) is often linked to   tamadun ( the art of living together ). Lucknow was known for its ganga-jamuni   culture   - the merging of the best of cultures, an ‘entente cordiale’.    It all came crashing down in 1856 when the East India Company annexed the state of Oudh and sent the Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, into exile in Calcutta. Abdul Haleem Sharar wrote the ultimate elegy to the city in his book Guzashta

  Serving the People As the East India Company grew from a small trading company to a political entity, it not only had its own armies, but created a judiciary system, enacted laws, and had its own civil service. When the British Government took over the reins of India from the Company in 1857, it adopted and expanded these systems. The British Administration had three pillars to sustain their rule : A civil service, an army and a police force.    The main objective of these three entities was to protect the interests of the British Raj     by maintaining law, and ensuring continuity of their rule. They had no interest in serving or winning the support of the people, but merely to control them. Lower level staff became very corrupt, oppressing merchants, artisans and zamindars, accepting bribes and gifts from Nawabs and Rajas, and earned large sums of money from illegal trade. Once the British were ousted from India, their administrative system was adopted by both India and Pakis

  The Force of Nature Swarms of killer bees, lava shooting out of city drains, skyscrapers enveloped in flames, tornados ripping up houses, viruses escaping from laboratories, meteors on collision paths with earth, computers running amok and post nuclear devastation, are common themes in block buster   Hollywood films. Their popularity testifies to a deep seated fear that the fragility of human society cannot survive the might of nature. It is a modern day homage to all-powerful natural forces that once inspired societies to create pantheons of gods that needed appeasement, and from whom redemption could be granted. Giant sea monsters featured prominently in these ancient beliefs, such as Falak in a Thousand and one Nights, the Mesopotamian Tiamat, the Greek Hydra, the Native American Unk Cekula, and the Leviathan mentioned in the Old Testament. Juracán controlled the weather, particularly hurricanes for Caribbean people. Isfet and Ma'at maintained the balance between chaos

  Weaponizing   Anger   Human beings like the animal kingdom, and in fact all of nature, are essentially peace loving and want nothing more than to go about their lives harmoniously. Yet we live in what has been called the Age of Anger. It is the age of extreme emotions – of like or dislike emojis. It is also a time of dissatisfaction, disruption, imposition, whether by the state, or economic forces, through their various powerful mechanisms of control, in societies the world over, some visibly, like Pakistan, some invisibly in affluent countries. Pew Research conducted in 27 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia where the majority believed elected officials do not care what ordinary people think, that change of governments will make no difference to this fact, and most politicians are corrupt. Pankaj Mishra in his book The Age of Anger: A History of the Present, writes “the sense of being humiliated by arrogant and deceptive elites was widespread, cutting across national, rel

    Cuisine and Culture Legend has it that as soon as Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar began his meal, huge quantities of rice were distributed to the poor waiting outside his palace. Feeding the poor is a tradition that continues today all across Pakistan - the more fortunate sharing with the less fortunate, or in memory of a departed family member, or as a religious obligation during the month of fasting.   The sharing of food is an important ritual, whether a family meal or a lavish party for friends. Sharing a meal is seen to have many benefits. It brings people closer. It’s a time for parents and siblings to share their news, discuss problems, and get to know each other. Child psychologists find it improves the vocabulary of children, they eat better, are less likely to have depression, anxiety or aggression. A family meal can also extend to sharing a meal with close friends or colleagues. Many Japanese firms, have shared cafeterias where the top executive eats alongside the lower

  Lost in Internationalism The roadmap for progress in all countries today, is based on universal systems for education, economy, health and cultural expression. The   structures of museums, art galleries,   art curricula, publishing,   marketing,   food production, export and import rules, security forces, transportation, right down to red, amber and green lights to control traffic, are universal. This internationalism that has enveloped the world, has a relatively recent history. It was initially a panic response   to the horrors of World War I – the League of Nations was established to prevent such wars in the future by creating a platform for addressing the grievances of nations through dialogue and negotiation. Since it could not prevent WWII, it was deemed a failure, and replaced by the United Nations Organization, a more structured enterprise, aimed at creating One World – a world that would have shared values, seen as the essential precursor to lasting peace.   Wendell Wi

  The Creative Side of Freedom An eighteen year old college student from Sialkot, Asghar Saudai, wrote a tarana or song in 1944, to inspire the crowds in their demand for Pakistan, one line of which became, and continues to be , a rallying cry:    “Pakistan ka matlab kiya? La ilaha illallah”. Rais Amrohvi wrote the other most chanted verse “Bat ke rahay ga Hindustan, ley ke rahain ge Pakistan”. Poets played a pivotal role in the Freedom Movement.   In his book, Jang e Azaadi ke Urdu Shora,   Dr Mahmud ur Rehman, considers the first poet of political protest to be Mir Jafar Zatli (died 1713), who responded to the moral breakdown of the Mughal empire after the death of Aurangzeb with coarse satire. A verse he wrote for the Emperor Farrukhseyar   “The prevailing currency is wheat, lentil and   peas, Because the Emperor Farrukh Seyar Is the one who kills people with his shoelace”, cost him his life as he was executed by strangling with a shoe lace (tasma-kashi ). Jamil Jalibi writes Za

  The Power of Endurance Endurance is the quietest form of heroism. It’s the ability to survive, to resist, to remain true to one’s aims. Most training programmes require endurance whether as a soldier, an athlete or writing a doctorate. Wilderness survival courses are designed to test both the emotional and physical strength of participants.   Survival in the face of near impossible conditions is seen a primal urge that defines the human spirit and has motivated expeditions across the world, extreme sports, and space travel to name a few.   The world is in awe that John Fairfax rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1969 and Benoit Lecomte swam across it in 1998 or Samina Baig in July this year, reached the summit of the treacherous mount K2,that has taken 66 lives.   Endurance can also be a resistance to those wanting to destroy the human spirit. Nael al Barghouti has been in an Israeli prison since 1978, when as a 21year old, he was resisting Israeli occupation - the longest