What’s with the South Asian inferiority complex?
As a Pakistani who has lived most of his life in Canada, I have had many experiences in which I have observed the often bizarre and complex ways of the South Asian (Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh) community. One of the most prominent of these is their ability to deny any connection with their background. Now, keeping in mind that this does not apply to all the people in the group mentioned earlier, it certainly does cover several of them. Once, when I had just entered my teenage years, I had a Pakistani girl tell me that all the people who lived ...
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Bombay slums: Dark, dingy and full of hope
Bombay (now known as Mumbai) enamours me like it has many people. While the plane lands over the city, you see a seamless mix of shanties and high rises. It is not so inconspicuous on the ground. Riding a local train from Santa Cruz to Malad East, I gazed at the best and the worst of living conditions of the people of Bombay. I was in the city to report on the raising real estate prices in the city’s slums. As I reached my destination in Dharavi, one of the largest slums in Asia, there was a strange sensation in my stomach ...
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I speak Punjabi (but my kids might not)
‘Ik Sutti Uthi Dooji Akhon Ka’ani ’- Do you understand what this Punjabi idiom means, or do you need a translation in English first? The literal translation may be “one just woke up and the other one is partially sighted!” but that isn’t what it means. This funny phrase refers to a person who has just woken up and then on top of their disheveled appearance is cross-eyed as well. It is used “icing on the cake” in English. Most people wonder why everything in Punjabi sounds so comic? Maybe our ancestors just appreciated humour. If you belong to a Punjabi speaking family and couldn’t ...
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Gender disparity and education for all
Each year, the United Nations announces a different theme for International Women’s Day. This year celebrations revolve around the need to ‘Empower rural women: End Hunger and Poverty’. I only wish the world body would focus on the apparently-simple, yet not-so-easy aspiration of doing away with gender disparity in education. That would be a true celebration of womanhood – to have the right to quality, universal education. If only we could celebrate no other theme but that every year, rest assured the rest of the objectives will follow almost automatically. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvWfuQ6wQXQ&feature=related] Global education has to be our most compelling need if we are to ...
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LUMUN: Students learn the truth in a language they can’t debate in
What’s the point of debating if the person opposite you can’t understand a word you’re saying? In my previous piece, how at model United Nations (MUN) some kids were shaken by the sheer scale of competitiveness – a rampant obsession with coming first across the country. This is why events like these, which bring together such a diverse group of people from across the country, are so useful. You can glean so much from the way people interact, or in this case, don’t. I’m going to talk about the Lahore University of Management Sciences model United National (LUMUN) again, because this ...
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The Chairman’s speech
After reading a recently published article about Bilawal Bhutto Zardari being made to learn Urdu and Sindhi before leading the Pakistan Peoples Party, I began wondering how important language is to culture and politics in Pakistan. Is Bilawal any less worthy of leading the PPP if he is not fluent in Urdu or Sindhi? Is language an important factor in determining whether one is capable of being a good leader? In a culturally diverse country such as Pakistan, language is definitely an important factor for everyone because the majority of the population cannot speak or understand English, which is listed ...
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Colonized minds: Are we English Pakistanis?
In front of me was the land I was dreaming of – my new home for five months. The aerial view of Tokyo gave me butterflies in my stomach. I was there to study at the very prestigious Waseda University, but studies were the last thing on my mind. I thought there was much more to the trip than academics and I was proven correct as soon as I landed and was received by a group of university students. We tried to communicate. I didn’t know Japanese and they didn’t know English (Urdu, was conveniently out of question). They told me I was the ...
Read Full PostSpeaking imperfectly among the perfect
She said “core”. Not “choir” but “core”. The person she said it to was perplexed for a minute, before it dawned on them that the word “choir” had been mangled. As the story made the rounds in school, for a little while, everyone listened, chuckled and was amused by the girl who said core not choir. It was an easy enough mistake to make in a country where English is not a first language for many. It was cruel and mean-spirited to make fun of that girl. Some people would argue that they were just school kids. But would you ...
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In praise of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2011
In case you didn’t notice, it was the annual literary maelstrom last week. The Nobel Prize in Literature was handed to somebody, Tomas Tranströmer of Sweden. The announcement evoked a global response which entailed synchronised hair pulling, angry tweeting, cynical literary opining in the millions. On the whole, it turned out to be an entirely predictable show of hostility from a world of outraged readers. The ruling sentiments went something like this: “Oh right! So Roth/Murakami/Pynchon/Nadas/Adonis is going to lose out AGAIN to somebody I’ve not even heard of?” “Wait, are you saying, like, this guy Transformer-whatever, haha, his work is ...
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Manchester United: A different side, coming soon
The summer of 2011 will be one of major changes for Manchester United. Having finally replaced Liverpool as the most successful side in English League history, United are now set to begin the new season with a different and somewhat inexperienced squad compared to the one that recently lifted a record-breaking 19th league title in May. Long-serving defenders John ‘O Shea and Wes Brown have both joined Sunderland while the retirements of Paul Scholes and Edwin Van Der Sar, in addition to the retirement of Gary Neville in February, have left the English champions short of experienced players to match ...
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