Routine rumblings!

Hello everyone!

Much has changed since I wrote/shared the last blog entry. I am a different person, at least in thoughts, professionally, personally, socially, psychologically, religiously, secularly…you name it. Perhaps time has this way of laying a kind of road ahead of us on which we walk expecting certain results but get something else in the end. The common vein in this saga consisting of nearly two years is this: people can lift you up people can drag you down. So half of the wisdom is to choose people who can stand by you, when things go wrong, loyal, faithful people, I mean. Yes I regret making some choices on the spur of the moment and feel elated making good ones. But as is the norm in the society we live, we get punished and humiliated for the wrong choices while no one cares for the right choices one made and the part played saving a lot of bad stuff happening! I heard someone saying the other day: Failure has many reasons, while success has none. But guess, this shall pass too. Enough for now. Stay tuned for more!

Addressing Development.

                        Is development still a relevant concept? And if so for whom?

Before addressing the question “Is development still relevant? “, it seems  necessary to define the context in which the word development has come to be understood today and which shade of definition(s) I subscribe to. In the following lines, I will present as to how theories about development have evolved over the decades and why they are still relevant for a host of actors and why not the other way round.

 The word development is very much part of common parlance today and, therefore, needs context-specific definitions for clarity. In contemporary literature, the word development has been associated with as different things as spiritual growth and economic progress.

This prolific use has confused the meaning(s) of this word. This complexity of meanings makes the word development a perfect qualifier of what author Stuart Chase (Chase, 1939) called “the tyranny of words“in his book by the same title. Indeed individuals, firms, states and international institutions have used the word development to mean quite different array of things over the decades.  For example, famous Indian campaigner against British Rule in the subcontinent Mohandas Gandhi mentioned development in following words: “Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position” (Misra, 1995, p.11). Around the same period in 1949, US President Truman spoke of the poverty of developing nations being a threat to the developed world (McKay, 2004). Earlier on, the notion of development had figured prominently in European political thought and philosophy during the influential movements of humanism and rationalism of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. During industrial revolution of 19^th and 20^th  centuries in Britain and North America, the concept of development remained quite relevant to the social and political discourse (Porter et al, 1999).

The concept is still very much at the heart of current models of economic and social growth. For example, in the neo-liberalism model, much emphasis is made on economic development of countries via free-markets and liberal democracy. Policies inspired by these theories are being pursued to this day by global financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Generally speaking, development has come to be understood as an across-the-board improvement in human condition. The origins of this perspective go back in time to 1940s, when large-scale projects like US Marshall Plan for Europe (1948-1951) were introduced (Porter et al, 1999). In fact development interventions of this pattern helped set the stage for other initiatives across many other continents by world powers of that time e.g. many former colonial powers launched development programs under what was termed as "trusteeship".

 Theories behind these plans were based on the assumption that developing countries owed the support of developed countries and they too could, presumably, follow the same trajectory of economic development and social progress starting in urban areas and then “trickling down” to the peripheral regions. The whole process was named “modernization “of a society or modernization theory (Porter et al, 1999). But this was challenged by ‘Dependency Theory’ (McKay. 2004) which originated in Latin America and contended that development endevours launched by the rich countries had an exploitative side to them as these divested the developing countries of their precious resources. In other words, development of one nation resulted in the underdevelopment of another. Hence development was thought as being counter-productive, i.e., worsening the very problems it sought to address.

The dependency theory was a reaction to some trademark practices the colonial powers had followed in the regions under their rule. These included transfer of raw material from backward colonies to newly industrialized areas in the home country. For example in the Sub Continent during British Rule, raw material (cotton and copper chiefly) was transported for use in England which was undergoing industrial capitalism at that time. For this purpose the railway track was laid out only in certain areas to facilitate the transfer (Ali, 2011). For obvious reasons, the development of local people took a backseat against the vested interests of the imperial power. Similarly, a lot of rail and telephone network in Africa was established to ensure maximum extraction of copper and other precious metals (Harlow, 2003). However , in my view ,  this argument of Dependency Theory touches only one aspect of the problem, i.e., makes no mention about the local social dynamics which had a bearing on these so-called ‘failed development projects’. This is in no way to justify the occupation of foreign lands but to state the simple fact that development in many cases couldn’t take off not only because it was imposed from an outside force , which was ignorant or neglectful of local sensitivities , but also because of the inherent incapability of the system in that particular territory. To elaborate, long before the start of British Rule in Indian Subcontinent, Mughal Empire (1526-1858) was on the verge of collapse due to internal fissures and rising tide of provincialism not to mention the worsening divisions along religious and cast lines (Richards, 1995).  In a similar way, pre-colonial Africa was in disarray before the colonial powers took control. So it was wrong to expect rapid development in the first place. Therefore, from a purely development standpoint, it seems unjustifiable to put all the blame of underdevelopment on colonial powers.

 As of today , the inherent weaknesses of political systems in developing countries like corruption, incoherence on national issues, nepotism, law and order problems and conflicts need to be considered before reaching a decisive conclusion on what caused the development endeavors to fail. For example in 1960s, the idea of five-year development programs was introduced in what was termed the UN ‘Development Decade’. These plans worked quite well in some countries leading to economic growth in many sectors. While in other countries the plans failed to produce the same kind of results. It was not because the idea (which was floated by the UN under the auspices of world powers) was bad in itself rather it was because the local conditions of the country impinged on the desired outcomes. For example , the five-year plan of India 1951-1956  met most of its targets in terms of reviving the agrarian sector of the economy but a similar plan in Pakistan 1955-1960 failed because the country was undergoing political instability at that time (Blood , 1984).

 Over the decades, the concept of development has evolved to incorporate a more human element into the whole process.  Many theorists have argued on this aspect e.g. Robert Chambers implied that development essentially introduced a good change in a society (Chambers, 2005). The founder of UN Human Development Reports, Mahbub-ul-Haq defined development as "a process of enlarging people’s choices" (United Nations Development Program, 2011). Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate in economics, described development as an agent which brought about freedom to the people (Sen, 1999). Development, in the sense viewed by these experts, has been pursued by many rich countries in the form of aid to the poorer countries though with certain political quid pro quos. For example, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) , United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)  have spent billions of dollars on development aid to poorer countries of the world , apparently all focusing on improving the lives of people in poorer countries in one way or another.

During the cold war, the United States and former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) exploited the concept of development to win allies across the world. The world powers spent considerable resources to maintain the allegiance of smaller countries which had joined their respective camps. As the cold war came to an end, it was hoped that developed countries would pursue the aims of development in its true spirit. But, unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The countries in Asia and Africa which used to receive “development” aid on account of being “allies”  were left to fend for themselves (McKay, J. 2004) as they were no longer a policy priority in the eyes of the superpower. This led to an impression that world powers initiate development projects basically to further their political machinations and not as development per se. Meanwhile, foreign aid in the name of development is still being used as a political tool today (Birdsall, 2005).   In a way, the policies of US and its allies after attacks on USA in September 11, 2001 have taken the world back to the cold-war days. Against the backdrop of such policies, a number of theorists challenged the very notion of development in what became known as “post development theory” or “anti-development “theory. Most prominent among these is Arturo Escobar. He criticized the development discourse championed by western industrialized countries and termed it a tool for gaining political hegemony more than anything else (McKay, 2004).

The foregoing premise shows the dilemma one faces in explaining the meaning of the word development which is surrounded by so much contestation. Perhaps no single definition is comprehensive enough to cover the multi-faceted concept that development has come to be over the decades. The best practice, in my idea, would be to state one’s own position vis-à-vis the concept. This helps the reader understand what is called “positionality” (Andy Sumner 2009) of the writer. It signifies the fact that the writer is leaving the room open for potentially mixing his own fundamental beliefs with the subject at hand. I will argue for the cause of a human-centered development model as proposed by Amartya Sen (Sen, 1999) and the “Human Development Concept “stated in the 2010 United Nations’ Human Development Report. These writings signify the point that economic growth of a country is important but other phenomena like gender equality, education, health, infrastructure and freedom from repression etc must also be considered when planning development.

Why development is still relevant and for everyone?

Drawing on the definitions of development and their critique here above, it goes without saying that the concept is equally relevant to both the less developed and highly developed countries today. Human development is an on-going and timeless process. Hence the question is not if development is relevant but what kind of it. As defined in the UN Human Development Report 2010: “Human development is, moreover, concerned not only with basic needs satisfaction but also with human development as a participatory and dynamic process”. For better or worse, the phenomenon of development has brought countries together over the decades. Notwithstanding the differences in terms of social indicators such as wealth, infrastructure, technology and education, countries have come to depend on each other for survival.  Most recent example in this emerging inter-dependence paradigm is seeking of bailout funds by European Union from China. More than anything else, the Euro zone debt crisis has shown that Europe, a largely developed continent, is as much in the need of economic development as any other region in the world with countries like Greece teetering on the brink of anarchy.  This drives home the point that well-being of one country, economic or otherwise, directly or indirectly affects not only its neighbors but others across the globe. As the Greek debt crisis worsens, countries in Europe are worried about its spillover effect on their economies not to mention the potential social collapse of countries like Greece and Spain where unemployment rates have shot up to 20% (BBC, 2011). Fundamental questions are being asked about the viability of the free market system that Europe has been so adhered to over the years. This has necessitated the need for a rethinking of economic development in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland in particular and all over Europe in general. While Europe is facing the debt crisis and needs a rethinking on the underlining economic system, the United States has seen criticism from inside the country for “corporate greed” of its financial institutions in the form of “Occupy Wall Street Movement “. Overall the emergence of so-called “the 99% “  shows the significant challenges developed countries are facing in terms of meeting the needs of a public which is increasingly questioning the viability of current prevalent development models and is discontent with the status-quo (BBC , 2011).

 This essentially means that the search for alternative models of development has only intensified the need for a broad-based development of society instead of letting a handful of people call the shots and dominate decision making. The need, in my opinion, is the democratization of the financial system so that the general masses have a greater say in important decisions and question the profiteering by few. This disillusionment was previously more visible in the less developed countries of the world where majority of the population lives in sub human conditions leading to a never-ending battle for scarce resources resulting in Civil Wars as in Africa and in Asian countries like Afghanistan.  These events only go to emphasize the role of development in the contemporary world. The relevance of the concept of development was never as immense as is today simply because no country in the world today can claim to be immune from uncertain times and thus has to pursue constant development.

Obviously, the need to implement development concepts is more acute in the developing countries than the developed countries which, after all, have some safety mechanism in place which can reduce the shock impacts if certain development strategy fails to provide benefits. This is in stark contrast to many of the developing countries where majority of the population lives in rural areas virtually cut-off from the outside world. For them, development is always a good change as Robert Chambers said (Chambers, 1997).

During my four-year service in the most underdeveloped parts of Pakistan, I have seen people in living in medieval conditions unbeknownst to the modern day innovations that have improved the quality of life around the world. For them, every thing from a small pipe of clean drinking water to 200 Kilo Volt hydro power project is development. But the trouble there is that they are totally dependant on state which is spending poorly on them.  That said, improvement has been registered in the main cities in terms of better education, health and communication facilities. But the level of inequality is so high that one wonders if the slight improvement in some part of the region can even be called development. For example, Gilgit Baltistan is the northern most part of Pakistan and only road to the region is nearly 600 kms from the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad.  In December 2010, Asian Development Bank (Asian Development Bank , 2011) published a report about the region The report detailed the economic prospects for the region considering how the public and private sector expansion had improved the lives of the people. It also talked about the immense potential the region had in terms of the hydro power generation and natural resources like minerals. But the report, which was partly funded by UK DFID, failed to rigorously point out the disparities in terms of gender equality, resource distribution and gap between whatever developments had been achieved in the few main cities and poverty-stricken hundreds of villages in the rural areas. Thus the people who needed the most attention got left out.  The situation is not very different in the rest of rural areas in Pakistan where clean drinking water, health care, education, basic infrastructure and a decent life still remain a distant dream. Most of the time, but not always, researchers fail to provide information about this marginalized section of society.  I have these areas in mind when talking about human development and its relevance. I think it is here that the test of development, taken in its original concept of uplifting the poor, seems most relevant. Across the border in India too, a huge problem exists in the form of extreme poverty in rural areas which often compromises its tiger economy status in the world. Currently, India is far behind its Millennium Development Goals’ target of halving the country’s poverty which still remains at 32 % at the moment (OneWorld, 2011). This failure in meeting the target is attributed, as mentioned earlier, to so many factors ranging from lack of funds to corruption in running the projects thus such development activity is reduced to mere announcement for poor people. As for Afghanistan, it presents a strong case of how development strategies fizzle out when followed by political expediencies rather than focusing, ideally speaking, on a people-centered undertaking. Despite spending billions of dollars over a decade in the name of development, Afghanistan project looks as grim as ever.

The development fiasco discussed provides good lessons for development strategists in future. For one, it brings forth the importance of laying out the foundations of infrastructure rather than focusing on social services. Examples abound where foreign contractors and local corrupt officials basked themselves in the windfall of aid money that donors showered on Afghanistan after a UN appeal for funds in the Bonn Agreement reached in December 2001. Looked at from another point of view, especially the western view, there has been a semblance of normalcy in the country especially compared to autocratic rule of Taliban regime (1996-2001). For the sake of it, elections were held in 2004 and 2009 and a government purportedly representing all segments of society was installed. But the core goal of state building through development still remains a pipe dream. This is no to say that foreign aid is out rightly bad. But when it is given with short-term political agendas in mind, long term policies can not be initiated and hence development can’t be sustained. 

In conclusion, it seems fair to argue that development, regardless of how it is defined, remains a concept of timeless importance. It’s the only way to bring about a change for the better in the lives of people especially in the developing countries but not excluding those in the developed world. Increasingly, the world is becoming uncertain with events in one country affecting, directly or indirectly, the socio-economic dynamics of other countries around it. The current debt crisis in the Euro Zone exemplifies this notion.  That said, we need to learn our lessons from the apparently botched efforts at development (the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan and settlement of Greek debt being just two cases in point). In my view, this necessitates the need for evolving approaches which take into account the long-term impacts of policies instead of “firefighting” as and when the crises reach a boiling point.

References

1.      ‘Pakistan , Gilgit Baltistan Economic Report , Broadening the Transformation’ Asian Development Bank (2 Dec 2010) ,  <http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/05/03/000333037_20110503000328/Rendered/PDF/559980ESW0Gray1OFFICIAL0USE0ONLY191.pdf > (28 Oct 2011)

2.      Ali, Mubarak “Rise and Fall of Mughal Empire “ Daily Dawn 11 Aug. 2011 <http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/06/time-check-british-india-mughal-fall-rise-of-british-raj.html> ( 1 Nov. 2011)

3.      BBC ( 3 Nov. 2011) Greece Referendum: Democracy versus the Euro Zone < http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15553685> (3 Nov 2011)

4.      Birdsall , Nancy ‘Seven Deadly Sins : Reflections on Donor Failings’. Centre for Global Development (19 Dec 2005) < http://www.cgdev.org/files/2737_file_WP50_rev12_05_2.pdf > (29 Oct 2011)

5.      Blood, P. (1984). Pakistan: a country Study Washington:  Federal Research Division.

6.      Chambers, R. (2005) Ideas for Development. Bath: Bath Press

7.      Harlow B., Carter M., (2003) Archives of Empire, Volume II, the Scramble for Africa. USA: Duke University Press.

8.      ‘Human Development Concept’. United Nations Development Reports. 2011. <http://hdr.undp.org/en/humandev/ > (1 Nov. 2011)

9.      McKay, J. (2004) Reassessing Development Theory. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 2: ‘Reassessning Development Theory: Modernization and Beyond’ p.45.

10.  Misra, O.P. (1995) Economic Thought of Gandhi and Nehru, A Comparative Analysis. New Delhi: M D Publications

11.  OneWorld (May 2011) , India Poverty Reduction Briefing <http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/india/poverty > (2 Nov 2011)

12.  Potter, R. et al (1999) Geographies of Development, an Introduction to Development Studies. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Chapter 1: ‘Defining Development’, p.3.

13.  Richard, J. (1995). The Mughal Empire. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press

14.  Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom, New York: Knoff.

15.  Sumner, A. and Tribe, M., (2008) International Development Studies, Theories and Methods in Research and Practice. London: Sage

(I wrote this essay as part of academic requirement here at IDS in November).

My first time in UK!

I landed at London Heathrow Airport on Sunday 25th September 2011, on an Emirates flight with a short stopover in Dubai International Airport from Islamabad.

In Islamabad International Airport, boarding and getting through the immigration desk wasn’t a problem unlike the agony anecdotes I had heard of passengers being grilled hard by cold immigration and custom officials.

So all the officer asked me was my Passport and NOC (Non-Objection Certificate) from Government of Pakistan about my travelling to UK which was quite understandable. In hindsight, I think the best practice is to keep your all original documents side by side with a photo copy of them for all practical purposes. 

Nearly a dozen airliners operate from Pakistan to UK. September is the busiest in terms of passenger traffic as most of the UK universities start their sessions and receive a deluge of international students. All the airliners have at least one stopover before landing at Heathrow except Pakistani International Airlines. The latter airlines’ flight goes directly from major cities Islamabad and Karachi to Manchester and Heathrow taking roughly six hours.

All said and done, I think Emirates' (especially its Business Class) is the best travel experience unlike my Economy-Class travel which was so-so.

Over Europe, the cold was palpable and a small Emirates’ blanket helped. Though hard-pressed in the narrow seat, I managed to put together a bad sleep while headphones on! I had been expecting a view of the outside world from plane windows but couldn’t either from Islamabad to Dubai and then onwards to Heathrow. This gave me enough time to fiddle and figure the in-flight touch-screen entertainment system.

Finally we touched down at Heathrow. The pilot told us in advance about a delayed landing, for Heathrow is world’s third busiest airport after Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in US and Beijing Capital International Airport in China. Further on to terminal 3 (My university had sent instructions and I had booked a free coach from Heathrow to Sussex). The welcoming staff had been actually waiting for a long time due to my flight delay. But I chose to go with my friend who was there to receive me after, of course, informing the varsity officials.

Next I was shown around London by my friend who is a UK national.  We drove to Brighton and it took almost an hour from London. Thanks to all the perfect email correspondence I had all the documents  ready. Once on campus , it was pretty easy to visit the "porter" office and being shown the room in East Slope of Students’ residence area. It’s my third day here in the UK and the experience is amazing. I hope to meet students from around the world and enrich my horizons of thought and perception besides seeing some of the historical places in this flamboyant country.

I will be back next week with a description of on-campus residence and how I am grappling with everything from cooking to knowing coins in the UK.

(First published on the British High Commission Islamabad's website  

Pakistan and India in Sussex!

It’s been a pleasant experience meeting Indian students here in Sussex . So far as many Indians as I have met they have been warm, affable,approachable and down-to-earth. Obviously , this is a far-cry from what we were taught in the state text books about the ethos of our Eastern neighbor. The bonhomie takes no time to take root thanks to the common vein of sub continental ways. The first common denominator is language. You can say so many things using so few words with them while it takes an awful lot of energy to connect to students from other countries. I don't mean one shouldn't reach out to nationals from other countries but the chemistry is unmatched with it comes to meeting Indians.

I have been particularly unsuccessful in geling with students from Arab countries partly because of my preconceived notions about them being rash, boorish and unruly in their day-to-day behavior and partly because of their disregard for Pakistanis despite the reverence we harbor for them. There are always exceptions ,of course! So this might seem quite a sweeping statement for many , but this is what my experience (and hence the overriding impression of them) has been so far after my interactions with Arab students in the university for more than four years in Pakistan.

About the people from my own country , they reflect various shades of thinking just like in Pakistan. Many are liberals and seem concerned about recent bad image of Pakistan in the UK and the rest of the world. There are those who prefer English (that too with fake British accent) than talking in Urdu. You ask something in Urdu and the reply comes in OL RIGHT! , Oke , etc . I personally prefer Urdu while meeting Pakistanis so this feigned English puts me off. This is not to say that they are wrong in their preference of English over Urdu ( or i don't love them as my fellow country men just because they don't speak Urdu with me here) , it is just that I don’t feel comfortable talking in English to a country fellow.May be , many of them do. Looked from this perspective some Indian students have their English airs around though and wouldn't talk to you in Urdu/Hindi. But the majority will give you the kind of atmosphere you might be missing because of being away from your country : the banter , sharing weird Pathan/Sardar jokes that regularly made way to my/their inbox in the home countries , talking about food or just about anything makes you feel at home.

Like all the previous years, Indian students account for one of the largest country groups to study at the University of Sussex this year. In Institute of Development Studies(IDS) alone, there are 34 students (plus two tutors)compared to only 04 from Pakistan with a PHD fellow having started teaching recently. Two Indian Civil Servants couldn't make it this year because of some last-minute issues. This is a small reflection of a booming educational system in our neighboring country while we are yet to introduce basic education reforms back in the homeland.

In the South Asia Student Society’s maiden meeting this evening,I found Indian students more forthcoming about my idea for setting up an India-Pakistan friendship society than fellow Pakistanis. About planning celebrations of upcoming festivals like Eid and Diwali there was a clear division between students hailing from Sindh ,Gilgit Baltistan , KPK and Punjab. The president and vice president of the society hailing from Punjab wanted to bring in the Islamic Society when Eid Celebrations were discussed while the rest of us wanted it to be only an India-Pakistan affair. This was no survey of students from Punjab being against friendship initiatives with India but to find them in unison and the president and his VP clearly taking umbrage to my idea of keeping the Islamic Society out of the Eid Celebrations was strange. I wonder what they wanted to achieve by lumping Pakistan with Arab-dominated Islamic Society here. One reason could be the illusional concept of Muslim Ummah all the while forgetting that we owe more allegiance to our neighbors than to distant Arabs who love to hate us for all the wrong reasons!!

Living on the edge:Life in a border village in Kharmang

(Wrote it in the village , so you will find it in the present tense.)
I have come to a very remote part of Kharmang valley, my current place of posting. The village, Biralgo, is at a distance of about 150 Km from Tolti, the headquarters of Kharmang sub division. As is the practice all over, the "army" name of the village is "Musa camp”. From any point in the village one could see the snow-capped peak which marks the Pakistan boundary with India. Stories are myriad about how the army vacated many villages, including this one, as the 1999 Kargil conflict with India was soldiered on by Pak army and "volunteers". Twelve years on, many villages are still waiting for some sort of restitution of their land and houses taken over by the army. The killing of one and capturing of another Indian Airforce pilot during the Kargil battle is fresh in every one’s memory. With perceptible pain, the death of a man and woman due to artillery shelling was described by many. Dozens were injured during the low-intensity conflict. Asked about injuries , the person sitting next to me pulled up his sleeves and showed a scar on the left arm and chest.

Those who had served in Kharmang told me before I joined there that as long as the situation along the LOC remains peaceful (that essentially means no lobbing of artillery shells across the border ) , the administration of the area is quite easy.   So far I seem to have a good time. But intermittent army camps dotted along the road are enough signs of warning about an uncertain future.

The camps of various army units , check posts and garrisons punctuate the whole area. As part of good well gestures, the army has launched many projects intended to uplifting the living standards of the impoverished people living in the villages. Schools, hospitals and other Govt facilities have been drastically changed in terms of up-keeping and quality of paraphernalia therein.
Today we have come here to disburse the compensation money of a road scheme in the village. As the staff was preparing pay checks for the villagers' whose land had been used in the road , I walked up to a nearby army camp to seek permission to visit the mausoleum of a saint located further on a village called Borolmo juxtaposed by an army camp which calls the village "Shama sector ". People had legends attributed to the saint buried in the mausoleum. “He would throw a fistful of dust towards the Indian border and it'd catch fire; while fish would come out of the water on his intention “, told me a soldier from Shikarpur , Sindh in “Musa Camp “ with whom I seemed to had sounded a right chord by dint of my functional Sindhi, his mother tongue. The adjutant, the commanding officer and the ilk were busy in a conference in Olding , the nearby army base. Despite several attempts we couldn't get through to them which meant we won't see the mausoleum this time around. I was turned off by this. Though the top Govt official here, I couldn't move sans army's permission. These are peaceful times, I said to myself but you can’t breach a “security alert “in a border area!
Back with the villagers, we were served a lunch of mutton. Perhaps Mr Raza , a supervisor of road workers (Qullis as they are known generally )  had slaughtered a goat to honor me and the staff. In between the bank check distribution and my time alone in a room overlooking Kargil road, I switched between writing this blog and reading a PDF version about the controversial philanthropist Greg Mortenson's "Three cups of tea" whose Central Asia Institute school buildings could be seen along the road. Surprisingly , his agents in Gilgit Baltistan had chosen the office of Assistant Commissioner Kharmang to register the charity organization.

 I realized one could do wonderful things, like reading, far from the maddening world of modern communication!

 This small interaction with the army made me reflect as to what a horrific state the people could be in times of conflict much less the army itself

By now we got the confirmation that due to security alert (an Indian soldier had been shot dead the other day after crossing the limits towards a Pakistani check post. Mr Tariq, the Olding CO (Commanding Officer ), had informed us on an earlier visit).

 Overall, the villagers' lived a medieval life: rugged road, next-to-nothing phone communication , the poorest of medical facilities (a teenage boy calling himself "nurse" was all once could see)and wooden cabins people so proudly calling shops. Part of the reason for this dismal state of development is the mass migration of the villagers to Skardu , the main city of Baltistan division, for business and education. In the village ,even the soldier from Sindh had to talk to his family in Shikarpu only once in three days despite the fact that every one thought army's communication was seamless as compared to any other state institution in the area including your truly's office.
Although not that somber, this reminded me of how Mr Mortenson , the mountaineer cum controversial humanitarian worker i earlier referred  to ,   felt while stranded from his group on the Boltoro glacier near the mighty K2 Mountain. “There can be no other place in the world where man feels himself so alone, so isolated, so completely ignored by Nature, so incapable of entering into communion with her" , he writes in the once-bestseller "Three Cups of Tea".
Only a dozen landowners were remaining for payment of compensation now. It was time. I thought of capturing a shot or two of the " Khamosh " waterfall on return to my place in Tolti , so I did. While making it to Tolti again , i secretly prayed there was no war between India and Pakistan , at least not on this part of the border!

Of Postings and Political maneuvers

Postings are not news in my profession. They happen and happen frequently. In fact one of the attractions this profession offers is that a person gets to go places more often than not. One gets a chance to see new areas and improve social contacts. Into four years of my service, I have been posted six times, twice a year. Lets admit some places are favorites of officers and others are not so. The deciding factor being that the attendant facilities in terms of residence, official vehicle and office staff are far better in some stations as compared to others. In some areas you get a chance to make good contacts while at the same time make an entry into the good books of powers-that-be, very important for getting good future postings and/or retaining the good ones. I always despised the idea of taking help from influential persons (read politicians) in getting postings. Simplistically, I thought I would go anywhere I was asked to. But now it all seems odd to me. The kith and kin of “powers-that-be” being awarded for relationships and those with no political affiliation are given a backseat. Until recently, one used to worry about “blue-eyed boys” from the (in) famous group who would grab all the good postings. Then we thought we belonged to less prestigious and limited group thereby disqualified for postings in good places unless off course the “king’s group” had left a station or two unfulfilled. The workout: develop good terms with “powers-that-be” so that you are not thrown to Antarctica for accommodating someone else!
This essentially means that you’ve got to curry favor with politicians so that you get good postings or you are not evicted from the good ones you already have. By rule, a person is to serve in an area for three years! I am not kidding. But who goes by the rules in these times! You have got to be a political worker besides an officer of sorts!! Am I already?

Bantering about Big Boss

The Celluloid in subcontinent has long been taking its cues from the Hollywood. The practice is very much in vogue to date. The plagiarism of today is more subtle given that film makers are utilizing the technological advances to their benefit. Following their counterparts in the Big Screen , the managers in Mini Screen have produced a number of shows which are derivatives of their originals in the West. Just concluded sequel of "Kon Banega Karore Pati" on Sony Television , "Kia aap panchuvee Pass hain" on Star Plus and successfully running reality show on Color Tv , Big Boss in its Season 4 are some of the examples. Despite being brainchild of Western media and only introduced as second versions in India and some cases in Pakistan too , the shows have done better in both the neighboring countries(Pakistani audience falling back on India Television besides cinema having lost their faith in their indigenous entertainment industry).Part of the reason behind the success of these shows has been their stellar charisma. The shows have been hosted by mega stars of Bollywood. Amitabh Bachan , Salman and Shah Rukh Khan brought their big-screen popularity to their shows in a society where people are crazy about movies. Just the name of them having signed and appearing in the Mini Screen was reason enough for the show to do well in the court of audience. The latest to jump the bandwagon of TV show hosting was Akshay Kumar on a cooking competition show on Star Plus lately. Didn't keep track of that and not sure whether the program is over or still running.

Big Boss's season 4 had two Pakistani artists unlike its previous versions. A wanna-be woman Mr Ali Saleem and all too ostentatious Veena Malik. I have watched most of the episodes of the show and it all looks brainless at face-value. Whats the point in locking a number of persons under one roof, is the obvious questions that comes to mind while watching the show down the road. The only good aspect of the show is that one gets to see the real faces of some show biz personalities.Cover being blown on their pseudo personalities is very interesting. Having seen them prepared in cinema or stage is altogether different from seeing them "act" to a an almost 24-hour monitoring camera. The show brings out the best and worst in the persons. Until they are eliminated from the show, the characters reveal every aspect of their personality willy-nilly. In their weak moments, the inmates make no bones about their past relationships , the controversies in their lives (the touchstones for their entry into the program actually) and other personal issues. Its more like reading a few chapters of a person's autobiography.
As the things stand , there are only five participants left : Doli , Ashmit ,the Great Khali , Shweta and Sameer. The second and last Pakistani artist , Veena Malik , was eliminated today. One wonders what did this show do the public stature of Veena Malik. Before turning up in the show , she was a popular mimicker in Geo Tv later having switched to Dunya Tv now not to mention her high-profile relationship disaster with a famous Pakistani cricker. To be fair , she was phony all along. She could fake any emotion under the sun including being the lover , friend and lover again and much more. I remember the lawyer who was eliminated in the initial episodes of the program calling her a "vamp" the son of Mr Muhesh Bhatt terming her " the most fake lady in the house". I couldn't quite figure out what the show is/was meant for but its better to watch than seeing Pakistani news channel blowing hot and cold about every thing around us ! After Veena's elimination , my interest has gone down on the show. For the sake of it , i wish Shweta wins the show. After all she has remained one of the mature , unassuming and very sensible inmates since the start of the show. Only two weeks to go now. Good luck Shweta :)