Nokia N97 – keyboard thoughts
Bismillah, alhamdulillah.
I asked myself why did I not like the Nokia N97 keyboard? The main thing having contemplated over it was the lack of tactile feedback when the buttons are pressed. But what exactly is tactile feedback?
Tactile feedback to me is the ability to tell that a key has been pressed without looking at the screen. The way we detect movement of keys is a combination of two primary feedback systems. The first are proprioceptors and the second are pressure sensors. Pressure sensors lie under the skin and are onion layered like structures which help us determine pressure. These are the primary receptor behind the sense of touch. Proprioceptors are receptors which are attached to joints and muscles, these send back information to the brain on the degree of angular movement of a joint, degree of stretching of muscles fibres and tension in ligaments.
The human hand has five fingers, one of which, the thumb, is positioned so that its movement is orthogonal to the natural movement of the other four fingers. So when we use a full size keyboard the thumb is effectively rendered with little function apart from pressing the space bar as the position of the hand when typing help is in consonance with the movement of the four fingers rather than the thumb.
The opposite happens to be the case when we use a thumboard if the phone is held by both hands the thumb is positioned in a way that allows for its easiest and most natural movement which is across the surface of the palm of the hand.
Though a statement of the obvious, it is worth stating, with normal keyboards we use our four fingers (fore, middle, ring and little finger) and with thumboards we use our thumbs.
Our four fingers primarily detect movement through proprioreception when typing hence movement of the key in and out of the surface of the keyboard aids the feeling of what makes a good keyboard. But the thumb when using a thumboard relies more on pressure detection rather than movement of at the thumb metacarpophalangeal joint (detected by proprioceptive receptors). An easy way to realise this is to try and detect your pulse with the tips of your fingers and then detect it with the middle of the pulp of your thumb – you will notice that the thumb is very much more sensitive. Hence a thumboard which enhances pressure detection of keys and allows from some deformation of the key when it is pressed will enhance the tactile feedback of the the keyboard.
Turning back to the Nokia 97 keyboard, the keys are flat and fixed in shape. This reduces the pressure the thumb when it is placed on the keys, hence reducing the tactile feedback, further the degree of movement of the keys into the keyboard are also limited reducing the proprioceptive feedback. Putting this all together an ideal thumboard should have rounded keys rather than flat keys, which deform slightly allowing the sensitive pressure receptors in the thumb to detect that they have been pressed and some degree of movement all together would enhance tactile feedback significantly.
And Allah knows best.
Add comment July 13, 2009
Poem – Our sister’s 18 stabs
Bisimillah, alhamdulillah.
18 stabs by an axle whirring
Through Sherbini’s breast and baby murdering
In a Faranji court they let her fall
Their response – silence from their pedestals tall
Let the memory fade, a short story,
An aberration consigned to history,
Media complicit – inert and silent
Her hijaab rendering her a miscreant
Consign her to the African page
From the European conscience purge
Wrap her in an Egyptian flag
Muslims – divided and ruled their tag
Will her memory cease
Drowned by their unholy sleaze?
Her crime modesty and purity
Their rule devilish depravity
Can the two compare?
Shall we drown in this miserable sea of despair?
Western silence bears witness
To their concealed malice
Is the French tsar cozy with his fire of hate?
Didn’t you smile as you heard of her fate?
Will hands move or have we no shame?
Is there not a flicker of belief left in our limbs lame?
____________________
On July 1st Marwa El Sherbini, an Egyptian researcher living in Germany, was stabbed to death 18 times inside a courtroom in the city of Dresden, in front of her 3-year-old son. She had won a verdict against a German man of Russian descent who had verbally assaulted her because of her veil. Her husband, who rushed in to save her when she was attacked in the courtroom, was shot by the police. Marwa’s death was not reported by any Western news media until protests in Egypt erupted after her burial. The reporting that followed focused on the protests; the murder was presented as the act of a “lone wolf,” thus depriving it of its context and its social meaning. (Walid El Houri, 8th July 2009)
1 comment July 9, 2009
Pakistan parting thoughts
Bismillah, alhamdulillah.
We made our way through multiple checkpoints on our way out. Cars were carefully checked and men with machine guns and pistols at the ready were in full view. In the few days that I have been here I have seen more guns than I probably have seen in my entire life and that is counting the screen variety too.
The gun culture is one of the lasting images that I leave with from Pakistan. Best exemplified by an elderly man who was sitting outside a chemist in a plastic chair. Dressed in a simple white shalwaar and khamees, his thin and wiry build allowed him to cross his right leg over his left easily. He sat with his left elbow resting on his knee while his right hand dangled down by the side of the chair. On the way in to the chemist we had passed the man and I had only noted his presence.
It was only when we came and sat back in the car and my vision was now at the same level as his right shoulder that my gaze traced his right arm down to his pistol holding hand. His forefinger was lightly resting by the side of the trigger, ready for action. I was informed that the gun was loaded and the man was a Pathan. If someone had asked me to judge his age I would have put it in the mid 60’s, it seems retirement is not an option for armed security guards.
Where the government has failed, the enterprising nature of the people of Pakistan have plugged the gap, whether in the provision of electricity with their generators, the provision of education through private colleges or the private provision of law and order there is an entrepreneurial flare that touches upon all these activities. Another example of the peoples entrepreneurial nature was a middle aged man who knocked on the car window as we were waiting for the rest of the group to finish their shopping.
Intrigued by the man’s briefcase though a bit wary of a pistol being produced from it I lowered the window and greeted the man. Reading the interest in my face he quickly opened his metal briefcase to reveal a folder with laminated copies of supplications. He quickly handed me two of the A4 posters, on had prayers that could be read when performing tawaf (the circambulation of the Ka’ba in Makkah done during the pilgrimage Umrah and Hajj). He explained that he had found the duas on the internet and had printed and laminated them and they would be very useful for Hajj or Umrah. I thanked him and apologised that I had just been in Umrah and so would not be needing the laminated posters.
Holidays for the average middle class in Pakistan does not involve trips to the United States or Europe but trips to the local shops to try and fix long overdue home improvement projects. There seems to be a constant low level struggle getting things done and wading through the corruption that infests the corridors of power from the lowest to the highest levels. Simple things such as getting an electricity line fixed will take the better part of a few days as repeated calls need to be made to the electricity board. Eventually through a combination of persistence and a hundred rupee note the required technician will turn up at your property to fix things.
This daily struggle to achieve simple things seems to sap the energy out of people leaving them less time to sit, think and innovate. In western countries where the administrative structure on the whole is well run common citizens are left with potentially a fair amount of free time. It is a pity that countries that most need innovation do the least to provide a conducive environment.
As we stand at the departure waiting zone, a well planned circular hall with glass windows allowing you to see people arriving and departing I set my daughter a quick task. To carry out a survey of the number of ladies wearing an Islamic attire arriving by plane.
At a first impression Karachi comes across as a very liberal city with respect to ladies and their attires, but first impressions can be misleading. She counted 100 ladies of which 30 odd were wearing some sort of head covering in the traditional Pakistani style. Of these 8 were wearing a full Islamic attire, with an outer garment and head cover. The statistics seemed a little skewed from our first impression on the streets of Karachi but nevertheless painted perhaps an encouraging figure that would not leap to mind if I had been asked to guess. Like all statistics there was an attached health warning, my daughter pointed out that the plane that had just arrived was from Dubai and a fair number of the arriving passengers were Arabs, who traditionally wear a more stricter female attire.
1 comment July 4, 2009
Nokia N97
Bismillah, alhamdulillah.
Just in case you are waiting with baited breath for this supposed super-duper mobile phone and you like the idea of a flip-out keyboard and screen, Nokia mobile phone technology, fantastic camera… I had a quick chance to set my hands on one in the Dubai Duty Free. My main aim was to have a feel of the keyboard, would it feel tactile enough, would it be easy to type with?
The phone fits well in the hand and the spacing of the keys feels allright but the keys feel, sorry to say so Nokia, terrible. It’s feels like one of those keyboards you get in public internet cafes that are made of metal and are designed to take a good beating and to be hard wearing.
The keyboard punctured my bubble of expectation.
1 comment July 4, 2009
Nationalising Mosques
Bismillah, alhamdulillah.
The last Friday we were in Karachi we expressed the desire to visit a famous mosque called Tooba in the Defence Area in Karachi. It is mentioned in the Wikipedia entry on Karachi and is supposed to have an architectural design that is worth viewing.
Our hosts conscious of our safety were quick to dissuade us, being a large mosque it was a potential target for would be bombers wishing to extract revenge or carry out a false flag operation depending on whose analysis you believe. Instead a mosque guarded by Rangers was chosen as our Friday prayer venue.
The Friday sermon in the masjid was preceded by the traditional lecture or wa’z, in it the imam was at pains to point out that the leaders of various Islamic parties in the country were at odds with each other but the problem arose with the people at lower ranks in the various parties who were much more hot headed and felt that causes of disagreement had to be resolved with war-war rather than jaw-jaw.
As we left the mosque after the Friday prayer we passed by a Salafist mosque on the main road in the hunt for a sweet shop. This reminded me of the prevalence of different types of mosques many within a stones-throw of each other. Each serving a particular type of worshipper with their own set of beliefs. Besides the Salafists, there are mosques for Tablighis, Brailwis, Jamat-e-Islamic to mention a few.
Worshippers will sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to avoid praying in a mosque that is manned by people whose ideas they do not agree with. The result of this self selecting behaviour is that every particular group is exposed to a limited set of views. While one group may assume it is correct and should avoid another group the very behaviour of avoidance disadvantages other people in other mosques as they are not exposed to ideas beyond their own perceived area of correctness. This results in concrete thinking from the point of view of the general population who only look at various issues in black and white terms. ‘You are either with us or against us’ sort of mentality.
One possible solution that comes to mind would be to nationalise all mosques in Pakistan. Each one should be taken over and run by the government at a financial and administrative level. As for controlling the opinions that are preached from the mimbar or pulpit these do not need to be policed but should be subject to a policy of random allocation. In other words every Friday the appointed pool of preachers should be allocated to give their Friday sermons at a randomly chosen mosque. Over a period of time this would result in the general population being exposed to many competing ideas. Given such a playing field it would allow the best ideas to come to the fore.
The attractiveness of the idea from a government perspective is that it is likely to reduce sectarianism and result in a general population that is more likely to group together on a moderate course. The attraction to the various preachers and groups is that it will give them an opportunity to reach across to new people in a manner that was previously not possible. A win-win solution. Allah knows best.
1 comment July 4, 2009
The life of a Karachi maasi (servant)
Bismillah, alhamdulillah.
As we trundle down University Road heading south towards the centre of Karachi I look to my left and spot some very basic tent like housing. Three and half such tent houses sit together about a hundred feet above University road. The elevation they sit on continues a further 100 feet above them and lies in an area known as Block 1, Gulistan Jauhar. On the top of this hill sit large water tanks funded by the World Aid Fund that supply water to the surrounding areas.
My attention shifts to the back of the car as I am given a quick precis of the basic life of a maasi or servant lady. These ladies come from the interior of Sindh province and work as domestic maids washing clothes, dish washing, sweeping the house, cleaning bathroom and toilets and in some cases cooking. Each one of these tasks is charged at 500 RS per month, so if you ask the maasi to perform more than one task you pay another 500 and so on. Their average monthly income is around 7-8000 RS as they work for around 3-6 households.
The detailed run down about a maasi’s life had been prompted by my question about who the tents on the side of the hill belonged to. The answer was maasis. These ladies come from interior Sindh and camp out in such make shift accommodation. In places such as the side of the hill their rental costs are virtually zero, sometimes they set up camp on plots of land where landowners charge them 500 RS per month or even let them stay just asking them to move on once any construction starts on the land. There is no running water or sewerage system that reaches these temporary tent houses but some luxuries of life such as electricity manage to make their way in. This happens courtesy of a 500 RS (the going rate) bribe of the local area electricity inspector, who attaches an illegal wire to the main electricity cables running overhead, they manage to get enough electricity to power a fan, a fridge and perhaps a television.
Life is very tough and the average maasi is a very thinly built but sturdy lady dressed in the traditional Pakistani ladies shalwaar khamees with her dupatta carefully balanced on her head passing behind her ears in that typical Pakistani style. The lady in the back continues describing the life of her maasi. She works with her daughter in their house doing the ironing plus washing, dish washing, a daily brush of the premises and a clean of the toilets and bathrooms. She pays her 2000 RS per month. Her daughter is currently helping her out.
The maasis children whether girls or boys are seldom educated. Boys if lucky may find themselves being educated up to the beginning of secondary level if they accompany their parents to Karachi or are placed with a family who take simple work from the boy or girl and in return agree to fund their education and given them time off for education.
Back in their rural areas they face the blight of a poor education system. It seems that the waderas (landlords) are not interested in promoting education and actively conspire to make sure that there is little to offer in terms of free education in these areas. It is difficult to judge whether this is really the case or not but it is an accusation that I have seen levelled at the powerful landlords in the rural areas time and again by a wide variety of Pakistanis across many years.
Even in cosmopolitan Karachi maasi children face discrimination. One maasi in the local area had brought her son and tried to enrol him into a madrassah, but was refused on the grounds her son was not Punjabi. Occasionally boys are enrolled into government schools but even in this situation they are usually not educated beyond 14 by which time they are married off and have to start a family life of their own.
Maasi’s usually come with their husbands to Karachi, the husbands work as gatekeepers for other families and the aim in life is to try and build a permanent house back in their villages. When December time comes children in alternation with their parents return back to their villages to help with the annual harvest. Some maasis may be lucky and get a break and are able to go abroad where they will earn around 16000 RS as a basic salary and usually manage to get a total of 40,000 RS, at least if they make it to Saudi Arabia. One such returnee who had spent time in Saudi Arabia had come back with a different attitude, I was told.
She would sweep the floor and then tell the madam of the house that if the children dropped any rubbish where she had already swept the floor she would not sweep it again. She was also very particular about ironing clothes and insisted she would not iron clothes that were not turned the right way round and she would not do any extra duties that were not in her initial agreement. The lady who had been employing her was quite surprised by this behavior and was told by another maasi that she had learned all these new way of doing things after she had come back from Saudi Arabia. An ironic world indeed when labourers learn about human rights after returning from Middle East.
Add comment June 24, 2009
Vantage point Karachi
Bismillah, alhamdulillah.
The PC as it is locally well known is a 5 star hotel in the heart of downtown Karachi at the end of King Faisal Road. The entrance to the car park is manned by security guards dressed in their smart blue uniforms with their black caps giving the SWAT team appearance commonly found in US police forces. The car comes to a halt in front of a barrier which rises above the ground as the the boot and engine are opened and checked for suspicious devices. A man handling a white dog takes it round the vehicle as it sniffs for explosives. Having witnessed security in various places in Saudi Arabia, even in the well protected diplomatic zone in Riyadh the security measures here were one step higher.
A parking spot was quickly found and the entrance through the metal detector was mandatory. It lead into a brightly lit foyer with spot lights arranged high overhead and the welcome draft of cool air conditioned air hit us as we entered. The corridor was immaculate and the faint sound of music was coming down the corridor. We continued walking down the corridor inquiring about our final destination, as we got half way down the corridor the annoying piano music now much louder my sight was caught by a board sitting on the floor. It was an advert for the services of an astrologer.
I had to pause and clear my eyes as I could not believe what I was seeing. The advert was clear and unambiguous. I was told by someone that the person now quite famous in Pakistan was a blue collar worker in the HBL bank once upon a time. Astrology in Islam is a clear form of polytheism and shirk, there are clear Prophetic hadith warning against it in the strictest terms. But it seems these issues are of the least concern here. Our journey down the corridor was continuing and I had to walk quickly to catch my colleagues.
The annoying piano music had now reached a crescendo and I was thankful that its blare was fading into the background as we stepped into the glass elevator which clung to the outside of the building. Up we went to the highest floor watching Karachi shrink below us as we rose into the night sky.
The elevator doors opened to reveal a corridor and our host for the night. We had been invited to have dinner and were responding to the invitation. We walked down the corridor and were soon seated at our table. A buffet meal was on display with various quite mediocre standard food available with various, meats, deserts, rices and other Pakistani foods.
The dreadful and unholy ambience of the restaurant was set by the ghazal musicians in one corner who had decided to increase the volume of their amplifier to make sure that everyone in the restaurant would take notice. The other customers served to underline the degree of moral decadence that has set into the Pakistani elite, with women dressed in dresses that would be appropriate for a liberal Western country. It was an uneasy moment as I sat to decide whether we should walk out forthwith or whether there was possibly some greater good that could come of our meeting with our host. In the end the decision was made to stay. This perhaps was the right decision as the opportunity arose to convey the message of Islam to an open minded audience.
As the night ended I was left with the after effects of nausea from eating the mediocre food and remnants of the conversation that had taken place. Pakistan had seen especially in the last 15 years an acceleration in its moral degradation, lies were common, it was nearly impossible to find anyone whom you could trust, materialism had become the be and end all of most men and women. The story of politicians with morals, lining their own beds with ever increasing property portfolios abroad and little concern for the locals was a recurrent theme.
As we drove down the now quieter but by no means empty main roads of Karachi another conversation earlier in the day began to replay in my mind. A citizen of Karachi was arguing for isolation from the world and a concentrated effort by parents to protect their children by monitoring and limiting their access to the outside world.
Sadly, it seemed as if someone was trying to close the stable doors after the horse had bolted. The world outside had already invaded the house and the separation between the big bad wide world outside and safe environs of the home had become blurred. As the night reaches its depth the colossal nature of the job that faces Islamic social reformers in Pakistan only continues to grow in my estimation. The interfering parties from outside whom the locals are convinced are behind every targeted killing and explosion in the country fail to realise that the are falling to victim to the very disease that blighted Andalucia. The root cause is decadence and disobedience of God while the poor governance, sectarian strife and interference of outside agencies were a symptom rather than a cause. But analyses such as these fall onto deaf ears.
The search for taqwa (the fear of God), morality and purity have on the whole been sacrificed at the altar of material wealth. The false promises of material wealth is a Holywood narrative that is well told and sold. Most people seemed to have ignored the fiction label.
Add comment June 23, 2009
Hospitals costs, cloth and more political analysis
Bismillah, alhamdulillah.
It was an interesting day today. An earlier start than usual with a visit to the Agha Khan University Hospital. It sits on a large site on prime real estate in Karachi. Reputed to be the best hospital in Karachi and possibly the whole of Pakistan a walk through its courtyards and well manicured lawns only served to enhance the reputation. Patient flow seemed to be very well organised and the parking lot was full to capacity.
I was not surprised to find out the costs of health care at the Agha Khan were huge and it was not an uncommon story for people to rack up very large bills in short period of time as usually elderly relatives or parents are admitted. The relatives are then left gasping as they face bills of up to 800,000 RS to pay. Some are left with few options except to sell their houses or other major assets in an effort to raise the cash. The terrible ethics of such a situation are by no means limited to the Agha Khan hospital but are repeated time and again across the subcontinent where the unhealthy mix of medicine and money has led to the industrial exploitation of patients and worried relatives.
Central oversight is limited and the lack of good national health care options only serve to compound the situation. Coupled with an anxious and growing middle class the health sector provides any profit oriented entrepreneurs a glowing opportunity. As we settle back into our car and drive out of the Agha Khan Hospital the thought of a cap on costs especially with emergency cases crosses my mind. Perhaps the idea would work but would be unlikely to survive the interference of interested parties.
The thoughts of exploited patients recede as we drive through the dusty roads of Karachi, reminding me of a desert town. It feels we are sitting on the edge of a desert and perhaps the sands of the Rajistan desert are blowing across the Sindh plains leaving Karachi covered in a layer of dust. Later that afternoon sees us visiting a cloth shop where I learn about the different composition of cloth that is used to make the famous Pakistani men’s national dress ’shalwar khamees’. They range from 100% cotton to 50% cotton mixes with polyester or other mixed fibres and 100% polyester. I am assured 100% polyester is the warmest cloth while cotton leaves you feeling cool. An avaerage sized man requires 4 metres of cloth, while a 10 year child requires 3 to 3.5 m. Large men around 6 feet tall require 4.5 metres.
The evening ends with a dinner and listening into political analysis by concerned citizens about the situation in the frontier provinces where the Pakistan army is battling against Taliban militants. The locals in the room are convinced this is a plot of the Indians and Americans,as their army have captured men who were uncircumcised – clear proof of their non-Muslim origins. The fact that the story does not quite fit with the previous politically negotiated settlement between the government and the Taliban goes unnoticed.
Perhaps someone suggests this is a propaganda move by the government to alienate the population against the Taliban who can be painted as Indian agents. The thought is quickly dismissed as the conversation moves on to the anaylsis of their funding. One guest, a member of the Tablighi Jamat, is convinced the funding of the Taliban is coming from the USA and India, where else could they get so much money? The irony of the situation is that perhaps the same thought passes through the minds of others opposed to the Tablighi Jamat group who are frequently seen sending their members on missions all around the world as a dual exercise in self discipline and inviting others to their particular understanding of Islam. The man boasts that Nawaz Sharif himself had come with a bag of money but it was refused by the leader of the group, which only served to underline the question on their financial sources.
Add comment June 22, 2009
Pakistan’s Secret weapon – cricket
Bismillah alhamdulillah.
I don’t think it is an unusual phenomena when talking to people who have some relationship to Pakistan for the conversation at some point to meander onto the subject of politics. Most Pakistanis will have identified the problems, be ready to offer their detailed political analysis and solutions. Their enthusiasm on the subject is matched by the certainty with which they believe their command of the facts are correct.
Having witnessed many such conversations since childhood across many continents with different people I have always wondered how it is possible for Pakistan to remain united and a single country despite the number of political machinations that take place, if the arm chair pundits and free analysts are to be believed.
Before coming I decided to read the wikipedia entry on Pakistan, perhaps not the most accurate source of information, but a handy one nevertheless. Some basic facts: There are 8 provinces (4 provinces and 4 what are labeled territories) which are made up of people who are ethnically distinct, speaking different over 60 different languages, from the plateaus of Baluchistan which borders Iran, to the fertile plains of Punjab to the NWFP (North Western Frontier Province) and FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) areas where the mountain dwelling Pashtun tribes live and another reputed guest is said to be hiding out. Islamabad a newly built city in Pakistan has its own provincial status as does the ‘free’ or Pakistan controlled Kashmir region. The other provinces include Sindh, in which Karachi falls and North easterly equivalent of FATA called FANA (Federally Administered Northern Areas).
Karachi itself accounts for more than 50% of the GDP of the country and is the financial capital of Pakistan. Perhaps one of the chief reasons for this is its proximity to the sea being a major part and the influx of people over the many centuries the city and its pre-city elements have been around for. It has seen generals such as Alexander of ancient Greece and the young man from Taif in current day Saudi Arabia who changed the history of the subcontinent since his visit, Muhammad bin Qasim. Karachi witnessed the influx of hundreds of thousands of Muslims from current day India during the partition and these were mainly the technical classes who no doubt helped make Karachi what it is today. In the 1990s the second generation children of these immigrants began to express themselves politically and violently so in an effort to gain greater recognition by the state of their needs. Hence were born the Muhajir Qawmi movement and an off shoot called the Muttahida Qawmi movement.
In addition to the well known PPP, People’s Pakistan Party, of the late Benazir Bhutto and the Muslim League of Nawaz Sharif there are other more nebulous forces at play on the Pakistani political scene. The nebulous forces include the military and the various intelligence forces such as the ISI. It doesn’t take a person long to realise there are too many political groupings in Pakistan and there is a constant ebb and flow of loyalties between them. The play makers are the intelligence services but though they may play an essential role they on their own do not possess enough weight to bring about independent change.
So what manages to keep Pakistan together in this pot pourri of a nation? This is the natural question that keeps coming back to my mind. Britishers who find themselves in the company of people from the USA never fail to notice the degree of overt and genuine patriotism that citizens of the USA display to their country, it is a very in-your-face display that the British given their nature detest. The same can be said of Pakistanis, they are very proud of Pakistan yet quick to grumble about the various factions that exist and the misery which they frequently have to encounter. yet their adherence to the identity of Pakistan has no room for doubt or hesitation, whether Punjabi, Sindhi, Pathan or Muahjir they are united when it comes to their identity as Pakistanis.
So I sit scratching my head when the end of the 20/20 world cup brings a family around the television set. The eagerness with which they watch the match and with which they sing the national anthem is surprising. The zeal and spirit which they display is hard to match perhaps anywhere in the world. With every six runs hit by a Pakistani cricketer there is a loud roar of approval and with the winning of the match sweets are being distributed and the fire of what I am assured is gunshots peppers the night air. Even the nightly electricity cuts have been ordered to stop for this important occasion by decree of non other than the leader of the nation.
So what can I conclude from this? It seems to me cricket is a secret weapon in the fight for Pakistan’s survival. While the USA has considerable expertise and success in running their backyard in South America with a divide and rule policy they have no idea about the game of cricket and the degree of passion it induces in Pakistanis. Further as a function of the historical nature of cricket, Pakistan is effectively the only Muslim nation that plays cricket. All the other competing nations of note, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, UK, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe are all non-Muslim countries. Every time an important match is played it is not uncommon to see people earnestly praying to Allah to make the Muslims win. Even the imam in our local masjid made an extra dua after the late night Isha prayer, and there was a suspicion that it had something to do with the cricket. The players duly obliged in playing their own on-the-field expression of their Muslim-Pakistani identity by prostrating towards Makkah in thanks to Allah for their victory.
All this together results in perhaps the most effective instrument to engender and inculcate a united Pakistani identity in the general populace. While cricket has been described as a game played by 22 fools watched by millions of fools the unintended consequences of this game are not in any measure trivial for the survival of Pakistan as a nation.
3 comments June 21, 2009
Metro Shopping Experience
Day 2 sees us out and about into Karachi. Our first stop is a step into a piece of Europe. We arrive at the entrance of a heavily guarded of a large warehouse store. The store is called ‘Metro’ a German company that has opened up shop just 3 months ago. After being thoroughly checked by armed guards we are allowed to enter to the car park and we look for a suitable parking spot. 
The car park is laid out neatly with marked parking spaces probably enough for at least 500 or more cars. To the right of the large blue coloured warehouse built with cheap corrugated metal sheets lies a large cabin sized generator with the words ‘Siemens’ written in large bold letters.
The other corner has a prayer room, neatly labeled and placed as far away as possible from the main warehouse store. The windows have unusual large red spots in the middle of the windows. There is a small ablution area and a small carpeted interior with two air conditioning units placed high on the walls. 
Entering the the shop requires a Metro card or being in the company of someone who has a Metro card. A metal detector screens everyone and cameras are not allowed in, though ironically with such restrictions mobile phones with cameras are not stopped. Armed security guards are crawling everywhere and the staff are well trained and fall into the 20-30 age bracket giving the shop that fresh, young energetic look.
Getting inside you are greeted with a mirror of any large megastores in the West which are built on the outskirts of cities. Shopping trolleys are gleaming and new, easy to handle and the floor immaculately clean with sales men and women pressing you to try the latest coffee and popcorn with free samples. The aisles are neatly labeled and the shelves are full of goods from the latest laptops, Garmin GPS devices, mobile phones, sports rackets, motorcycles, fridges, Ariel washing powder, drinks, fruits, imported yogurts from France and all the cigarettes that any smoker would desire, the latest and best German made power tools and more.
Cigarettes are priced very competitively compared to the West and there is an obvious lack of awareness of the health implications of smoking. The tobacco companies are aggressively marketing their poisonous wares unchecked by any governmental supervision. The meat section is quite impressive, it is a large cold room with workers impressively dressed in uniforms with their heads covered and gloves giving an impression of surgical cleanliness. The prices of fruits are unusually competitive. Below is a picture of the price of mangoes, at 30RS per Kg they are more competitive than the mangoes outside with stall sellers who were asking 35 Rs/Kg on inquiring later that day. 
As we make our way to the checkout my relative points to a room, inside you can make out two white gentleman sitting. They are well built probably around 6 feet tall each with blond hair. They look like the foreign managers who are running the show behind the scenes, they have three eager looking people sitting in front of them, probable new hires aspiring to employment in the clean environs of Metro.
The first 48 hours have definitely been quite hectic and there is more to talk and write about but I need to take a break now. I sit back and mull over the daunting challenge to Islamic social reformers who are faced with a population that is exposed to the alluring promises of a consumer based society.
Add comment June 21, 2009
