Monday, October 31, 2005
Amerikkka.net: Why can't I own Canadians?
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Thursday, October 27, 2005
Of Gere, Bush and other American Pie types
Condescending, moi?!
He's been a prostitute's rich beau, an officer, a gentleman and a gigolo, but Palestinians can't fathom Richard Gere's latest incarnation as a cheerleader for their elections this weekend.Well known for his vocal support of Tibet's Dalai Lama and celebrated for his captivating good looks, Gere urged Palestinians in a television commercial broadcast ahead of Sunday's poll in the West Bank and Gaza to get out to vote for a new president to succeed Yasser Arafat, who died in November.
"Hi, I'm Richard Gere and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time. It's really important. Get out and vote," Gere said in the advertisement. He repeated the final phrase in Arabic.But many voters, already struggling with the labyrinthine politics of the West Bank and Gaza, say they have never heard of the actor who swept Debra Winger off her feet as a dashing Navy officer in the 1982 film "An Officer and a Gentleman" and were even less interested when they were told he's an American."
I don't even know who the candidates are other than Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), let alone this Gere," Gaza soap factory worker Manar an-Najar told Reuters."We don't need the Americans' intervention. We know who to elect. Not like them -- they elected a moron."
He's been a prostitute's rich beau, an officer, a gentleman and a gigolo, but Palestinians can't fathom Richard Gere's latest incarnation as a cheerleader for their elections this weekend.Well known for his vocal support of Tibet's Dalai Lama and celebrated for his captivating good looks, Gere urged Palestinians in a television commercial broadcast ahead of Sunday's poll in the West Bank and Gaza to get out to vote for a new president to succeed Yasser Arafat, who died in November.
"Hi, I'm Richard Gere and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time. It's really important. Get out and vote," Gere said in the advertisement. He repeated the final phrase in Arabic.But many voters, already struggling with the labyrinthine politics of the West Bank and Gaza, say they have never heard of the actor who swept Debra Winger off her feet as a dashing Navy officer in the 1982 film "An Officer and a Gentleman" and were even less interested when they were told he's an American."
I don't even know who the candidates are other than Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), let alone this Gere," Gaza soap factory worker Manar an-Najar told Reuters."We don't need the Americans' intervention. We know who to elect. Not like them -- they elected a moron."
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Ramble
When I was a typical little boy in Abu Dhabi, fantasy games included running around and shadow fighting in the alley between mine and the Bin Hamooda building in the hot, baking afternoons dreaming of desert wars on horseback with swords and other weapons that the average "little boy" finds fascinating in a totally non-violent way. Later in life I've always attributed those "desert dreams" to the locale and the climate. And a little to the ancestral Hashmi blood in my veins. But that was rare. More often I was a detective trying to solve millions of mysteries no doubt a result of my childhood heroes all being the Famous five, Lucky seven, three investigators, Hardy Boys and of course the DC Comics Justice League.
Games in school were, obviously, more group oriented. Tag, "Kings", football and our very own class game, Phantom. Though I don't think even half of us could spell it at the time. For the five years I spent in Al-Nahda (my school), I don't recall one single incident where anyone was ribbed about personal characteristics. There was no fatty, no blacky, no skinny, no nerd, no darkie, no heathen, no kafir no wimp. At least not in those elementary years. Maybe it was the cosmopolitan environment, maybe we were just brought up better. I don't know. Then life took a turn. Abba's bank was closed down and we moved back to the city of my birth, Karachi.
Karachi. Kalachi-jo-Kun, Kolachi, Kurranchee. Alexander’s Krokola. Raja Dahir’s Debul. For a city steeped in culture and tradition, history, sadly has never been a strong point. Little is known. Even less is documented. And the people couldn’t care less.
Neither has history been kind on the city. Rulers have changed so many times in the last three hundred years, as have its inhabitants that no sense of identity could have developed even if the climate had been less politically charged. Today’s Karachi, a megalopolis of over 12 million people, the third most populous city in the world, is a teeming mix of multitudinous races, religions and cultures. There are Muhajirs, Pathans, Sindhis, Punjabis, Balochs and Kashmiris. And while the majority is “Muslim”, it is actually just a mess of Shias, Sunnis, Wahabbis, Haree pugrees, deobandis, brelvis, Ismailis and Bohris. Whenever a person declares that he or she is a Karachiite, this is almost invariably followed by a question on ethnicity – and ethnicity gets very specific in the city by the sea. A Muhajir, for instance, is not just a Muhajir, he/she is a UP-ite, Bihari, Khoja, Memon, Delhi wala or Bengali. Or something else. Pakistanis in general do not attribute the term “Karachiite” as a specific characteristic. Nor do Karachiites themselves. Politics are a violent bloody mess which exploit the deep ethnic biases everyone seems to have.
And children are as affected as adults.
The average Karachiite child is well aware of where his father’s political sympathies lie by the time he enters the second grade. Without understanding the mandates, policies, ambitions and visions; he adopts the image of the party leadership as a role model, infallible and even sacrosanct. The child often uses racist mocking epithets without even understanding the words that make them up. Most of all he adopts the concept of racial stereotypes which stay with him throughout his life. All Biharis are cunning. All Memons are stingy. All Pathans are stupid. Punjabis are the enemy. A fat child is to be laughed at. A darker child is to be mocked at. And if a person manages to trip and fall, it’s a running joke for weeks. Insensitivity is the norm rather than the exception.
To be continued….
Games in school were, obviously, more group oriented. Tag, "Kings", football and our very own class game, Phantom. Though I don't think even half of us could spell it at the time. For the five years I spent in Al-Nahda (my school), I don't recall one single incident where anyone was ribbed about personal characteristics. There was no fatty, no blacky, no skinny, no nerd, no darkie, no heathen, no kafir no wimp. At least not in those elementary years. Maybe it was the cosmopolitan environment, maybe we were just brought up better. I don't know. Then life took a turn. Abba's bank was closed down and we moved back to the city of my birth, Karachi.
Karachi. Kalachi-jo-Kun, Kolachi, Kurranchee. Alexander’s Krokola. Raja Dahir’s Debul. For a city steeped in culture and tradition, history, sadly has never been a strong point. Little is known. Even less is documented. And the people couldn’t care less.
Neither has history been kind on the city. Rulers have changed so many times in the last three hundred years, as have its inhabitants that no sense of identity could have developed even if the climate had been less politically charged. Today’s Karachi, a megalopolis of over 12 million people, the third most populous city in the world, is a teeming mix of multitudinous races, religions and cultures. There are Muhajirs, Pathans, Sindhis, Punjabis, Balochs and Kashmiris. And while the majority is “Muslim”, it is actually just a mess of Shias, Sunnis, Wahabbis, Haree pugrees, deobandis, brelvis, Ismailis and Bohris. Whenever a person declares that he or she is a Karachiite, this is almost invariably followed by a question on ethnicity – and ethnicity gets very specific in the city by the sea. A Muhajir, for instance, is not just a Muhajir, he/she is a UP-ite, Bihari, Khoja, Memon, Delhi wala or Bengali. Or something else. Pakistanis in general do not attribute the term “Karachiite” as a specific characteristic. Nor do Karachiites themselves. Politics are a violent bloody mess which exploit the deep ethnic biases everyone seems to have.
And children are as affected as adults.
The average Karachiite child is well aware of where his father’s political sympathies lie by the time he enters the second grade. Without understanding the mandates, policies, ambitions and visions; he adopts the image of the party leadership as a role model, infallible and even sacrosanct. The child often uses racist mocking epithets without even understanding the words that make them up. Most of all he adopts the concept of racial stereotypes which stay with him throughout his life. All Biharis are cunning. All Memons are stingy. All Pathans are stupid. Punjabis are the enemy. A fat child is to be laughed at. A darker child is to be mocked at. And if a person manages to trip and fall, it’s a running joke for weeks. Insensitivity is the norm rather than the exception.
To be continued….
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Relativity
While we watch our own government bumbling through the relief efforts in the northern regions, it is, weel, heartening to know that our adopted role models in emergency management systems are just as pathetic.
Two months after Hurricane Katrina, evacuees are to get free cellphones.
I'm sure that a big help and more than makes up for being abandoned, raped and killed.
Two months after Hurricane Katrina, evacuees are to get free cellphones.
I'm sure that a big help and more than makes up for being abandoned, raped and killed.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Hum zinda qaum hain
I haven't written for several days mainly because there hasn't been much going on that will be remembered that isn't very morbid. With the exception of the Pakistani spirit of charity. Call it jazba call it zakat call it unity call it whatever. Does anyone realise that since the Qadiani killing incident in Mandi Bahauddin less than 24 hours before the quake, there have been virtually no terrorist attacks in Pakistan that were newsworthy - and not just because the quake was hogging the media? Silver lining?
Calamity. Is that what it takes to unite a people? Not cost effective.
Calamity. Is that what it takes to unite a people? Not cost effective.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
no more
About me
- I'm Xill-e-Ilahi
- From Karachi, Pakistan
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