R.I.P Granny

My granny has passed away today. She was around 80 years old and a little ill for the last few days..

I woke up to the sound of my mom's wailing for her mother. She was informed of her death on the phone call from Larkana. My mom lost her mom today and I, my granny. Although I wasn't very close to my granny at all, the death and that too in the family leaves one not only sad but also a little troubled. It once again serves to remind how tenuous the life in fact is and that everyone will have to go one day. It makes one wonder at the way life completes its cycle and the rites and the rituals that accompany one's birth and death.

While the Mom and Dad and two sisters travel to our ancestral village(Shahdadkot) to attend granny's final rites, I stay back and sit here and write and think and wonder and try to reconcile with life as it is.    

Rest in Peace, Granny.

Post-script: Musings on final result

My parents are happier than I thought they were. Since yesterday, they have received a few calls from distant friends and family members congratulating them on my success. Thus, it seems even an allocation is good enough to send and receive congratulations, a great source of happiness and pride for my parents. 

My father keeps asking me if I am sure I am going to get allocated, to which I reply that I will be. It looks certain(hopefully). I had set such high standards for myself and now it seems even an allocation, and in a relatively respectable group, will do , for now. 

Musings on final result

The final result of CSS-2012 was announced on May 20, 2013. 

It has resulted in ambivalent feelings. Not sure whether I should be happy at what I have achieved amidst such a cut-throat competition or sad at how much better it could still have been.

Although the full picture of the result is yet to emerge, it is clear that I am at least going to get allocated but perhaps not in the top-notch groups. I might end up in OMG or less.

It has been a long journey and one which is still far from over.

My parents are happy that I will no longer be an unemployed man and that I am going to be a CSS officer after all. They must also be feeling a little sorry that mine has not been a stellar performance, something that they could give congratulations for in the family and friends. They don't give me this impression at all. They look reasonably happy, relieved and proud of me. But, somewhere deep down their hearts, they must be sorry too. This is not to detract from the fact that my performance has not been too bad. Considering the fact that my subjects were hugely out of favour with the examiners this year, I wasn't expecting any skies. Having said that, I was expecting better than what it is turning out to be. For fear of being misconstrued as thankless, let me say it clearly that I am not particularly unhappy. To be able to stand at 186 in Pakistan out of first 10066 and then 800, there is surely a lot to be proud of. Moreover, I stand a good chance to get allocated to OMG which is my 5th preference anyway, despite my low-scoring subjects and unprecedented competition in Sindh. Thus, performance is undoubtedly good. The ambivalence, however, is born of the high standards that I set for myself and high expectations that my kith and kin attach to me.  

It was my first attempt and there are two more attempts in which I can make amends for whatever I could not do in my first. I am receiving congratulations from my friends and accepting them with a glee. Heart goes out to many of my friends whose chances of even an allocation are remote if not dead. 
Despite my moments of skepticism, I am a believer to the core. And I thank God for the good result and for giving me something to cheer about. 

I hope when the full picture emerges, it turns out to be even better than what I imagine it to be. The result has also shown that I can do it and do it big the next time so the hard work will continue.      

a mindset

It is about the mindset, a sickening one. This story from Afghanistan has sad resemblance with the state of affairs in some sections of Pakistan. Nevertheless, Pakistan has succeeded ,at least inside Parliament, in overcoming such senseless opposition to some progressive pro-women legislation. Implementation to such statutes remains questionable.

Here is the link to the story in today's paper:

http://dawn.com/2013/05/19/afghan-mps-block-law-on-womens-rights/

 

answers

After reading a few columns, op-eds, et al, I have figured out the answers to my questions and they are as follows: 

1) Everyone expected PML(N) to emerge as the single largest party but everyone also expected a hung parliament and no one, even for a single moment of indiscretion, suggested that any one party can form a govt. on its own. But, Lo and behold ! PML(N) is poised to form a govt. almost on its own. So, what are the reasons behind its such a stellar performance and how could it defy all prediction and analyses ?

 Ans: NS protected his own vote base and further consolidated it by a relatively good performance in Punjab. PML(N) also made inroads into PPP's vote bank due to PPP's misgovernance and its explicable non campaign. Imran's message did have an appeal and did charge up people, but not many. The high voter turn-out and first-time voters did not all go to IK. Instead of neutralising each other's vote-bank, both IK and NS ate into PPP's base, NS more than IK by virtue of its not so narrow focus on the urban base alone.

2) Are the PTI men in KPK entrenched seasoned, old politicians or new faces, political non-entities swept into power by IK wave ?

Ans: Yes, the majority of them are new faces, first-timers in the parliament, barring a few seasoned politicians such as pervaiz khattak, yousaf ayub khan and sardar Mohammed Idrees-all three have been ministers before. Eleven debutants belong to Peshawar and to PTI.

3) Does the PPP's brilliant performance in Sindh owe it to strong individual candidates or the Bhutto romance and blind reverence for 'TEER' ?

Ans: Primarily, it is the strong individual candidates who are responsible for PPP's victory in Sindh. True, the Bhutto romance still holds a sway to some extent, the emotional appeal has weakened a great deal. Had not it been for the strong individual constituency politicians, PPP would not have been able to do so well on the basis of  'Bhutto romance' alone. Thus, it would be wrong to suggest that the Sindhi electorate continues to vote for Bhutto.Bhutto romantics exist in Sindh, but too thinly stretched out to make an electoral impact.Sindhi voters vote for their individual candidates who they think will provide them with relief, once elected.  

P.S. The last answer, however, is subject to further analyses and scrutiny.

understanding election results; 3 questions

My three election questions. Looking for answers to understand why the results are the way they are. 

1)  Everyone expected PML(N) to emerge as the single largest party but everyone also expected a hung parliament and no one, even for a single moment of indiscretion, suggested that any one party can form a govt. on its own. But, Lo and behold ! PML(N) is poised to form a govt. almost on its own. So, what are the reasons behind its such a stellar performance and how could it defy all prediction and analyses ?

2) Are the PTI men in KPK entrenched seasoned, old politicians or new faces, political non-entities swept into power by IK wave ?

3) Does the PPP's brilliant performance in Sindh owe it to strong individual candidates or the Bhutto romance and blind reverence for 'TEER' ?

 

Of books and fathers

I picked up 'Aag ka darya' to read. I had bought this book from 'THOMAS & THOMAS' way back in 2005, as per the date scribbled by me at the time. However, I never quite brought myself around the idea of actually reading it. Now, I am trying to voraciously read through all the books that are placed on my shelf, while I can. I started with Hanif's much-applauded debut novel 'A case of exploding mangoes '. I followed it with Obama's memoir 'Dreams from my father' and a few days back I took up Qurratulain hyder's magnum opus "Aag ka Darya'. I knew that I was reading a classic since I had heard and read so much about it. I'll have to admit that the first part of the book was a little difficult for someone like me who was reading Urdu fiction after a very long time. And since the first few chapters deal with a period (around 4th century B.C) which  was dominated by Hinduism as well as Budhism, idiom of the era used in the book is not yet completely familiar to me. However, that is not the reason why I have put the book down. Yes, I have stopped reading it. This is so because I wanted to first read a few other things so as to be able to appreciate the book in its entirety. Two important streams run through the entire course of the book.One, historical and the other, civilizational. The book employs a transmigratory  technique to trace the historical processes which shaped the identity of our region. It also deals with the important 'whys' and 'hows' of the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan. Thus, in order to be able to appreciate the book even further, I need to first familiarize myself with the history of the region since the ancient times. Although I have read many history books, I don't seem to have retained much of it except for a very fine sketch. This,coupled with my father's constant exhortations to read history and eschew fiction, has led me to put the novel down and pick up once again Nehru's 'Glimpses' . I remember a few days back while I was driving to library with my dad alongside ( he accompanies me, at times, to bring the car back), he asked me once again to read history to which I replied that I had read it already in Nehru's 'Glimpses'. As I pulled up the car outside library, my dad advised me to read the books that Nehru had read to write his 'Glimpses'. Thinking how easier it was to say what to read than actually, and at times painstakingly, reading them, I immediately responded , 'I too will have to go jails to achieve this.'  Leaving my father behind laughing at my remark, I entered library. Perhaps with that one little remark, I have saved myself from having to read those big history tomes, at least for now. Nonetheless, history is important. And hence, I am making a brave attempt to once again pick up 'Glimpses' and I intend to follow it with Nehru's "Discovery" and Aitzaz's "Indus saga" and a few more before I go back to Quratulain hyder, lovingly called 'aanie aapaa'. Long wish list, I hope it materializes. Distractions, all of you, stay away!!....