COVID-19 Pandemic! (A wake up call for the World)

Alot is being said, written and talked about the COVID-19 pandemic from conspiracy theories to stating it as the start of the 'End of Times' for the World. Whatever it is, but this global pandemic has made one thing clear that we (Anthropocene’, the age of man, a term proposed by Paul Crutzen) have indeed damaged the planet Earth the most amongst all the epoch era's of the past. The world, has indeed seen drastic changes over the last few years being witnessed in the form of climatic change, global warming, melting of glaciers, deforestation, famine, drought, floods etc, which are common features of our present World we live in due to various factors such as population growth, usage and burning of fossil fuel, making mega cities, destruction of forests, overfishing, hunting animals to the verge of extinction etc.

Humanity, has indeed recovered from various pandemics inflected upon it in the past, we need to understand that nature has its own way of combating this global impact of Anthropocene due to our extreme ways of exploitative behaviors of the last 50 years or so, which can be seen by this recent Global Pandemic that has ensured that the world gets the required rest it needs in order for it to continue living. Signs of recovery has been recently seen all over the world, but all would be ineffective if we continue or even worse accelerate the rate of consumption faster than before.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=203782094382613&id=167288330277317?sfnsn=scwspwa&d=w&vh=e&extid=JlGfvg4d8Yv8wulX&d=w&vh=e

Although much research needs to be undertaken on these small positive environmental impact/s that we have witnessed and seen in the past few days due to the lockdown of almost of the 1 billion people of the world due to COVID-19.

COVID-19, has made this World much closer than we had ever imagined in a more spiritual way, as it does not matter where you are in the world, whether rich or poor, living in a mega city or a hamlet, young or old, this unseen virus has made it evident that we all need to reexamine our way of life in a holistic way, living a fast pace life in a digital world not realizing that by each passing day we lose much of our family and when we realize it what we have lost usually it is too late for us all.

In these testing time, I can only say that no matter which faith, sect, caste or creed any of us belong to, we must rise above it all and cherish the blessing that have been bestowed upon us. One cannot predict how much longer we (Humans) have time remaining in this world but the key to the future lies in rediscovering ourselves, learning lessons from our past and try to co-exist in complete harmony with nature.

May GOD help us all in getting through this global COVID-19 Pandemic!

Great Work by Jawad Sharif - INDUS BLUES

Today, on a great breezy night had the oppourtunity to watch "INDUS BLUES" organized by All Pakistan Music Conference, Karachi & Alliance Francaise, Karachi.

ABOUT INDUS BLUES:

Pakistani folk artists talk about their struggle to keep a fading art form alive while reminding the world what they are about to lose.

The diverse cultures around Indus, with over 70 spoken languages, have deep roots going back centuries. Despite the richness of the various cultures flourishing along the mighty Indus river, their sounds have faded to the background in a world dominated by modern musical instruments. 

In Pakistan, a country riddled with political turmoil, economic challenges, and social identity crisis, folk musicians and instrument craftsmen find it hard to survive and sustain their art. We hear accounts of the struggle of the featured artists with terrorism, economic difficulties, and social issues surrounding music and dance. Each one of them affecting their survival.

Indus Blues is a film unlike any other because not only does it showcase the unique performances of these rarely seen musical instruments but also take the audience on a trip across the landscape of Pakistan. In many cases, these performances feature the last remaining maestros playing their respective instruments.

Indus Blues is an exploration of this age-old musical tradition and its state in the modern world.

Filmmaker Jawad Sharif takes us on a journey spanning a thousand miles from the Karakoram Mountains to the southern coastline, capturing the little-known ethnic, linguistic, and musical diversity and humanism of the cultures of the Indus.

https://indusbluesfilm.com/

https://youtu.be/pIgfFQWEOyI

Though, great effort to highlight the dying folk music and musicians by Jawad Sharif, but the question still remains what actually is being done to support these artists and their talent?.

There are many individuals and organizations that supports music and musicians, but I think more practical steps needs to be taken to support these artists and it cannot be done alone by the civil society. The Government needs to give its support in order to promote one of the greatest cultural heritage of Pakistan.

No Buses to Stop

There is no second opinion that Karachi being one of the megalopolis of the world lacks a good public transport system may that be inclusive of Buses & Trains or BRT & LRT readily available in most countries of the world.

Some schemes have been planned in the past and quite recently the Green Line BRT by the Federal Government. The details of the project can be found at: http://www.kidcl.com.pk/project-profile/

The project has to be undertaken by Government of Pakistan/ Ministry of Communications as a high priority project as determined by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in their Feasibility Study conducted for Karachi Transportation Improvement Project (KTIP, 2030) in December, 2012.

 


















Local Government, (Karachi) initiated a CNG Bus project but it is almost non existence, and for the same purpose several state of the art small Bus Stops were constructed along strategic routes.

These Bus Stops are in most cases not being utilized and have been vandalized by the general public. It is a share waste of taxpayers money. People who have spent millions in the procurement and possible launch of the project should be held accountable. 

While some are only used as makeshifts office of local ambulance services while others are being used as marketing billboards.

Karachi, needs to have a good Public Transport which is evident from the various Government Reports: https://www.dawn.com/news/1323617

These Bus Stops can be used more effectively but it cannot be done alone, nowadays there is a huge possibility of Public and the Private to work together under the Public Private Partnership endeavors.

Keeping Fingers Crossed! 

Pye Dogs Occupying The National Museum Of Pakistan

Yesterday on a very pleasant evening of August the 13th, a Public Event was organized by "I AM KARACHI", an organization established by concerned citizens and civil society organizations of Karachi. 

I AM KARACHI aims to collectively rebuild the diverse social and cultural fabric of the city by providing a platform for likeminded organizations and individuals committed to promoting socio-cultural activities and campaigns as vehicles for peace building through Arts, Culture, Sports and Dialogue.

The event was the LAUNCH OF PUBLIC ART PROJECT.

Whereby an abandoned canteen at National Museum has been converted into a public art installation.Volunteers from schools, colleges and art institutes and artist community will contribute to this project. Selected artists including Sabir Ali, Safeer Sandeelo, Hina Tabassum , Sehrish Willayat, Nashra Saleem and Farrukh Shahab has initiated the execution already.

This project is inspired by the Heidelberg project initiated in 1986 by artist Tyree Guyton on the city’s east side, just north of Detroit’s historically African American Black Bottom area. The project is named after Heidelberg Street where the installation started. The inspiration taken is intended to connect and promote this project globally.

I happened to reach the venue early after dropping my younger kid for his soccer practice session, organized under the banner of Karachi United, more about this initiative some other time.

At the entrance there was a guard/individual, whom I asked about the event which he did confirm in the positive. The canteen area, was located on the right side near the entrance, I could see a couple of individuals, one of which I assumed was the Artist Mehreen Hashmi, ensuring that things are organized well.

I made a turn and went towards the parking area located within the premises of the National Museum. There was some arrangements also being made for an event, as some other Tentwalas were busy putting up tent and cleaning utensils. 

I thought that there is still time for the Launch of the Public Art Project, why not see "The National Museum Of Pakistan", as although nowadays working a few yards away within the Sindh Secretariat, I hardly get time to explore or go to such places anymore. 

Moving towards the staircase of the The National Museum Of Pakistan, I saw a pack of wild pye-dogs rushing towards me, I just froze. One of the waiters kind enough hussshhhed the dogs away. I, finally reached the staircase of "The National Museum Of Pakistan".

Upon entering a saw a man, whom looked like the caretaker of the museum, I asked him how come there are so many pye-dogs within the vicinity of "The National Museum Of Pakistan". An article on this have also appeared in Pakistan Times Newspaper article in Feb 2016, Stray Dogs occupy National Museum. 

He said what can be done there are spaces within the bars that surrounds the boundary of the museum and they easily come in from there, also he said that he can only look out for the dogs that tries to come in within the actual premises gate seen above, and while we were having this conversation he had to hussshhhed the dog away which kept on coming in. 

I asked another person whom was sitting at the far corner enjoying the cool breeze coming in from the grill that how people come and visit the museum. He said, this is how things are, people hardly come and those come are afraid. I inquired whom jurisdiction does "The National Museum Of Pakistan" comes under, he said previously it used to be under Federal Government now it comes under the Sindh Government. 

Well, I said someone should complain about this?, he said there is going to be a function in which the Secretary Culture would be coming, and why not you complain to him. I said in the affirmative, that I will.

I went out to see how the preparation for the main event was going on for which I had come to see, I saw a couple of Tentwalas trying to put up the tent, most probably to camouflage some of the material not to be seen by the elite guests. The time was well above 5:00 which was the official time for the event to start but as there was NO sight of anymore individuals besides the artist herself and a few of her colleagues, and also a light drizzle started so I decided to leave the venue but write about this whole episode. 

I managed to get back to my car with all the pye-dogs sitting and roaming again next to the staircase and place of the venue, where the Secretary Culture had to come. 

I felt bad about the whole experience as people in the world visits Galleries and Museums which tells alot about the Culture, Heritage of the people, but in Pakistan we live where this is considered not a topic of importance. 

Only some philanthropists are trying to do there part in order to promote a little bit of our Cultural Heritage by organizing and supporting events like the LAUNCH OF PUBLIC ART PROJECT. 

Bakarwal Community of AJK

During a recent visit to the State of Azad Jammu & Kashmir for a workshop, had witnessed the beautiful terrain all the way to Muzaffarabad.

On my way happened to witness the Bakarwal community. 

I asked about them from the colleague of mine who is a resident of AJK. He told me that Bakarwals are nomadic shepherds who roam around the lower part of the Himalayan Mountain region of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir, in search of pastures for their livestock.

Their language is known as Parimu or Hindki being quite different from the Kashmiri and other Dogri languages.

The people are generous in nature. Sometimes they have hundreds of sheep’s in their herd which are protected by Bakharwal Dogs, an ancient working breed of dog found in these areas though there is a rapid decline of this species and it is at a verge of extinction. They also have beautiful horses which carry their basic stuff which is used for making tent and living a nomadic life.

Documenting Bakarwal Indigenous Knowledge:

They have excellent knowledge of the indigenous plants that grow within the lower region of Himalayan Mountain range. They used to trade natural herbs/shrubs in return of food.

As these people are nomadic and fast disappearing due to unprecedented climatic changes within the region. It is imperative that their knowledge of the plants/herbs/shrubs is documented along with their way of life. 

British Alumni Dinner & Awards 2016

Today,

Witnessed the first ever British Alumni Awards recognizing the achievements of the Alumni that have excelled in specific fields. This year 3 categories were introduced:

- Professional Excellence, Social Development & Entrepreneurship.

A very well organized event at Acton House, British Deputy High Commission Karachi providing the perfect ambiance for a nice dinner and good music.

It provided opportunity to meet some old friends though majority of our colleagues missed the event.

Well hope to see all our gang in the next Alumni Dinner 2017.

Some Glimpses of the event:

The Tale of 2 Schools

Well, today I went to a fun filled carnival organized by Foundation Public School in their O level campus in Defence, the theme was "Be Creatively Alive" which was an artistic fusion of colours, threads, clay, dance and music. The students performed well, and it sure a delight to see the creativity and enthusiasm of these kids. The kids were encouraging their fellow students with cheers and alot of applause, some witnessing the shows from balconies while some were busy taking pictures from their Smart Phones and DSLR cameras.

As the Defence campus is located near a locality where it is rather difficult to find parking space, so arrangements were made in a school compound of Pakistan Railways. Where you can see alot of boys playing cricket and admiring the rich getting out of their luxury cars going to their children school without noticing the fact, that indeed where they have parked their cars is actually a very old and historic school.

The two opposing school portrays the reality of our society's gap between the have and have nots.
If we do not do something to bridge the gap our society will turn into heartless coal that burns bright in the heat, blackens and burn everything that comes in its way just like the building of the Pakistan Railways Secondary School.