I liked this article... Regards Afthab Ellath
On Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 4:21 AM, Bobby Kunhu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Beena Sarwar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 20 Jul 2008 00:47 > Subject: [PIPFPD] Fwd: Article for Tehelka's special issue on India > Pakistan > To: pipfpd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, PIPFPD Secretariat <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Hasan Zaidi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 9:34 AM > Subject: My Article for Tehelka's special issue > To: > > > Thought you might be interested in an article I wrote for Tehelka's special > issue on the two-day India Pakistan conference held in June in London (in > which I participated)... The article (with some slight editing) is also > available on their website here: > http://www.tehelka.com/story_main39.asp?filename=hub260708beyondthechooridar.asp > > The title for the piece (*Beyond the Chooridar Pajamas*) is theirs, since > I couldn't think of one... > > > *Tehelka – for Special Issue on India Pakistan Conference* > > *1,458 words* > > * * > > *"Beyond the Chooridar Pajamas"* > > *By Hasan Zaidi* > > > > Almost a decade ago, during the time of the Kargil conflict, I was asked to > write a piece for an Indian publication on "normal, everyday life in > Pakistan." "The media here is full of stories about the fighting and the > politics," the editor had said to me, "and we would like to carry something > different, to present a different facet of Pakistan to our readers." I > decided to begin my piece with a sketch of a young Karachi-based woman > journalist who worked as a reporter for one of the main English-language > newspapers in Pakistan. I pointed out that although she had never studied > abroad, she often wore jeans and T-shirts to work, spoke her mind about > politics and religion, felt only a vague connection to the issue of Kashmir, > sometimes went with her male colleagues to chai dhabas and, horror of > horrors, had no qualms even about smoking in public. The point I was trying > to make was not that this was typical of all of Pakistan or even Karachi, > but that this was a reality that also existed, side by side with the > angry-looking mullahs depicted so regularly as the face of Pakistan in > western, and even Indian, media. > > The response to the piece was, according to the editor, "overwhelming." "It > gave us a completely different perspective about Pakistan," she told me, a > few months before the publication went out of business, which I naturally > assumed was not the perspective that resonated with the masses. > Unfortunately, the response wasn't entirely unpredictable for me, having > fielded questions from some of my Indian friends that ranged from "Are women > allowed to drive in Pakistan?" to "Do all women wear burqas there?" to "The > media there is all state-controlled, isn't it?" It had often seemed to me > that the level of knowledge in India about Pakistan sometimes bordered on > that of that other great democracy with a flourishing media, the United > States (about the Pakistani perception of India, I will come to later). I > began to call it India's Occidentalism, since lying to India's west as > Pakistan did, calling it Orientalism would probably not be at least > geographically correct. > > I was reminded of that piece when *Veer Zara* came out five years later > and was touted by some as a great leap forward in Indo-Pak relations. Here > were all the stereotypes about Pakistan packaged in certainly a more benign > way than, for example, a *Border* or a *Ghaddar*. To take *Veer Zara* at > face value, one would believe Pakistani society exists as a 1950s "Muslim > social", replete with chooridar pajamas, flowing sherwanis and pagris, and > even Punjabi faujis greeting people with an 'adaab arz' and that obsequious > court-derived bowing hand gesture so typical of 19th century Lucknow. Of > course, getting the language, mannerism and fashion wrong were not the only > leaps of imagination *Veer Zara* achieved. Typical of many "noble-minded" > Indian films dealing with Indo-Pak estrangement, it assumes that the > 'People' (as opposed to political and military establishments) on this side > of the border are simply waiting, for their chains to be broken, to run > across into the arms of their brethren on the other side. In the film, this > is symbolized by the Indian male (of course, always the male) filling the > Pakistani female's maang with sindoor, a rather pointed gesture of > acceptance. Implicit in this narrative is, of course, the perception that it > is only a matter of time before the error of Partition is realized and > undone. > > Of course, I know too many Indians and have been to India too many times to > believe that ALL Indians think like that. But I am frequently struck by the > number of times first-time Indian visitors to Pakistan express how different > this country is from the country of their imagination. It occurred to me at > some point that the Pakistan of India's imagination has been shaped, aside > from a politics- and conflict-obsessed – and therefore limited in its scope > – news media, by filmmakers whose point of reference, more often than not, > was the Partition, more than six decades ago. The only brief respite from > this probably happened early in the 1980s, before the electronic media > exploded in India, and when Pakistan Television's drama serials were avidly > watched on video cassettes in India, at least in the Hindi / Urdu speaking > belt. As someone born in the 1960s, even for me, the Partition is a distant > memory, constructed solely from stories told to me by my parents and from > the written word. But to put things in perspective, one has to remember that > more than fifty percent of all Pakistanis now, were born after *Tanhaiyaan > * aired on PTV in the mid-'eighties. They have never seen themselves as > anything other than Pakistanis and can hardly fathom what the fuss about > Bhutto Senior and General Zia is, much less a large demonized country that > also happens to be their neighbour. > > They have their own stereotypes about India, to be sure, constructed mainly > from Indian cinema and Indian television soaps, and partly from the > continuous stream of political rhetoric that permeates news media. But it is > a perception that is far more informed by stereotypes presented by India > itself, simply because Pakistanis, ironically, have much more access to > India's media and films than the other way round. So, they might think that > Indian colleges are great places for spontaneous but colour-coordinated song > and dance, or that all Indian women wear skimpy mini-skirts (at least until > they get married), or that most families are seething hotbeds of intrigue, > lust and betrayal. But their views are also likely to take into account > India's booming technology industry, its democracy (they may think it's > terribly flawed, like many Bollywood films do, but they would still envy it > its vibrancy) and the reach of its global cultural influence. It is almost > impossible that even the most insular of Pakistanis would ever ask if there > were cinemas in India, as a Bombay-based film journalist visiting the > Karachi International Film (KaraFilm) Festival once asked me about Pakistan. > > All of these thoughts were in my head when Tehelka asked me to be part of > its India Pakistan conference, particularly since I was asked to be on a > panel that would discuss stereotypes in cinema. What about stereotypes * > about* cinema? Could there be a conversation about designing a future when > one side is at best only vaguely aware of the other's existence? While > discussing Pakistani cinema, I have lost track of the times I have been told > by people in Mumbai how much they loved watching *Dhoop Kinaray* (a > television serial) or *Bakra Qiston Par* (a stage play taped for video > distribution). Pakistanis may be up on the latest gossip about Aamir Khan or > Shahrukh Khan or Kareena Kapoor or Rani Mukherji (admittedly limited to > Bollywood, but still), but ask an Indian to name even one Pakistani film > star (Bombay regulars Meera and Jawed Sheikh don't count here!) and they > would be hard-pressed to come up with an answer. Does anyone in Bollywood > know about the 1998 Pakistani film *Choorian* that grossed over 20 crores > from Punjab alone? Can we talk about the new breed of Pakistani filmmakers > who have stories to tell that may actually interest Indian audiences too but > who are hamstrung by a lack of film infrastructure, trained professionals > and resources – that India has very admirably developed – when India does > not even acknowledge the history of cinema in Pakistan? How do we discuss > collaboration when we must first convince the other of why it would benefit > not just one but both? > > The lyrics of a song by a well-known Irish band kept going round in my mind > while attending that conference in London: "Have you come here for > forgiveness? / Have you come to raise the dead? / Have you come here to play > Jesus / To the lepers in your head?" But as we realized when Indian > filmmakers began to come to the KaraFilm Festival, there is nothing like > personal interaction and seeing for oneself to change mindsets and to move > things along. The opening up of Pakistani cinemas to Indian films and the > collaboration of Pakistani musicians and actors with the Indian film > industry is a direct result of what Kara began seven years ago at the height > of Indo-Pak tensions. All that was required was for both of us to dare to > reach out. So, even if the Tehelka conference could not encompass the wide > scope of the discussion that was needed, at least it helped in initiating > the conversation. And that is always the first step. Fortuitously, another > part of the same song that was playing in my head is more hopeful: "We're > one, but we're not the same / We get to / Carry each other." > > #ENDS# > > > > > > > > > > > __._,_.___ Messages in this topic > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/message/920;_ylc=X3oDMTMzYWcxazdrBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARtc2dJZAM5MjAEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDdnRwYwRzdGltZQMxMjE2NDk1MjAyBHRwY0lkAzkyMA--> > (1) Reply (via web post) > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwcWFhYnVuBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARtc2dJZAM5MjAEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDcnBseQRzdGltZQMxMjE2NDk1MjAy?act=reply&messageNum=920>| > Start a new topic > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmOWg5NDc5BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEyMTY0OTUyMDI-> > Messages<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJmYmc0MnIwBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNtc2dzBHN0aW1lAzEyMTY0OTUyMDI->| > Files<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/files;_ylc=X3oDMTJnZDc1cXE1BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNmaWxlcwRzdGltZQMxMjE2NDk1MjAy>| > Photos<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/photos;_ylc=X3oDMTJmaTJqdjVqBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNwaG90BHN0aW1lAzEyMTY0OTUyMDI->| > Links<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJnYXYyb2hmBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNsaW5rcwRzdGltZQMxMjE2NDk1MjAy>| > Database<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/database;_ylc=X3oDMTJkcDF1NnVyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNkYgRzdGltZQMxMjE2NDk1MjAy>| > Polls<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJndHUxbHRpBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNwb2xscwRzdGltZQMxMjE2NDk1MjAy>| > Members<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/members;_ylc=X3oDMTJmOWtxdW9vBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNtYnJzBHN0aW1lAzEyMTY0OTUyMDI->| > Calendar<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PIPFPD/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNmc3aWpqBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE1NTQ0NzAwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA0MzYyOARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNjYWwEc3RpbWUDMTIxNjQ5NTIwMg--> > MARKETPLACE > You rock! 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