Trite and cliched but needs to be re-stated again and again
With this attitude of “This is Pakistan yahaan pur aisa hee hota hai….” we can go no where. How can you complain of a bad situation when we are hell bent on keeping this bad attitude. We all claim “it’s not my fault” none of us are willing to take responsibility and yet, things are becoming worse. If no one does anything wrong here then where is this mysterious ill coming from?
When we all complain about the infrastructure its because the progress of this city’s people is at stake. When we have the infrastructure people can concentrate on things like development and progress and social work. These two things, people’s progress and the infrastructure are tied to each other. The infrastructure changes so do the people’s attitudes, and vise versa. The snowball effect of growing (as humans) is aided by well structured cities and societies.
Saying “it’s been said before or that we all know all this… is not enough”. If it’s not being implemented then there is something wrong somewhere. We need to keep saying it until people act upon the change. When growing up we were told the same thing over and over again until it became part of our routine. If people display poor civic sense the correction has to be repeated.
They used to teach civics at school; now the only civics at schools are the cars that pick up the kids.
Some say the key is educating our women. Our future mothers so that they can teach the next generation. This generation of adults and young adults do no wrong as is clear from the lack of responsibility and accountability we see amongst us all.
There are a lot of them (educated folks) in the urban areas but if they still say… you do the wrong thing (and yes it does happen) it does not matter how much education (degrees) we give our folks. A lot people we see are literate (and by that I mean they can read and write, some may even have attended college, some even have access to the Worldwide web but if they show no culture, tehzeeb, tameez and compassion then they should be considered uneducated.
I think its everyone’s observation. Each of us calls the other Jahil at some time or another but honestly, what goes around comes around. So again, if we just check ourselves, the only ones we have any control over , we have a chance, else the people of Karachi can fight evolutionary battles and cease to even exist. Sometimes, getting rid of a bad seed is just as well, it helps the overall progress of the species. If we Karachi-ites are that bad seed, then perhaps humanity will be better off without us.
BUT this can change.
Simple easy steps. Like that episode of Seinfeld where George decides to do the opposite of his own instinct, and is thus successful, each time we want to do something, lets just weigh the options and do the opposite of our instinct! When cutting in line lets just check ourselves. Clearly the people standing in line have been there for some time, are also there for the same purpose. What makes you so special?
When we accommodate each other abroad, why then can’t we do it here? We Have ALL said this at one time or another, that Pakistanis suck here and they behave fine when they are abroad…. why? Do we not love this country?
Look, we each know all this, but when we do not implement this, it means nothing. We cannot look into each other’s minds (we are not living in “1984” and thought crime cannot be prevented or committed) and as such we cannot say that “here is someone who is good, but Karachi has made him behave this way”… we each judge each other by what we see and if we only see ill, then it does not matter what your intention was…. its the action that counts.
Means DO NOT JUSTIFY THE END.
THE SMALLEST GOOD DEED IS BETTER THAN THE GRANDEST INTENTION.
We have all heard this. When we behave badly in public, we are going to be judged by that (by others) not by what we each think inside.
Our Eastern cultures were known for the greater good group theory that you sacrifice oneself for the over all group betterment. Where is that today? We appear to be the poster children for the “me generation”.
Reminds me of the expression – “zamaana kharab hai”. True change can only come from within. Revolution anyone?
Trite and clichéd? Yes, indeed!
VERY WELL SAID –
Indeed, we can start correcting by ourselves. 1st.
The first and most important thing which can lift us is :
Education education educationnnnn!!!!
I can keep out shouting for education forever…
Our education has gone to DOGsssss!!!!
Someone save it pleaseeee!!!!
All I’m wonder is which such incident could cause such a sudden and lengthy burst of frustration.
Trite, clichéd and hackneyeddddddddddddddddddddd
Even education is not going to make big difference. Do you think the people who visit this blog are uneducated? No, they are not; they are all well educated. Do you see education being reflected in their comments? seldom! Why?
I have been saying this for quite some time now. Change your own self and your immediate family, thats all. Realize mistakes that we make and try not to repeat them; respect others rights and treat others as you want others to treat you.
I am overcome with emotion everytime I think about this. We can make a very big difference in the future of Karachi. How?
Pick something you feel passionate about and work on it. For me, I believe education is where I can contribute. Educate a child!
Attitude is what will make us or break us.
right on Ahmed. I agree with you.
Apologies for this long pasted post but this was in Dawn today. I’ve cut the news short but I think this fits well into this discussion about the right attitude. Just something to be aware of. These dum dums are fighting over renovating the park? They’re actually fighting over this.
KARACHI, Sept 4: The Karachi Port Trust forcibly stopped development work being carried out by the city government at the Boat Basin park on Tuesday morning, claiming that the land belonged to the trust and the latter had no right to renovate the park.
Whose park is it anyway?
The executive director officer of the city government’s parks and horticulture department, Liaquat Ali, told Dawn that the city government decided to renovate the park on the pattern of Bagh Ibne Qasim and Beach Park in order to provide more recreational facilities to the people of Karachi.
“But last night the KPT deployed its armed staff at the site and when our people reached there on Tuesday morning, they forcibly stopped them from working,” he added.The KPT people claimed that the Boat Basin Park was owned by the trust and the CDGK was illegally renovating the park.
“The KPT gave this land to the KDA but later cancelled the allotment as the KDA defaulted.”
Look at Wasi Zafer, Altaf Hussain and the Sahrifs all claim to be educated. Yet total Jahil & idiots. We must not confuse Taleem with Terbiyat both are important.
Lets re-define pakistan .. :)
Let’s Join India and be a part of something Big :D
Danish, why can’t India join Pakistan?. In this way our actors will not have any excuse to go across the border neither people here would make any issue. All would say that meera moved from Punjab to other part of Pakistan that is Mumbai for sake of employment. *grin*
good point Pak Stalon , Ahmed and Saba!
we always say that we are not being provided this and that ! the govt is this and that! People here do this and that, while we keep on forgetting that the people includes us tooo, and no matter how much rigging takes place in the election the state of ind or the rulers are the direct reflection of the state of mind of the people ruled!
I recently had the oppertunity to apply to KESC for load extension to my meter. My Meter runs 1KV load.
I applied to KESC Tipu Sultan Road, Where Mr Hameed who deals with new load applications asked me to write and application asking for load(which is not required but i complied, this is before rains)
After the rains i met the same MR Hameed who in presense of higher official gave me the actuall legal KESC form, saying the application he asked me earlier is no longer needed.
Now same Mr Hameed asked me to go back to the building and collect all the bills from all the tenants in the high rise or fetch the Meter number of the all the meters installed on a big wall (so he can determine the available load).
He also told me that his KESC team is illiterate and wont be able get this information them selves.
I told him he was being unreasonable and left.
I did not have the energy to argu with him.
Mind you i know whats in store for me next however due to lack of ample croupt acumen i have not ventured back.
Few years back i had to apply for the meter in Gulshan Iqbal so i know how the systems works(at that time it costed me Rs30,000 haram)
Now you tell me should
1) i say “YA PAKISTAN HA YAHA AISA HE HOTAH HA
and be ready to pay the bribe and get this done without the humiliation that he has asked of me(and more humiliation latter).
2) Damage my interest and confront the man.
3) you guys suggest and i’ll take your vote.
Also if i get 3KV to 5KV i will be able to generate employment of 5-10 people that is the purpose of the whole exercise as ineed to hire more people.
I appologize for being anonymous but i feel i must remain so and i hope you can make the connection of this comment with you post
Allah Kay Banday, its good that at least you have tried to get your work done through proper channel (not many of us would even think about it). I cant suggest which route should you take but you have to decide yourself keeping in mind how much patience you can show and how much time you can waste running after higher officials.
pish posh , miss goody 2 shoes.
DV
@ Allah ka banda!
one thing you should try is writing to the top officials of KESC about the problem and perhaps to newspaper too, this has worked for me ! quite number of times but have not tried n KESC! but It will be worth a try ! what have you got to loose? :)
Education is not the only thing that needs to be prioritized. Bring statbility in the country to stop the brain drain as well. We need leaders to bring the country back on track and when I say leaders, I don’t necessarily mean politicians. We need people like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Allama Iqbal who can guide us through this tough time and show us the path.
I am thinking from now on i will name and shame on internet any government official that unpleases me. Yes you read that right, “unplease”.
You know few days back i saw on news that somewhere in the world they are erecting a full size statue of Nelson Mandela. I took a minute to look at that news.
Just around that time i was thinking of winding up my business and leaving Pakistan (again)
When in the news he, Mr Mandela said around the statue cermony (in essence) said that this statue is to prove that a struggle can be rewarded in ones life time.
So latter when i was shopping with a friend, i went out killed my favoured dinner movment and bought the expensive book by Mr Mandela(i always admired the guy and wanted to read about him, and after that news byte i felt i had to)
What i am finding out is how ordinary a man he was. But the sacrifies he made on little things in life is extraordinary.
My point for this outburst being, do we want to make such sacrifies? without which i think things like my KESC connection is not gonna happen.
Bluemax is right, it is my call.
Lets see what happens.
Correct. Education is only part of the solution hence would not solve the entire problem. What we need besides education is a change in attitude – something that in Urdu we’d refer to as “tarbiyat.” When you have 2 fellas out on the street fighting tooth and nail because of a scratch on someone’s car, I doubt a PhD would help much. What constitutes the other parts of the solution? For starters, let’s make sure we raise our kids right and bring an end to the era of ‘paray likhay jahils’.
“Paray Likhay Jahil”, very interesting choice of words. Creative too.
I’ve come to terms with reality and accepted that if I don’t contribute, no matter how little it may be, I loose my right to complain.
We need to stop complaining and FIX things ourselves. All the issues of traffic, water, sewage and electricity are very disheartening and there may be things we can’t fix that are our of our control. BUT, we can educate, we can use better judgement, we CAN avoid bribry (rishwat) sometimes.
Let us focus on the positives and fix what we can. Basic education is going to help so educate if you can. Never loose hope.
100% absolutely WRONG
being tolerant, flexible and HUMAN is what all need in the 1st place.
The 1st word IQRA came to Prophet (pbuh) after he was 40 years old., for the 40 years he was the finest of the human beings of exemplary character, behavior, and attitude and he IS for the MANKIND not for the moslems.
Start with following some basic rules of traffic and maintaining some order on the road, another thing would be not to throw litter outside on roads.
Traffic behavior for me is one thing which represents a nation attitude and I witnessed this during my recent visit, it was simply pathetic we seem to have no patience and no respect for law.
Traffic ?
how about people scratching groin in public, spitting in every corner, like a dog peeing on fire hydrant,
like someone said above – Taleem O Tarbiyat, is what is important. education alone does not elevate a person. It is Tarbeyat at home, training at home.
I see around Myself, highly educated individuals at responsible positions, with Black suit Brown Belts and black rubber sole moccasin – Taleem is not what teaches them how to dress, it is tarbeyat at home which makes all the difference.
@Muhammad Abdullah ditch (unreliable)KESC altogether.. buy 2 gas generators of that load and use them instead..
“buy 2 gas generators of that load and use them instead” … using natural gas supplied by SSGC to generate electricity on a residential connection is illegal (I may be wrong here). If SSGC allows it on a commercial connection, it may be expensive.
To Allah ka Banda…
Kinda getting off the original point of this blog, but I had to reply to the KESC comments. Yes, they are highly corrupt and most ppl from there can’t resist asking you for money, but! as someone who was once in a position to either pay the man off or do the painful thing, I actually took the easy way out, and called up his superior. The fact that I made such an effort and was not afraid to talk to a KESC “bigwig” suddenly made it much easier to get my line fixed.
I think most people just pay off such people because they feel like they don’t deserve real service. Either that or they’re worried that someone might come and pull out the kunda connection that they run their AC’s on! And trust me, there are a LOT of so-called respectable and well-off people in Karachi who are too cheap to pay for the electricity they use!
So, if you are not one of these cheapos, then I think you shouldn’t be worried about any repercussions. Call up the man’s boss and get his butt kicked! Stop paying people off!
Education is not the only thing that needs to be prioritized. Bring statbility in the country to stop the brain drain as well. We need leaders to bring the country back on track and when I say leaders, I don’t necessarily mean politicians. We need people like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Allama Iqbal who can guide us through this tough time and show us the path.