Why you should not marry your cousin
Doctors are often looked up to, and it is common for people to ask for advice, suggestions and treatment. As a medical student, I have come across questions and situations that have alarmed me, however, I have never been overwhelmed. The story I heard on a flight from Lahore to Karachi particularly struck me. It concerned a woman’s struggle to bear children, a seemingly ordinary ordeal, magnified by the fact that she was married to her first cousin. I was sitting comfortably in an aisle seat when a man came by asking to exchange seats as he was sitting next to a ...
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The ‘curse’ of the PPP
Akbar Zaidi, one of the country’s foremost political economists, in his magnum opus ‘Issues in Pakistan’s economy’, discussed at length the Bhutto government of the 1970s. The writer brought in a new side by delineating the causes for that government’s failure with regard to various aspects of policy making, including the legendary “bad luck” factor. The bad luck dynamic, in Zaidi’s analysis, comprised of some salient factors, both international and domestic, that contributed to the unwrapping of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) socialist economic agenda. These were the oil crisis of 1973 that led to high inflation and balance of ...
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Karachi’s crime malaise
Karachi, with a population of nearly 20 million, has its fair share of problems like all other major metropolitans. Its weary residents have had to put up with a multitude of problems, including a huge slum population, frequent power cuts and poor infrastructure. However, few cities have as bad a reputation for crime, particularly street crime, as Karachi. Be it mobile snatching, car theft, robberies at ATMs or traffic signals, there will be few Karachiites who do not have some sort of a story to tell of their or their acquaintances’ encounters with street crime. Many will be quick to attribute ...
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Breaking a record for Pak sar zameen
When the idea to break the world record for most people singing a national anthem was presented to me, my interest was instantaneously sparked. With factors such as ethnic and sectarian division raising havoc in the country, I saw this as an excellent opportunity to unite Pakistanis. This task, however, would not be an easy one. The current world record was held by India with more than 100,000 participants. On doing some research, though, we discovered that the Indian audience had sung “Vande Mataram” and had listed it as their national anthem. The Indian national anthem, however, is “Jana Gana Mana”. Thus, Abid ...
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Are Pakistanis happier in 2011?
With regular bombings being just one of their constantly growing fears, and their country being ranked 12 on Foreign Policy Magazine’s Failed States Index 2011, Pakistanis hardly have reasons to be a happier nation in 2011. We haven’t stepped into particularly hopeful terrain this year. The CIA World Fact Book estimates that Pakistan’s net emigration rate is 9 per cent higher than in 2011. This is testament to the fact that many things are wrong in the country – the most glaring of which are: 1. Inflation The 15.5 per cent inflation rate in December 2010 was brought down by two ...
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Peace in our times
I read two columns on the trot this morning – one by Ataul Haq Qasmi and the other by Nazir Naji – and ended up sadder than I already was. The fact is I try my best but there are times when what is happening around you just cannot be ignored. Such are the days we live in. The stunning incidents in Karachi have cast a pall of gloom and all kinds of apprehensions assail the people. Only the other day we saw Lt Yasir Abbas, a handsome youth, being lowered into a grave with military honours at a barren ...
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Help! I’m a ‘handsome’ girl
Dear Miss Informed, I have a serious issue. I am a working woman. I go to work bright and early at 8am and don’t come back before 7:30 in the evening. For this reason, I find that I never have time to visit the salon; this means bushy eyebrows, chipped nails, frizzy hair and a pubescent moustache. By the time I’m done from work, every single beauty parlour in the city has closed for the day, which means that I look “handsome” till Sunday (my day off) to go and get de-haired and look pretty. I don’t mean to sound like a ...
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Don’t just blame the government
Last week, I read an article pertaining to the closure of 260 industrial units in Sindh in 2009. It made me question one thing – who is to blame for this? Considering this is the Pakistani community and media in question, only one party could be at fault – the government. Reasons cited for the closure were the power crisis, lack of finances, and the global recession. However, is it actually fair to place the blame squarely on the government’s shoulders? How many of us have actually attempted to take action to solve the power crisis? I’ve seen street lamps being powered ...
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Adding guards to your entourage won’t end terrorism
News that President Zardari may be getting foreign guards for his private security sent my cranial wheels turning. Despite Farhatullah Babar’s vehement denial of the report, I will not be surprised if there is a germ of truth in this statement, given security concerns after the late Punjab governor’s assassination. Government officials often come under heavy criticism for the excessive use of security personnel – is Zardari hoping to top that list? As a citizen witnessing the gravity of the security situation in my country, I can understand why officials need to be protected. As citizens, we want our government ...
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Suicide – an easy practice in Pakistan?
Being privileged enough to have access to a number of wire services, I stumbled upon a rather disturbing figure: There were at least 10 suicides this week across Pakistan according to these sources alone. The reasons for suicide were varied. A 22-year-old swallowed poisonous pills due to a domestic dispute, a young man took his life after killing two women and injuring four others over a matrimonial dispute, a security guard shooting himself within the limits of Bahadurabad police station because he wanted to marry someone, and a youth committing suicide after being reprimanded by his parents in Sahiwal. The reason ...
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