Our color? is being 'fair' and 'gora' important in the 21st century Pakistan? Whatever for? Is this our residual hang-up from the colonial era? The fair color being associated with the 'ruling class' while the dark skinned brown color were the uneducated, uncouth servile Indians. Or is this a deep fissure in psyche the world over because the 'Nordic' conquerors were 'tall, white and light-haired', the 'Aryans' were gora also? So centuries later, we are still bogged down by color, how interesting is that, the US can be lead by a black man, but we must find a 'gori' girl for our sons of the soil to marry!
Our lineage? Why are we so concerned about convincing every second non-entity of how great our grandfathers were? what tall achievements they had collected under their hats and how blue-blooded we are, and had it not be for the sordid partition of the Sub-continent in 1947, each one of us would have an fiefdom to boot and be rajas and ranis in our own right! What utter garbage is that? All of us have been fed stories of endless wealth and grandeur by our parents and that is all good and may have some essence of truth in it but, we all must be realistic and see how things are and were for ourselves.
Our language? The ultimate give away of one's origins and education and background! if one cannot spew English in the best possible accent and the best possible display of vocabulary one is bound to the shackles of being branded an 'Urdu-medium' a euphemism for a country bumpkin. We all want to be fluent in English, but then that isn't all, to be able to speak your mother tongue with a foreign twisted accent is the need of the hour, and also mind you, this mother tongue must be relegated to be used only when addressing inferiors, read menials, (help around the house, shop vendors and yes beggars,) all those who have not had the expensive advantage of an exclusive and private education at all.
Our Lives? And the way we live them, yes, we are severely retarded about how we execute our sojourn in this world in material terms, we are forever harassed by our addresses? are we living in the right place? hello? are we living in the right city??? Yes, we are obsessing about our street address as though it were a name-tag on a dog telling the person to whom it belongs to, and also telling in a way that it belongs to something bigger than itself! We, in the same manner want to belong to the right house (err.. sq yards) built by the right architect, built in a manner which shuns pomp - achieved with spending more money than pomp would cost in the first place! UFFFFF! we are so fascinated by all things 'novel' all things 'eccentric' and love to follow them while at all times lacking the originality to tread one's own path!
Our Past-times and Vacations? What we do for fun isn't fun anymore, for we are trying to catch up with all things that are supposed to be done for a good time by the 'approvers' of society, and whether we find them 'fun' or not isn't the question! if they are to be indulged in, so be it 'off-roading' that involves driving up and down the Baluchistan valley and desert (burning precious fuel) or camping out in the Sindh interior with all the paraphernalia of Camps by Holland and Holland, tucked neatly in a Millions of rupees worth of a SUV, or going sailing, or going to the beach or spending good money on 'theme brunches-lunches-and dinners! all this is supposed to be enjoyed at great expense and pretense. Why can't we have the guts read 'balls' to say the heck with it, its all stupid, I'm just having as much fun if not more lying in my bed and watching a sloppy movie!
Our clothes? What with the obsession with all things 'labeled' Yes, its time that we get our own 'branding irons' and mark ourselves with some kind of a new age symbol. Isn't that what these very expensive designer stuff is all about? It's making a bloody statement about a) I have this much money in the bank spare to buy this ridiculously priced item say a bag, a shirt, a scarf etc. b) I am so with it that I know that I must spend money on these items to be counted worthwhile amongst the flooziest of people whom I have put on a pedestal! And, lastly, that I am quite stupid!
Our moods? Isn't this becoming a complex if not a full blown disease yet? this constant analyzing one's moods and states of mind, and stress and anxiety levels? Aren't we all a little too uppity and too concerned about being stressed and worried and tired and being given a hard time by life? We the select in this country who have had a chance of everything good in life are complaining way too much! and what the heck for? uffff! Every other person you come across is going through a complete or partial breakdown, the creme de la' creme of this society are on uppers and antidepressants and mind you that too non-prescribed. We are a nation of self-medicators, because, remember we all know exactly what the hell to do in each and every situation! Every bloody person I know is either having an anxiety attack? a breathing problem due to stress! a panic-attack, a constant depression because life is all unfair and the shitty leaders don't do F**k all!
Our selves? How we are and how we seem to the next person! The ultimate complex is with our 'image,' 'what does the other person think of me syndrome' that is afflicting the whole of this country as an epidemic regardless of class and status. We are forever wanting to portray ourselves in a manner that is usually not in sync with who we really are, so that we end up coming across as pretentious and false. We like to be 'approved' thought of as 'most popular' 'cool and so many other things by people surrounding us. We are always in the act of 'making an impression' as opposed to 'being ourselves' this causes undue stress on one's nervous system, and of course would raise anxiety levels at all times, this guarded posture, this show, this stage-playing all takes its toll and we actually end up coming across as vapid and empty!
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