karachicharacter
A tailor-made life
By Desiree` Natasha Francis
Mohammad Tariq Mehboob is an 18 year old boy who ran away from his village only because his father refused to let him study further. His aim of joining the Pakistan Army may not have come true, but his hopes of living a better life are still intact.

The last three weeks in Pakistan have been the best, and the worst of times in recent history of the country. Pakistan, it seems has been shoved back 20 years into the recesses of filtered information, loss of basic judicial rights and just a general sense of false security. This sense of security amongst every Pakistani is being nurtured by simply withholding intelligent comment on television and radio; which are major sources of information for a majority of Pakistanis, most of whom cannot read or write.

The glimmer of hope that has pushed its way through the media blackouts, most of which have been lifted under certain conditions, is the solidarity those belonging to the journalistic profession have displayed. Suddenly it isn't about one organization fighting for its own survival, but the entire journalist fraternity fighting for the right to freely express and convey.

Karachi saw its fair share of protests against the unfair bans and restrictions in the past week. These were peaceful and empowering at best, and garnered unfair reaction from the authorities at worst.

At the solidarity camp...

All private channels were taken off air on November 3, the day emergency was declared in the country. Slowly, some were reinstated, but only after they gave in to a draconian official decree that made them hack hard news shows.

On Saturday November 17, journalists across Karachi demonstrated against the media curbs, even though most channels were on by then except Geo News and ARY One World (which is back on air now). The organizational part of this protest belonged to the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), Karachi Press Club (KPC), and the Association of TV journalists (ATJ), which consist of members from all media organisations. Journalists may have been enraged at the attempts and successes at gagging their freedom to express, but they did not let that rage overpower good sense. They realized that the road back to their freedom is a long one, and have vowed to peacefully protest the media curbs till they are lifted.

The protestors then joined the solidarity camp set up outside the Jang office in Karachi. The street teemed with people, all of whom hold a stake in the organization and the freedom of press. The air rang with slogans, "Geo aur jeenay do," seemed to be the call of the day. Boards set up on one end of the street, where supporters could write their comments and concerns. The protest ended as peacefully as it had begun, although the cordoned off area around the KPC, and tight security around the Sindh Assembly roundabout ensured heavy gridlocks in an area already choked with traffic.

A thousand candles lit for freedom

Those who had grown up learning, singing, and listening to Iqbal's prayer for children, lab pe aati hai dua, could not help but tear up each time it rang through a windy Karachi evening, and wove its way through the flames of a thousand or more candles held up to demand the return of freedom of expression.

The candlelight vigil outside the Jang building on I.I Chundrigar Road saw strength in numbers. It wasn't only employees of the organization who turned up. Karachiites, indignant at having their intelligence insulted by the crumbs of sanitized news and views being thrown their way on television joined forces with journalists at the vigil.

Nosheen, a student present at the vigil says, "it was good to see different groups of people stand together for a single cause, the best thing about it was that it didn't end with bloodshed and violence."

"It was a good way to protest an unfair move," comments one journalist. "These are times when peacefully demanding your rights is the way to go, and the way this vigil was conducted is an ideal way to go about it."

Get up, stand up…

The pre-announced protest that would rally from the KPC to the Governor's house on November 20 did not go as peacefully as the journalists involved had intended. As the group of journalists proceeded to the end of the street, they reached a cordon they were not allowed to cross. According to one journalist present at the Press Club that day, an attempt at going through the cordon led to police shoving the journalists, and the journalists shoving the police back. A policeman got struck in the confusion, and in retaliation the front tier of journalists was attacked. Senior journalists were shoved to the ground and brutally beaten and arrested. A smaller group of journalists went back out again, and this time, a brawl broke out between police and the journalists, with more people being arrested.

Rahma was one of the journalists who remained un-arrested. She had earlier been horrified at the treatment meted out to her seniors, but had been held back from reacting. She, along with the others went back out, and started chanting slogans, facing the police, who found this, "amusing." Three vans full of arrested journalists had already been sent to various police stations across the city, and this group of young journalists was told, "lagan lein naarey, abhi gaari nahi ayegi."

Rahma, along with her colleagues was voluntarily arrested, and taken to the Docks Police Station after being driven around for a while. Senior journalists had been taken to separate stations, which caused some alarm. All journalists were booked on the charges of , "riot, creating law and order situation, encounter, kidnapping and attempt to murder," as reported on Aaj TV that day. The journalists were released later, save five, for the release of whom the journalists who had been let go, along with others gathered at the Clifton Police Station, and did not leave till the seemingly targeted five were released.

Giving peace a chance

At a protest meeting held at the KPC a day after the mass arrests of journalists in Karachi, journalists tried to make peace with the police forces they had clashed with a day earlier, by giving them flowers, and signs bearing the words, "peaceful defiance."

The message is, short, sweet and poignant. The journalists' fraternity will be peaceful when fighting for their rights, but peace to them does not equal reticence and bowing down to irrational laws sprung from irrational fears.

Standing as one

Fahad present at the November 20 protest, emphasizes on the fact that a crucial part of the protests is to "bring people together." He is optimistic about the future and points out that the events that have ensued the emergency imposed on November 3 denote a "wake-up time," for the nation, and the motivations behind the protests being held countrywide are anything but political. "We are protesting for the freedom of media, speech, and the end of emergency rule," he says.

Do the journalists fighting so hard for their rights feel their efforts are bearing fruit? Rahma answers in the affirmative, saying that, "everyone has been shaken by the events on November 20." Despite the brutality against journalists on the day, the way the protest unfolded and culminated, with journalists sticking by each other, proved to be a "fantastic morale booster for journalists all over Pakistan."

"This is a scary time for Pakistan," says Rahma, "history is repeating itself."

Interestingly enough, some of the slogans made popular during Zia-ul-Haq's regime have returned, booton ki jhankar nahi chaley gi, wardi ki sarkar nahi chaley gi, danday lathi ki sarkar nahi chaley gi, was a popular slogan that day, as was zulm ke zabtay hum nahi mantay.

Huma, a journalist who was arrested at the protest recounts some of the slogans at the protest, which was a "fight for the right of expression." She does not believe that when the journalists stand as one, any of them bear any political agendas, but does question the newly instated state of emergency.

"I would just like to ask Mr Musharraf one thing," she says, "he said this is an emergency against extremism, are journalists extremists?"

The 180 journalists who were arrested on November 20 were all fighting for their profession, as are all the journalists who have been protesting the media curbs since their inception. Being a journalist comes with many responsibilities, which can be occasionally overwhelming; all journalistic ethics stress on being honest, correct, and unbiased at all times. Many journalists have spent long years struggling for the freedom of expression only recently achieved, and for that freedom to be cordoned, physically and in theory, must be painful.

The present Pakistani government is hoping to achieve several purposes through the media curbs, part of which are to discourage any aspect of the media which brings ridicule to those in rule, or damages the ideology, integrity, sovereignty and security of Pakistan. The purpose is already a defeated one, as it is not the actions of journalists right now, but those of the in power which are gaining them ridicule.

Pakistan is a nation born out of the desire to see justice, equality and tolerance, and this purpose is being defeated by the new curbs being imposed on the country, its judiciary and the media. The country might never have been a perfect example of highbrowed, egalitarian beliefs, but it is at its most vulnerable now, as the laws which have been promulgated to secure those ideologies, are in fact the ones damaging them to the core.

What can be the perks of living in an age of competition and challenges, marked with active commercialisation and a will to be at the top? In such a fast paced environment, each individual wants to be ahead of the other. Maximising profit at a rate faster than the fastest. The unfortunate consequence that surfaces is the trend to take those very popular short cuts straight to the top.

With educational institutions like the University of Karachi, popularly known as KU, the transitional development of a student into a responsible professional takes time. After completing a four year masters program in any faculty, the graduate is a complete fragment of the society in his own self.

"KU offers an environment that polishes coping skills and develops our students' personalities in a professional manner," says Professor of Applied Physics and Member of Syndicate Karachi University, Mr. Abdul Qadeer.

It is quite a moment of pride when one hears that Karachi University produces graduates from the various department of science who are currently working on their PhDs abroad, many on the basis of scholarships. Ayesha Nawaz Nauman has done her MSc in Genetics from Karachi University and is currently working on her PhD from the Centre for Molecular Genetics. "I have had the opportunity to work alongside scientists with their own laboratories in Belgium, Australia, Canada and America only because the University degree is globally recognised," admits Ayesha.

Sana Farid is a person striving to achieve something and make herself financially strong. She worked three hours a day without pay at an advertising agency, where she now works as wardrobe designer, and earns decent money. Now, in her third year at the same job, she is enrolled for Bachelors in Fashion Design from the Karachi School of Fashion and Textile Design, KSTFD, an institution affiliated with KU. Her decision did not spring from a desire to gain experience and professional education. All she wants is to be able to produce her degree at the time of employment in some other agency in the years to come. Sadly, at the time of recruitment, the precious piece of paper gets narrowed down to just that, evidence that one has gone through the rigorous training that professional universities offer.

Working successfully as a producer in a media company, Faisal Manzoor started his job the same year he joined Karachi University. His completion of Bachelors came much after he had carved himself a niche in the production house. He proudly assigns his inherent aesthetics and creativity to the success he has met with in the media world. He further adds, "the company took me more seriously because of my being a regular student at Karachi University, otherwise it was the artist in me that has brought me where I am today."

Sana Farid holds a slightly different point of view, she believes her education reflects in her confidence and sense of style that are the main requisites in the advertising industry she is a part of, "I talk to brand managers from dynamic multinationals but no one can say I'm not yet a graduate," she says.

The same however cannot be said with as much conviction for students of the pure sciences. A certificate course or diploma can never be substituted with a master's degree in a specialized science. Mr Qadeer points out the obvious difference between an engineer and a technician. The former has the advantage of having a wider perspective, while a diploma holder will only be able to supply the answers to questions he was taught, "he will have trouble thinking outside the box," he adds.

Short courses are not the only things that have affected the position of Karachi University. Privatisation of the educational sector has stirred the once very firm grounds of this public university. The clear bias is more than often visible when graduates from KU are compared and disregarded in contrast with those from established, private universities.

At the time of hiring, the conduction of an interview and a test are considerable consolations that the process will be based on merit and the applicants' ability will be ascertained. Hina Jamshed, an MBA student in her final year at KU, shared her internship experience at a bank. She pointed out that fellow internees from private institutions were more professional and confident especially when it came to giving presentations.

One may question the contribution of the departments in face of such competition from the private sector. Chairperson, Department of Commerce, Mr Abdul Rahman Zaki, though quite optimistic about employment opportunities for graduates from his department, admits the need for frequent and regular revision of the curriculum, "private institutions have an edge also because of their foreign qualified faculty members," he points out.

Certainly, just updating the syllabi is not the key to prevent the rapidly eroding prestige that once was the essence of Karachi University. Mr Faheemuddin, MA International Relations, feels there is a need of committed teachers who will be more focused on creating individuals of intellect and determination rather than relying on the glitzy tag of a private institution. He firmly believes that private institutions comparable to KU are, "nothing but a system."

It is quite obvious that such devoted teachers are somewhere hidden in the intricacies of the massive university, "the politics involved in education and teaching needs to be abolished first, the inhibitions regarding the degree's value will fade by itself," adds Mr Faheemuddin.

It is slightly surprising that an iconic institution as the Karachi University is being judged on the worth of its degree. What brings this argument into surface is the conflict that individuals are not representatives of labels of educational institutions, but represent their own abilities and determination to move forward. Chairperson Geology, Dr. Wiqar Ahmad says, "It is not the degree that is of worth, but the brain behind it all that holds all the significance."

Sara Zaman completed her Masters in Mass Communication from Karachi University the year before. She values her degree in light of the realization that KU offered her interaction with a broad spectrum of people, "I may not be earning a lot, but I know my progression will not stagnate at any point," she says. For her contributing to society is more important than having maximum digits on her pay cheque.

It is inferable that a written document that shows the individual's academic life spent in an institution patronized by the private sector may help him qualify for a job. Nevertheless, no graduate from any privileged, private university can survive in a competitive environment if the element of will and spirit to achieve is absent. Karachi University needs to be taken out of the abyss of negligence. No one will take up the responsibility, except for those who make up the student body. With effort and determination, indomitable wills can overcome the high walls of privatisation.

The Nobel Prize for Literature is both valuable and immensely prestigious. British writer Doris Lessing, who won this year's prize last month, at the ripe old age of 88, will collect a cheque for more than $ 1.3 million. The prize is also likely to boost sales of her books around the world.

The long list of those who have won the award since 1901 inevitably includes some whose work is largely unfamiliar to English-speaking readers and some who may not have withstood the test of time. Hungary's Imre Kertez, who won the 2002 prize, is not exactly a household name in the English-speaking world. Nor is Portugal's Jose Saramago, the 1998 winner.

The same goes for the 1996 winner, Wislawa Syzmborska of Poland, the 1994 winner, Kenzaburo Oe of Japan, and the 1989 winner, Camilo Jose Cela of Spain. If one were to ask a hundred typical English-speaking readers about these writers, the chances are that the majority would say they had never heard of them.

There are also some surprising omissions. Everyone has their own favourite writers who never made it on to the list, but there are a good many about whom no one with an interest in literature would disagree. It has even been argued that, in not recognising literary talent of such stature, the Swedish Academy - which chooses the winners - has devalued the prize rather than the reputation of the writers in question.

James Joyce (1882-1941), one of the Twentieth Century's most influential writers, never won the Nobel Prize, despite the fact that many critics regard his novel "Ulysses" as the greatest novel in English in the last hundred years.

Joyce, who died almost blind and is buried in Zurich, was born in Dublin and educated at Jesuit schools and at University College, Dublin. After graduating he went to Paris in 1902, ostensibly to study medicine, and spent a year there, living on the brink of starvation and writing poetry.

When he returned home he met Nora Barnacle, his life-long companion, and with her left Ireland and settled for several years in Trieste, Italy, where he taught English. While he was there, his first two books were published in London. These were a volume of poetry, "Chamber "Music", which appeared in 1907, and "Dubliners", his collection of short stories, which came out in 1914.

The latter attracted the attention of the American poet Ezra Pound, who gave Joyce considerable encouragement and was instrumental in arranging publication of "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" in serial form in the magazine "The Egoist" in 1914 and 1955. This autobiographical novel appeared as a book in 1916.

By that time Joyce had moved to Zurich, where he and his family - Nora bore him a son and a daughter - remained until the end of World War I, after which they made their permanent home in Paris until the outbreak of World War II forced them to return to Switzerland.

In 1915 Joyce had received a grant from Britain's Royal Literary Fund, and in 1916 he was given a grant from that country's Civil List. These monies helped Joyce to survive while he was working on his next book, which was to be "Uly*sses". In the following year he was afflicted by glaucoma, and suffered from problems with his eyes for the rest of his life.

"Ulysses" was published in Paris in 1922 and immediately became famous, partly because it was banned as obscene in both Britain and the United States. Many leading literary figures of the day, including Arnold Bennett, T. S. Eliot and Ernest Hemingway, acclaimed it as a major work of literary art and one of the finest novels of the Twentieth Century.

Virginia Woolf, on the other hand, another great writer who never won the Nobel Prize, was not alone in dismissing "Ulysses" with contempt. But modern authorities agree that she was wildly wrong to describe it as "the work of a queasy undergraduate scratching his pimples", and call it, instead, a major work of literature.

It is not an 'easy' book - Joyce used all manner of experimental devices, playing exuberantly with language, abandoning many of the traditional forms of straightforward narrative, and using the "stream of consciousness" technique - but even now, so long after it was written, it remains extraordinary to those who meet it for the first time.

Among those considered in the running for the Nobel Prize but who have died in the past few years was R. K. Narayan, a foremost Indian writer in English of whom his friend Graham Greene, the British novelist, once remarked that thanks to Narayan's writing he had known what it was like to be Indian.

Greene, who was born in 1904 and died a few years ago, never won the Nobel Prize either. His first book was a volume of verse, "Bubbling April", which appeared in 1925 while he was still at university. A descendant of Robert Louis Stevenson and the son of a headmaster, Greene was born in Berhamstead, Hertfordshire, England, and educated at his father's school at that town before going to Balliol College, Oxford.

His novel "The Man Within", which first established his name, was published in 1929 and was followed by "The Name of Action", in 1930, and "Rumour of Nightfall", in 1931. He later preferred to regard these three books as juvenilia.

The next novel was "Stamboul Train" (retitled "Orient Express" in the United States and not to be confused with Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express"): this brought him considerable success when it came out in 1932. It was the first of his novels to be labeled "An Entertainment".

That designation was presumably intended to indicate a less serious approach than in the fiction which he called "A Novel", but it is sometimes not altogether easy to distinguish between the two, since even those of his books which bear the greatest resemblance to a conventional 'thriller' have a depth and concern for the spiritual issues which few other writers in the genre ever attempt.

"Brighton Rock", perhaps his most famous book, and typical in the seediness of its characters and setting, was published in England in 1938 as "A novel", but appeared in the United States as "An Entertainment".

Before the appearance of "Brighton Rock" he had published "It's a Battlefield", "England Made Me" and "A Gun for Sale" (retitled "This Gun for Hire" in America), in 1934, 1935 and 1936 respectively. In 1940 "The Power and the Glory" appeared.

During World War II Greene was working in the British Foreign Office, and it was not until 1948 that his next book, "The Heart of the Matter", was published. With it his reputation as a major novelist of outstanding quality was even more firmly established.

Subsequently novels include "The Third Man" (originally a screenplay), in 1950, "The End of the Affair", in 1951, "The Quiet American", in 1955, "Our Man in Havana" in 1958, "A Burnt-Out Case", in 1961, "The Comedians", in 1966, "The Honorary Consul", in 1973, "The Human Factor", in 1978, and "The Tenth Man", in 1985.

Many of Greene's novels have been made in films, and he also had a successful career as a dramatist with his plays "The Living Room", "The Potting Shed", "The Complaisant Lover" and "Carving a Statue", which were first seen in 1953, 1957, 1959 and 1964 respectively.

Graham Greene has long been regarded as the most distinguished of contemporary British novelists, and it is perhaps remarkable that his work has not only been accorded the highest critical acclaim but has also enjoyed immense popular success. Yet the Nobel Prize eluded him.

It was often claimed that it was a personal vendetta by a member of the Nobel committee which prevented Greene receiving the award which was his due, and the choice of William Golding (author of "Lord of the Flies") in 1983 was seen as a direct snub to the man who at the time was perhaps the greatest living novelist in English.

Anthony Powell (1905-2000), whose 12-voume sequence of novels "A Dance to the Music of Time" paints a portrait of his generation that is both tragic and humorous, was never a fashionable enough figure to win the prize. Also passed over was the man whose work is considered an influence on Powell's form an structure, Marcel Proust (1872-1922) - despite his work "A la recherche du temps perdu" (best known in English as "Remembrances of Things Past") being one of the most important works of the last century.

Mohammad Tariq Mehboob is an 18 year old boy who ran away from his village only because his father refused to let him study further. His aim of joining the Pakistan Army may not have come true, but his hopes of living a better life are still intact.

Kolachi: How long have you been living in Karachi?

Tariq: I came here when I was 10 years old.

Kolachi: How many members do you have in your family?

Tariq: We are a total of six members, two sisters, two brothers and my parents. I am the eldest son.

Kolachi: Where are you originally from?

Tariq: I have come from a village called Gogran.

Kolachi: Do you study?

Tariq: No, I have only studied till the sixth grade

Kolachi: What do you do for a living?

Tariq: I work as a tailor.

Kolachi: How did you acquire this skill?

Tariq: I learnt how to stitch at my uncle's house, who is also a tailor in Karachi.

Kolachi: How and why did you come to Karachi?

Tariq: My father tore my school books and told me to start working since he was the only earning member in my family and needed my support.I wanted to continue my studies but he refused to let me do so and told me to leave.I left my house just then. I had heard about Karachi and a few places here. I dint think twice, and went to the station with only 10 rupees in my pocket.I went to the station and got on the train which was about to leave for Karachi.Luckily even the ticket checker did not ask me for the fare.

Kolachi: So how was it once you were here?

Tariq: oh it was horrible, I had nowhere to go. I was at the Landhi Railway Station, crying. A rickshaw driver came to me and I asked him to take me to the Rahmania Masjid on Tariq Road.He took me and dint even charge me.

Kolachi: How did you know about Rahmania Masjid?

Tariq: I used to go with my dad to a tailor's shop in my village. The workers at that shop used to talk about Karachi and the places here. I eagerly listened on to their conversations. They used to tease me sometimes, saying I listened to them as though I will go to Karachi myself someday, and I did.

Kolachi: how is life in Karachi?

Tariq: Well, I think I have been lucky right from the start. When I was at Rahmania Masjid, I found a pupil there from my madrassah in the village. He knew one of my distant relatives in Karachi and took me there. From there I shifted to my uncle's house.

Kolachi: Are you happy with what you earn or would you like to change your profession?

Tariq: Yes I am content with what I earn because I work hard for a living. I would not want to change my profession because I have acquired this skill through hard work and determination.

Kolachi: What do you like best about Karachi?

Tariq: I like all of it especially the sea side. I have been there many times. I like just sitting there, enjoying the cool breeze.

Kolachi: Has Karachi changed over the years?

Tariq: Yes its quite different now. There has been a lot of development and I think it has become better.

Karachi is the city where dreams are supposed to come true, and while it provides individuals from all over the country a shot at realizing their dreams, it is these individuals who make the city as phenomenal as it is. People like Tariq may take the opportunities Karachi offers them, but hold the city together with their determination and drive, qualities which are a huge part of Karachi's character.