Subscribe
Dholaks drowning gunfire
by Shreekant Gupta
During a recent visit to Delhi I mentioned to my aunt that I planned to visit Rawalpindi next week for a wedding. Her expression changed to one of worried concern. “But beta is it safe to go there?” she asked. I assured her that if there was one country in the world where I could blend and not feel out of place and where I was welcomed with open arms it was Pakistan. Having been there on four previous occasions once with a group of students from the Delhi School of Economics traversing the country for two weeks, I had ample experience of the legendary Pakistani hospitality and warmth to assuage her fears. But her comment set me thinking. Why is Pakistan attracting such bad press these days? It is often dubbed as the most dangerous place in the world. Certainly there are parts of the country that are seriously troubled and occasionally the violence spills over into the major cities.
Partly the reason is that we as readers or viewers only get to read or see ‘newsworthy’ events. In the media it is not the sameness and humdrum of everyday life that sells but stories of disasters, crime and other out-of-ordinary events. However, terrible events may happen but millions of people also go about their daily lives in all these ‘most dangerous’ places. When I pick up the Strait Times and see pictures of mayhem in Pakistan, I juxtapose it in my mind’s eye against Tari apa in Pindi tending to her bucketful of pickles in her kitchen every morning and Idris bhai looking at himself in his bathroom mirror. But then these would hardly make good copy.
Similarly, not many of us who do not live in South Asia realise it is marriage season there right now. As the evening air acquires a nip and woollens gradually start appearing, houses in Pindi and Lahore and Delhi and Amritsar are echoing to the sound of dholaks. In the Afridi family there is much joy since Bobby bhai, a confirmed bachelor, has at long last succumbed to pressure and is going to be married soon. His gaggle of female cousins are busy every evening practicing Bollywood dance numbers for mehndi night. I am told that the most popular number to be choreographed this season is ‘maujan hee maujan’ from the recent Bollywood hit Jab We Met. A couple of years ago it was ‘Gajra-re’ from Bunty aur Babli (and at a mehendi in Lahore I had to remind myself I was not in Delhi)
The message I derive from watching these festivities from afar is not one of callous indifference to the country’s troubles by its elites but one of affirmation of life and hope amidst turmoil. Yes, Pakistan may well be undergoing a crisis and things are not hunky dory. But people are going about their daily lives and marrying and meeting and yes, trying to have a bit of enjoyment in their lives. While columnists and think-tanks dissect the events and pontificate over the future of Pakistan it is the people who are affirming their resilience and that of their nation. Indeed, the sounds of the dholak may yet drown that of guns.
The writer is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore. Email: ecsgs@nus.edu.sg
January 10th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Of course people are going about their daily lives but certain institutions including the media would have us believe that the country is full of savages who cannot live peacefully in the most ‘dangerous’ country in the world. They have always promoted this picture about the so called ‘other’ or ‘uncivilized’ part of the world and continue to do so…
January 10th, 2008 at 11:22 am
“affirming their lives”
the rich irony of this when there is a bomb blast in my city, killing 22 people.
“occasionally spills over”
Er..yeah, like Swat, Baluchistan, Wazirastan are all insignificant ‘incidents’; the murder of B.B. some sort of effin’ minor event that disrupts the festivities !
Jesus!
Do people go about their daily lives? I would really like to know how that’s possible when there isn’t electiricity, when people can hardly make ends meet.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I can empathise with that, having gone through the experience of being a native of the Indian part of Punjab, when it was supposed to be ‘one of the most dangerous places’ in India, during the years of militancy. Even during those times, the number of deaths on account of violence was less than the number of people dying of violent crime in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The media have to report events that they consider news-worthy, however, they should, I believe, do so in as accurate and balanced a manner as possible, instead of resorting to sensationalism, even if that means earning a little less in terms of advertising revenues.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Going about ones daily life is an affirmation of life no doubt, and partaking in joyous occasions such as a wedding is a step ahead: it is the celebration of life and the people of Pakistan are doing just that!
January 11th, 2008 at 3:11 am
Annkhain band kerne se billi chali nahi jati
When wana, waziristan, balouchistan was burning it was just parts of country but now its everyday event in big cities. May be not the most dangerous country but certainly one of the most dangerous country. Plus infra-structure and everyday supply of basics are running out….
Country is standing at the brinks of destruction. Similar attitude was adapted in ‘west’ pakistan while ‘east’ pakistan was burning !!
Did you hear that sound “Pakistan na khape” !!!!!
January 11th, 2008 at 4:00 am
celebrating life ..”the people of Pakistan are doing just that”
Very comforting, I’m sure. But I think the reality is quite different, unless you’re living in cloud-cuckoo land.
All this talk about “the media” is classic Musharraf-like nonsense. Of course the media exaggerates things. But in the final analysis we have to be honest with ourselves. Blame the media, Amrika, ‘the Jews’ all you want. Personally, I think that’s a delusional approach. But I guess each to their own.
Tell me, are the lawyers also “celebrating life” , or the people imprisoned by Musharraf, or the people without flour, electricity? Perhaps they don’t count as “the people of Pakistan”!
January 11th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I think that all that the author was trying to say was that despite what everyone in the media is saying about Pakistan there are a few positive aspects to life in the country as well. These are hardly ever mentioned in news. A narrow image is typically painted by the media which makes it seem like there’s nothing going on in the country but suicide bombings and other forms of violence.
January 11th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
The guests are most welcome, hopefully they’ll enjoy themselves and live to tell the tale!
January 11th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
billo,
What do you think the people of Pakistan are doing? Hiding behind closed door with their breaths abated, waiting for the next bomb to explode? The reality is that life goes on, regardless of such acts of violence. I don’t know about ‘cloud-cuckoo land’ but the reality you picture is Kafkaesque, and if that were indeed the case then a Munni Begum would not be performing in Karachi this week and my friend Irfan Malik would not have a showing of his films in Lahore this weekend. Mr Gupta is merely pointing out that life in the so called ‘disturbed areas’ is not at a standstill, waiting for calamity to happen, and that is credit to the citizens of those places who have the ability to appreciate life despite what’s happening around them.
January 12th, 2008 at 4:58 am
I me My, of course life goes on! After Auschwitz, after 9/11 or even after a personal tragedy, life resumes. And you and that author are no doubt right to suggest that the media very rarely portrays what is positive.
But to be honest, it sounds just a bit ridiculous. It’s a bit like Musharaf’s complaining about the media, or Bush saying to the media: why don’t you show the positive side to what’s happening in Iraq (and who could doubt that there are *some* positive things, that people are getting married, having birthday parties and so on). But to say that they are “celebrating life” is just a vaccuous comment (in my opinion).
What are the people doing? This is an unanswerable question because there are 160 miilion people here and it is meaningless to talk about “the pakistani people” in such a context. I suspect that the begums and “elites” are “celebrating life” , quite oblivious to what’s happening. I suppose that the vast majority are trying to make ends meet, survive. And I guess that a lot of people are , in fact, “hiding behind closed doors” hoping, praying that things don’t get worse. The lack of political protest would suggest that people are, indeed, scared.
you talk about “citizens”. But this sounds a bit unreal (like “affirming life”), to my mind at least. It is precisely the undermining of ‘citizenship’ that we are witnessing.
we’ve just witnessed one of the major political events of our country’s history and this author wants to talk about Bobby and Bunty! Maybe that’s her experience of life here. Fair enough. What I pick up-and this may be a distorted or partial view of things-is an all-pervading sense of gloom and deep concern about the prospects for our country.
January 12th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Thank you for this article. Living in America, all you hear are negative, “fearful” stories coming out of Pakistan. I even mentioned to Raza that after the tragic death of Bhutto, the American press was dubbing Pakistan “terror central.” The unfortunate truth is that many Americans feel this way, mainly because of the negative press. I even get odd looks when I tell family and friends that I regularly read a Pakistani blog. I’ve never been to Pakistan, but it seems like a beautiful country, and I hope in the next few years that I have an opportunity to visit.
January 13th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Dear friends
Missed out from this discussion. I was travelling since the last twenty four hours and just returned home.
this was quite a lively debate. Well, I think that Iditis made relevant point that humans want to find life-affirming trends even in times of adversity.
Having said that, things are pretty serious - it is not so much about the bombs and explosions but more to do with the fact that people are not optimistic about the future of their lives and the country they live in..
Meg: you are most welcome. however, it will be advisable to visit after a few months when hopefully (?) things might settle down. thanks for your continued interest in the blog
cheers
Raza
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:35 am
[...] Dholaks drowning gunfire by Shreekant Gupta During a recent visit to Delhi I mentioned to my aunt that I planned to visit Rawalpindi next week for a wedding. Her expression changed to one of worried concern. “But beta is it safe to go there?†she asked. I assured her that if there was one country in the world where […] [...]