Living in Seminal Times

[stingingnettle]

Living in Seminal Times

It has not been easy living under the asphyxiating smother of stagnation and regression. The birth of Pakistan was meant to end the uncertainty and fear of living our lives as second class citizens. A bloody price was paid to secure the future of our children in a country where they would not just grow old but also grow confident and strong, carving their destiny through education and hard work. Sadly we ended up swapping one kind of servitude for another and sixty five years later, the children of 1947 have only grown old, living and dying in the vague hope that Pakistan will become a just, tolerant, plural and democratic country where meritocracy will be a way of life. We, the Pakistanis have been left behind and ignored by those who were supposed to lead us.

Successive rulers and parliaments have produced nothing more than the vile seeds of nepotism, greed and lies. The despair in the heart and mind of a young Pakistani is such that he or she sees no way forward based on meritocracy, intelligence and education. Power, governance, wealth and justice have become family monopolies and there is no other way to transmit them except through genes. No wonder our suffering and hopelessness has reached a critical stage. Despite all this, Pakistan is worth living and worth saving; we are months away from returning Pakistan back to its people; the rightful and proud owners of the legacy of Jinnah and Iqbal.

Today we stand at the crossroads of change, at a seminal moment in our history when all our actions will have consequences. Today we are living in unprecedented times because it is no longer possible to claim ignorance and fate as over-riding factors in our failure to turn things around. We are truly in the spotlight and it is not just the whole world that is watching us but also our children, who have placed their trust, accidently or otherwise, in us and in our ability to make the right choices. God forbid, if today we are to fail in our duty to break the mental, physical and economic shackles by choosing our representatives for the right reasons, then we will have to live with the guilt and responsibility of condemning yet another young generation to abject servitude of the unworthy. No amount of praying will change our destiny, our vote is our best and only chance. In four months’ time, our character and our resolve will be tested; we will have to vote for people who will serve Pakistan and Pakistan alone, without any conflict of interest. It is our life, our future and our vote.

In the dead quiet of a bewitching hour, I sit and wonder what might become of my country and the people I call my own. Will fate play its cruel hand and break the heart that is already broken or will there be a ray of hope to light the path that lies ahead? Beyond a lifetime of despair, I burn in a cold and dark fire; changing my destiny hour by hour, a sense of purpose; my dreams become my only desire. I will change myself before I change my country; I will free my life from oppression, exploitation and hate. I will live at last. A Pakistani spring is upon us; tyranny will end in April.

[resurrected]

SN,
A nice, serene and yet emotionally loaded write. Yes, even 65 years after its creation, the people of the land stand confused and unsure of their future. The older generation has mostly gone to the other side of life, while the first generation is now standing on the verge of disappearance and yet there is no sight of the country they had hoped for.
A strong, viable and tolerant Pakistan is still a mirage and regardless of what we say or hope for, the situation seems to persist even in coming future. I want to believe in the people but they remain uncountable factor. I wish you to be right in your hope that a great change will occur in coming months. Even I sense this change but have no faith in slumbering, resigned people. I’m more like a person who sees no other solution than a surgery, where the tumor is removed as even chemotherapy seems to be no option anymore.
A Pakistani spring, when tyranny comes to an end, will be most welcome change but who will force this spring, to spring forth? We do live in special times but can we convert these into our benefit?

[stingingnettle]

Resurrected;

My question is really quite simple; how much longer can we really wait? Progress always requires an awareness of all that does not work otherwise we keep stumbling over the same stone in our path. We as a nation need to achieve Nirvana from the endless cycle of failure-excuses-failure. I feel encouraged when I see young Pakistanis increasingly use social media to learn more and more about how success and failure work. We need to be aware of great examples of resilience and success; this is the only way we will ever realise that there is indeed another way of being; a different way of living our lives. The death of subservience will be the birth of a new Pakistan. So we need a funeral and birth at the same time. I don't care how we achieve this, as long as we make it happen sooner rather than later. To me there is a deadline for making a complete turn around; we must change Pakistan before the last person born before 1947 dies. The birth of Pakistan was painful but I assure you - the rebirth will be even more painful.

[resurrected]

The answer to your question is simple. We don’t have any time left for us to waste.
The difference between you and me is simple; you see the only chance coming as people realize their dire situation and do something about it, while I see that possibility gone by the wind.
Your goal of doing something before the generation born before 1947 completely disappears.
My goal is to bring that change now, so that they too may see the fruits of their dreams coming to reality, though this seems highly improbable at present. The only hope I have is a miracle that saves the land from beasts.
Nothing can be more painful than what we are experiencing right now, rebirth would be a release instead!

[stingingnettle]

My grandparents who were born before 1947 are all dead. My maternal grandparents sacrificed everything they had to come and live in a free Pakistan; they never called themselves anything but Pakistanis and they never complained about the hardship they had to face in their new country. My maternal grandfather was a highly educated scholar, writer, calligrapher and poet who was very well off before partition but ended up being a clerk in Pakistan's National Assembly yet he never ceased to celebrate 14th of August with great fanfare. I owe it to my grandparents that I try my best to bring about a Pakistan that he did not see in his life time; a meritocratic, educated, tolerant and progressive Pakistan. We owe this to all those whose sacrifices made it possible for my generation to be born in a free country.

I really hope and pray that we all live in seminal times.