Earthquake in Pakistan: One Year Later

Exactly one year ago a massive and traggic earthquake hit Northern Pakistan, Kashmir, and parts of India and Afghanistan. This is a moment to simply pause, pray and ponder.

To think back on what has been done and what still needs to be done, I just compiled a quick list of some numbers of where things stand today. They make for a sobering read:

Total dead in Earthquake = 80,000 – 90,000
Estimated proportion of children amongst dead = 80 percent

Early recovery assistance pledged by international donors = US$ 255 Million
Early recovery pledges that have NOT been recieived yet = US$ 94 Million

Original estimate of long-term reconstruction costs = US$ 3.6 Billion
Current (updated) estimate of long-term reconstruction costs = US$ 4.4 Billion
Current estimated shortfall = US$ 800 Million

Total displaced by Earthquake = 3,500,000
Affectees still living in tents in camps = 35,000 – 40,000
At-risk families without permanent shelter = 60,000 – 100,000
Additional people who might need shelter this winter = 30,000 – 60,000

Estimated houses destroyed = 400,000
Estimated houses whose rebuilding has begun = 17%

On my blog – All Things Pakistan – we have been doing a series of posts remembering the tragic earthquake and highlighting all that still needs to be done. These posts also include a number of moving pictures. See: Here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Adil Najam

A Hindu Madonna

One surefire method of amusing yourself is taking a look at the kinds of searches that lead people to your blog. Amongst others, today I saw one that read “ganesha and madonna.” Curiosity took over, and I googled the phrase, frantically thinking that at some point in my foolish youth, I may have had something with Madonna during one of my blackout phases. Alas, no such luck. Not even the blog showed up.

But don’t fret, this post is not a total waste, because I did chance upon something interesting. It was an old 2003 article by Subhamoy Das on the Hinduism page at about.com. In particular, this article was titled ‘Hollywood Hinduism: Art vs. Morality’. And it was about all of the various ways in which Hinduism has been portrayed in pop culture by artists, actors and Hollywood.

For instance, did you know that Mike Myers once posed as a “cartoonish Hindu deity” (the image on the left) in the April 1999 issue of Vanity Fair? I’m not the first to talk about that one. SAJA has done its fair share of hashing and rehashing the issue through articles and online forums here.

Also, Aerosmith, the famed pop-rock (in my opinion) band, had a CD-issue with an image of Krishna on the cover, except that he had a cats face and breasts. After thousands of protests, Sony withdrew the CD.

And, last but not least, Madonna apparently came dressed as Shiva at the 1998 MTV Music Awards after which, India suddenly was hot amongst the fashionistas.

Ok, all of that is well and good, but what Mr. Das says right towards the end is what sparked my interest. He says,

…the entire concept of judging works of art is quite relative. It greatly depends on an individual’s aesthetic tastes, preferences, temperament and forbearance. Many people are of the opinion that art is a free creation of an artist, who has complete license to give art whatever form or sound s/he chooses. But is it morally right to reap creative benefits at the cost of maligning the cultural and religious sentiments of another sect? Therefore, it remains an open debate whether such depictions are OK by any standard. [link]

I agree. I’m still not sure whether I should be offended by these things. Firstly, it might be considered hypocritical since I myself, have taken on the pseudonym of a god. Secondly, having dabbled a little bit in the arts myself (printmaking, photography), I can see how one might feel compelled to use snippets of art from other cultures in their works. But, at the same time, Mike Myers’ photoshoot in Vanity Fair can only very, very loosely be called “art.” And, as for Aerosmith’s album cover, that was just designed to sell albums. Then again, one can argue that art is solely designed to sell itself. So that brings us back to square one.

Many people better than me have argued for as well as against this. And there’s still no consensus. So I guess the debate continues…

Note: This article is cross-posted on my blog.

The Great Ganesha

Uncle Sam Meets Shyam Uncle

Note: This article is cross-posted on my blog.

Lately, I’ve been straying away from writing about current events, mostly because I’ve been quite involved with my own stuff. But when I read a short piece by Mark Thompson in last week’s Time magazine, it was time to come out of my shell. The article was about the U.S. Army recruiting in India.

Retired Brigadier General Kevin Ryan suggested in the Christian Science Monitor last week that the U.S. Army open a recruiting station in India–a big potential source of English-speaking enlistees. “Instead of waiting for these people to trickle in,” he says, “we could go out and find the ones we want.” [link]

So, off I go to the Christian Science Monitor and Retd. Brig. General Ryan’s article certainly proved an interesting read. He mentions:

If the US Army placed one recruiting station in the capital of India, an English-speaking democracy of more than a billion people, we would have available a pool of enlistment-age adults equivalent to the entire population of the United States – more than 300 million men and women. [link]

But wait, there’s more. If you’re a grad student or a semi-erstwhile grad student like myself, then this should definitely catch your eye. The Retd. Brig. General suggests that the Army doesn’t even have to go to India:

Or, if we don’t want to pay for a recruiting station in New Delhi, we could mail recruiting brochures to some of the 1 million foreign students who actually make it to America’s colleges and institutes on temporary visas each year. Perhaps they would like to have their school debts paid along with guaranteed work.

Almost the entire chunk of my graduate education was paid for through Assistantships, so fortunately I have no school loans to pay off. But if you’re ready to go and fight in Iraq, then by all means, go to GoArmy.com, the Army’s recruiting site and ask for info. As a lark, I signed up to get their information packet, not because I have the chutzpah to go to Iraq – and, don’t get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for those who do – but just out of curiosity about how and when they award citizenship for recruits. I’m waiting to hear from them.

It’s funny though, because I remember that the US Army hired Indian cooks for Gulf War I, but this definitely is a new take on the whole thing!

Update: I just wanted to clarify that there is no recruiting center in India. The articles above only discuss suggestions by a Retired Brigadier General of possibly opening one some time in the future. And based on quotations in Time, it looks like it might very well become a real possibility.

The Army says it’s interested in the idea. “It has great promise,” says Major General Sean Byrne, the Army’s director of military-personnel policy. “We need to pursue it.” [link]

The Great Ganesha

Blasts in Bombay (Again, Dammit!)

My personal reaction as a Bombayite to the blasts.

Seven bombs on seven different commuter trains on the Western Railways went off within minutes of each other on Tuesday (7/11) evening. Apparently all in first-class compartments. Officially, there are hundreds of casualties. Unofficially, there are probably thousands – each compartment holds somewhere in the range of at least two hundred people when full. And it was rush hour, so the compartments were full. These bombers were no fools. No one has taken credit and the government and has once again shown its incompetence with crisis management.

Bombayites are rallying in this time of crisis to help each other and it is their tight social fabric that has saved the day. We are no strangers to bomb blasts. We are at our best in our darkest hour. Life will move on despite this. We WILL prevail.

It’s hard to know what to say or do sitting thousands of miles away. Should I skip my workout? It seems frivolous to be exercising for recreation when people are dying. I’ve been on those trains countless times. Even during the evening rush hour. For all you know, I may even have been standing next to one of those who died in the blasts, at some point. Scary as it sounds though, life must go on. Yes, I should workout. My life was not directly affected. And even in Bombay, everyone not directly affected by the blasts (and even some who were directly affected) will be going on with their usual lives as far as is possible. Some have no choice – it’s their livelhood at stake. Others have a choice and still go on. In ‘93, after the Stock Exchange was bombed, it reopened two days later and over the two days following that, stocks gained ten percent. That’s the indomitable Bombay spirit.

And then the usual non-resident Indian identity issues start to surface. I haven’t lived in the city for over a decade. My friends consider me “Americanized.” I am guilty of eating breakfast on the go, of attending (and enjoying) barbeques and even attending a yoga class taught by an American (that was a weird experience). Am I entitled to call myself a Bombayite? Well, this one’s easy. The answer’s yes. As trite as it may sound, you can take the man out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the man. It’s a cliche, I agree, but it is one only because it’s true. The city lives inside me and despite the geographical distance, I like to think that a piece travels around with me. A Western suburb of Bombay exists in a one-foot diameter around me. Call it Lower GreatGanesha-pokli. Ahhh, humor. The ultimate refuge in a time of crisis. It never lets you down.

Keep laughing, fellow Bombayites! No bomb blast is going to stop us.

Take a look here at Pajamas Media for a constantly updated collection of links on the media coverage. DesiPundit has done a good job of compiling peoples’ blog-posts on the subject. And click here at the Mumbai Help blog if you can help in any way. Go there anyway to see how Bombayites support each other in times of need. It never ceases to amaze me.

[Note: This was cross-posted on my blog. Apologies if you have already read it.]

The Great Ganesha

Train Blasts in India

A Wall Street Journal Reporter writes her first-hand account:

I left The Wall Street Journal office about five minutes before 6 p.m. local time and boarded a train at Church Gate station, heading home to my apartment in a western suburb of Mumbai. I went to the ladies’ compartment and stood among other passengers, waiting for a seat to open.

Binny Sabharwal

Just before Mahim station, I found one and sat down.

Moments later, I heard a huge explosion from another train passing on the next track. Our train shook violently. We came to a sudden halt and then I watched a thick cloud of smoke appear. A couple of girls standing near the doors said they saw the other train’s roof blown off. Debris floated everywhere. Then I heard a middle-age woman say, “Thank God, it wasn’t our train.” We all knew it was a bomb, but nobody knew that a series of blasts were erupting in trains across the city, killing at least 147 people. We all began calling on our mobile phones, jamming up cellular networks.

More at the International Herald Tribune.

Curtis Schweitzer

Pakistani crowned as ‘Funniest Man in India’

This story is a few weeks old, but since it has not made it outside India and Pakistan (and becasue it should), I thought this was the place to post this.

Yes, it is true: Indians are laughing at Pakistanis. In fact, they are laughing so hard that the ‘world largest democracy’ just voted a 40-year old Pakistani stand-up comic as the ‘Funniest Man in India.’

According to a news report at rediff.com:

Pakistan’s Rauf Lala has been voted by an Indian audience as the winner of Star One’s popular comedy show, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge: Dwitiya. In a neck-to-neck contest, Lala beat Mumbai’s Rajeev Nigam to become Numero Uno on the show that has been making audiences roll with laughter for 18 weeks…. Among other goodies, Rauf also bags a brand new Chevrolet Aveo as part of the winning deal. Asked to comment on his victory, Lala — who hails from Karachi and has been doing stage shows for more than two decades now – says, “When my name was announced, I thought I was dreaming. I still find it difficult to believe. I am sure everyone back home in Pakistan is proud and happy….” Mumbai’s Rajeev Nigam was the 1st runner-up [and] had to say about him: “We are extremely happy that Bade Bhaiyya (Lala) won the contest. We never had any doubts about his capabilities and knew he was the best and the most eligible. To be honest, I would have felt bad if it were anyone else.”

It seems that while much is not working between these two countries, at least there is something about India-Pakistan people-to-people diplomacy worth smiling–even laughing–about.

More on this, and related, stories at Adil Najam’s blog All Things Pakistan.

Adil Najam