As two of Pakistan’s neighbouring countries, India and Afghanistan undergo general elections it is interesting to reflect on developments in one country affect the wider region. Both countries are geo-political heavyweights (due to a booming economy and the presence of NATO forces respectively) and as such the government ministers in Islamabad will be watching closely. It is no secret that Pakistan’s Northwest frontier has an impact on the situation across the border in Afghanistan due to a shared ‘Pathan’ heritage. In the East, both India and Pakistan have taken genuine strides in recent years to improve diplomatic relations in the hope of boosting bi-literal trade. How will things look 12 months from now? Let’s wait and see…
Author: Steve Evans
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A Greek Tragedy
Today I met a family originally from the Kailash Valley in Northern Pakistan. They were so kind, and one girl even donned some traditional tribal dress for a photograph. These people are descended from the soldiers of Alexander the Great, who, after waging war through much of Central Asia, reached the Kailash Valley many hundreds of years ago. It is said that the people of this area were so beautiful that soldiers in Alexander’s army cried when they had to leave. In any case, this fascinating sub-culture remains to this day. Maybe I’ll get an opportunity to go to that area myself one day!
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Making Myself At Home
I visited the house of a friend this evening, and whilst I was there one or two other visits came and went. In an off-the-cuff way I commented that the house seemed to have quite a few visitors that evening. They looked at me strangely at first, afterwards explaining that tonight is unusually quiet, it is not uncommon for the family to have up to fifteen visitors in a single evening, an often many stay for the night. ‘Where do they sleep?’ I asked one girl, as I looked around at the tiny house. ‘Oh, they sleep in mine and my sister’s room, it’s reserved entirely for guests’. Without delving too much into the seemingly paradoxical nature of her statement, I began to reflect on how the definition of hospitality varies from culture to culture. Even now I am learning new things every day!
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A Waiting Game
I have been thinking that you can tell a lot about a culture by looking at the way people queue (or don’t as the case may be!). I was in the bank today to take out some of my penultimate scholarship instalment, and everyone waiting to be served was standing in little groups around each of the tellers. Every now and then someone else would walk in and join one of these ‘clusters’ each vying for the clerk’s attention. I used to think this was rudeness, but I have realised it is not. Who am I to say what works best, and what doesn’t? If you go to the bank in the UK or in Pakistan, and come out in the same amount of time, having completed the work you came to do, then why change anything? To be honest I think some people where there simply to utilise the air-conditioning system, as the bank is one of the few places in Pakistan where you can guarantee it will be present.
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It’s All Relative…
As I sat down to write I began to think about how the meaning of the word ‘family’ here in Pakistan (and in South Asian culture in general) is rather different from how it is defined in the West. In Pakistan, if your third-cousin once removed is getting married to a girl from the same tribe, then a nonappearance at his wedding is a crime that may lead to being written out of the will. The Urdu language reflects the importance of blood relations, no matter how dubious the connection. There is a word specifically assigned to the younger brother of your father, there is a word specifically for your sister’s husband, and both paternal and maternal sets of grandparents each have their own appellation. It’s nightmarish to learn, but in many ways it does make life easier. When somebody introduces a member of their family to you, after that very few questions are left to be asked…
A village elder. He has tied a picture of a local ‘pir’ (saint) onto the end of his beard. -
The White Rabbit
I had the opportunity to visit a Gypsy tribe only last week, and what a fantastic experience it was. The children I saw were dirty, poorly clothed and unable to read and write (probably) and yet they were so beautiful. One girl in particular carried a perfect white rabbit beneath her arms; it was the picture of innocence. The whole tribe were living in tents made of assorted bits of cloth in a small rural area known as ‘Aaluwaala’. There are a number of ways to translate this into English, it roughly means ‘The place of the potato’!
This Image was taken in a small settlement called ‘Aaluwaala’ which mainly comprised of tents. -
An Aural Extravaganza
Today I thought about the menagerie of sounds that one hears on an average day in Pakistan. There is the ice-cream cart that plays an electronic version of ‘fur-de-lise’ on repeat, I wonder how it doesn’t drive the poor man bonkers. There are the cats and dogs. Nobody owns them (indeed, the average Pakistani is terrified of dogs), they’re just there, wailing at all times of the day and night. Then there is the cockerel, which seems to have forgotten that he’s only supposed to crow when the sun comes up, he appears to like doing it on the hour, every hour. In addition, there is the call to prayer, or the ‘azaan’, issued five times a day from minarets up and down the country. Finally, there is the noble tradition of Pakistanis using their car horns at least once a minute. It’s something of a national pastime. I used to think people were must be extremely angry when they were honking at me, until I realised they do all the time. As I write this, ironically my surroundings are eerily silent. It’s late, I should get to bed…
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Making Light of Things…
Today has been a fairly relaxing day. The weather is changing here, slowly but surely the temperature is rising. Although fortunately the mosquitoes have launched a full-scale invasion as yet, and the ceiling fan has not been needed as yet. Every day the citizens of this country go without electricity for between 3 and 10 hours (depending on which part of the country you live in). Needless to say, this is at best, an inconvenience, and at worst, a serious health risk, but the resilience shown by the people here to deal with this daily occurrence is nothing short of admirable. Many Pakistanis simply take the opportunity to sleep, others take a walk outside in the fresh air, and nearly every mobile phone purchased in Pakistan comes equipped with a torch for those times when you can’t find the door handle. One interesting thing is that if, for example, the light goes off at 7pm it always comes back at exactly 8pm. Within what many might describe as a rather chaotic situation, there is a great degree of precision! At least I can plan my napping routine around it with confidence…
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Eyes of Sadness
Foreigners are not particularly common here, so it is hardly surprising this young girl looked at me in this way. One has to get used to being something of an oddity! -
Our Changing World
It is now drawing closer towards the final month of my scholarship, so I want to make an effort to blog more regularly. I would like to give readers an insight into what life is like here, and the potential ways to strengthen ties between the UK and Pakistan in decades to come. A couple of days ago I was invited to visit the family of a friend, and I was simply overwhelmed by the welcome I received. I have found it so much easier to relate to people now that I can communicate with them on a deeper and more personal level. I often feel very encouraged when they told me the Urdu I speak sounds very ‘pure’ (I am sure they just wanted to tell me very gently that I sound old-fashioned). In truth, just liked English, Urdu is a whole mixture of different languages: Hindi, Farsi, Arabic and more recently, English. This shows real potential in the language, a willingness to change, and adapt according to the needs placed upon it. The world we live in is now changing faster than ever and thus our methods of communication must learn to keep up.
