| 19 July 2004 | Monday | 01 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425 |
Ghazal's poetry praised
Ordeal of a girl coming out of 10-month coma
Graffiti is a recurring urban problem. It's sad to see even some of the freshly painted walls spoiled by slogans of political parties and quacks who claim to cure all diseases under the sun. Even monuments like the Three Swords, symbolising the motto of the Father of the Nation, are not spared.
Someone who lives in an apartment in an upmarket area laments that the patch of wall around his doorbell has fallen a victim to graffiti of a different kind. He and his wife work and the children go to school or college, so in the mornings there is no one at home. This is when the scribblers get a free hand.
When the phone went out of order, a complaint was lodged. The lineman was told to come in the afternoon, but he made an appearance in the morning when nobody was at home. He inscribed the date and time of his visit. This happened for three consecutive days. So, there were three inscriptions in non- washable ball pen ink.
Encouraged by this a man who came to deliver computerized identity cards for the family also followed the lineman's example. As if that was not enough, the delivery man of a reputed courier service wrote about his visit too on the wall.
When the distribution manager of the company concerned was contacted, the man was severely reprimanded, more so because he did not use the printed paper given to him to register his visit, which he was supposed to have slipped under the door.
On the other hand, the person in charge of linemen at the telephone exchange said quite curtly that if you wanted your phone connection to be repaired, the least you could do was to stay at home.
Recently all over Karachi people assigned to search for babies in need of polio vaccines left their marks on the houses and apartments that they visited. But at least their markings could be wiped off; the ones left at the time of the last census are still there, defying even a fresh coat of paint.
Mosques: community role
In Block 5 of Clifton, there's a park popularly known as "Auntie Park". It attracts a number of walkers every day, morning and evening. Many come in their cars. Where the cars are parked, there are several open drain pits.
There is also a huge one outside the mosque opposite the park. Since children also frequent the park, an accident is waiting to happen. A car or an "auntie" or a child or a namazi may fall into one of the drains.
A party from the mosque had recently come on a round of houses in the area, asking the residents to come to the mosque for prayers. When it was suggested by one resident that they could easily ask for small donations from their well-heeled congregations to raise money for covers for the open manholes and collect the required money in no time, they had moved on to the next house.
Come to prayers and make an appeal there, the resident was told. Where civic authorities are indifferent to such problems, the neighbourhood mosques can perform a useful community role by raising money from the public for welfare projects. But they don't bother either.
And now CNG blues?
Not too long ago the government encouraged people to switch to natural gas as motor fuel. The argument advanced was that doing so would save the country millions in foreign exchange spent on the import of petroleum.
Many of us bought the rationale not only for the love of country but also because CNG promised to be an affordable alternative to petrol. And there is no denying the fact that it has remained so, while petrol prices have gone skyrocketing since deregulation of the petroleum sector.
Today, Pakistan is among a handful of countries that have a high number of vehicles running on CNG. It can be easily argued that Karachi, because of its sheer vehicular population, has the highest number of CNG-operated vehicles in the country.
But anyone whose car runs on CNG knows that the number of pumps dispensing natural gas is woefully inadequate. That's why long queues at the few pumps that do deal in CNG are a norm.
Take, for instance, the former District South, or Clifton more specifically. There is only one station that sells CNG and that too has only two hoses, while umpteen others at the same station dispense petrol.
The queues at times can be several metres long, no matter what hour of the day it is. This is perhaps because CNG does not provide pump owners with as big a profit margin as petroleum. For the same reason perhaps, most gas outlets refuse to sell on credit cards.
But there is yet another problem which defies explanation. Pumps are routinely out of CNG or pretend that they are, despite the fact that, unlike petroleum, natural gas is supplied through a pipeline.
So, technically speaking, there is no question of supplies running out. But most CNG users will tell you they've run out of gas. Someone who visited Islamabad last week said there were so no such problems in the capital where almost very pump sold CNG and did so uninterruptedly.
School names
It's strange that though the government keeps a close watch on electrical power producers and telecommunications companies, it allows private schools to operate largely unchecked. Anybody who has a 600-square-yard bungalow and cash to spare can open an educational facility, without having to possess the expertise needed to run it.
Quite often the names of schools run by unprofessional individuals have strange-sounding names, with the usual suffix of "grammar" or "saint". A colleague recently saw a school in Gulistan-i-Jauhar whose signboard urged unsuspecting parents to enroll their children in "St Shoshups School".
Parents particular about the name of the school their children go to would have had to check with the Holy See to ascertain the canonical status of this particular saint.
One wonders why the education ministry does not make sure that private schools, especially those operating in low-income localities, follow certain standards. They should at least have names that makes sense.
Costlier rides
For most children, a trip to Clifton beach is not complete without an animal ride - be it a camel, a horse or even a mule. Not so, however, if the police have their way.
Camel and horse drivers, mostly poor people who come to the beach every morning from the nearby Shirin Jinnah colony, complain that the police have raised the bhatta that they charge each animal owner. It used to be Rs150 per animal but overnight this has gone up to Rs500, they say.
As a result, getting a ride on an animal at the beach has lately become a game of hide and seek. Animal owners stay at a distance and only come to quickly haggle over fares and pick up the intending rider.
They then gallop away with their charge and rush through the whole process. For many who are not used to these tactics, the whole affair can be quite unnerving.
In the midst of all this, there have been occasions when the police have arrived, prompting most of the owners to disappear to look for business in another part of the beach.
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Ghazal's poetry praised
KARACHI: Speakers eulogized Zakia Ghazal's poetry, who was the guest of the evening, at an event held in the library of Karachi Gymkhana's Adbi Committee. Dr Farman Fatehpuri, who presided over the function, admired Ms Ghazal for her disciplined and modest nature and for her poetry, which he said he felt "so close to heart."
Her popularity in and outside the country had created many envious and jealous persons, Mr Fatehpuri said, and advised her to build within her own self a sort of barricade against the rising tide of self-esteem, created by her popularity. The jealousies would end by the passage of time, he added.
The speakers included Dr Pirzada Qasim VC, Karachi University, Dr Mohammad Ali Siddiqui, Prof Saher Ansari, Ms Wazahat Naseem and Rashid Noor. Dr Fayyaz Vaid conducted the event.
Mohammad Nasim Gandhi, convener of the library welcomed the guests while admiring the poet of the evening. Dr Pirzada Qasim said, Ms Ghazal's poetry was popular because it was rooted in the soil of her land and carried the fragrance of its climate.
The creative writers should keep in their minds the demands of the time they were passing through, while keeping in view the 'permanent values,' Dr Pirzada said, and observed that Ms Ghazal had kept herself in touch with the social realities of her time.
Dr Mohammad Ali Siddiqui criticized Western critical theories regarding alienation of creative artist and poet from the society, division of person on gender basis, including, the feminist poetry.
How could one divide the problems all men and women equally experience in their lives, he asked. The poetry was meant to bring peace and amity in the society, he viewed, adding escape from socio-political and economic realities did not suit our conditions.
Mr Siddiqui admired Ms Ghazal for simplicity of her poetry, which addresses the issues common in classical Urdu ghazal. Prof Saher Ansari said Ms Ghazal represented the new breed of poets and her poetry gave an assurance that our future was in safer hands. He recited some couplets from her poetry collection 'Baadal, geet, hawa aur mein.'
Chali hae baad-i-mukhalif to gham naheen hai ke hum
Chiragh apnay lahu say jalanay aey hain.
Ordeal of a girl coming out of 10-month coma
KARACHI: Rifat Naz was 16 year old when she fell in coma for 10 months after being seriously injured in a road accident on May 11, 2001. Six girl students and one of their teachers were killed in a head-on collision between the college van they were travelling in and a truck on National Highway.
The ill-fated van, carrying 20 people, was on way back to Gulshan-i-Hadeed from a college in Shah Faisal Colony when it met an accident near Adil Kanta. Rifat has now turned 19, but cannot walk as she has got her brain tissues damaged in the accident. Her treatment within the country is not possible. Although she can speak in broken sentences, she cannot sit or lie down without the help of some other person.
"We hold both her arms to help her walk," her elder brother, Khalilur Rehman said. Rifat Naz has two sisters and six brothers and she is the youngest among them. "Being the youngest, she is our dearest sister and all of us carefully look after her," said Roohi, one of her sisters.
Roohi said Rifat had recovered to a great extent miraculously as doctors had not been expecting such a remarkable improvement. "Thanks God, Rifat's memory is considerably intact and she can recall the past happenings," she added.
The family lives in an 80-square-yard rented house in Gulshan-i-Hadeed as they had to sell out their own house in a sum of Rs570,000 for Rifat's treatment expenses.
Khalil said: "We have spent all the money we had to meet the expenses incurred on her treatment. Now we don't have more money to take her to doctors repeatedly. However, we did take Rifat to her doctor last week after a gap of eight months."
Rifat's father Fakhruddin Shaikh retired from Pakistan Steel in 1992. Khalil said Pakistan Steel had pledged to bear all medical expenses till her full recovery but it discontinued the financial assistance just two months after the accident.
Rifat's mother, who had survived a paralysis attack, affecting right part of her body, six months back, said: "Many politicians and government dignitaries came to see my daughter and assured us of cooperation. But none of them came out with financial help for her medical treatment."
Khalil said his family had put in great efforts ever since Rifat had fallen in coma. "We took her to Liaquat National Hospital from Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre. However she remained in coma and we had to take her to Hamdard University Hospital and, later, to Steel Town Hospital where she regained her senses."
Recalling the unforgettable moments of her life, Rifat said in broken sentences: "It was May 11, three years ago when I went with my other colleagues to the examination centre in Shah Faisal Colony. I was studying in first year (Science Group) in Modern Hadeed College.
"When we were returning home in the van, it was being driven rashly and the driver was talking to someone by his cell phone. A sudden blow occurred and my head hit a hard object. I don't know what happened next."
Rifat also recalled that she had been sitting in the front row of the van but vacated her seat for her teacher and took another one in the rear portion. She said: "Though I am feeling much better now, I feel shivering in my body and I cannot move freely."
"After visiting different doctors and various hospitals, we are now consulting a neurologist, at the JPMC," Khalil said. Most of the doctors, he added, had advised that Rifat be taken abroad for further treatment. "However, we are not in a position to bear the expenses."
Khalil said: "Since Rifat's condition has improved, the treatment expenses have also decreased now. The medicines cost us about Rs1,800 to Rs2,000 per month. Some six months ago, the figure was Rs8,000 a month."
"We have to pay Rs500 as taxi fare for every visit to and from a hospital in addition to doctor's fee. Due to our poor financial position, we preferred to continue the medicines prescribed by the doctor some months ago," said Rifat's mother.
The neurologist, Dr Shaukat Ali, said: "Rifat is under my treatment for many days. Her damaged brain tissues are being treated with medicines. She has improved a lot, but needs to be taken abroad."
Dr Ali said that the rehabilitation process of her brain tissues could be carried out abroad. "Approximately, Rs2.5 to Rs3 million may be incurred on her treatment abroad," he said suggesting the treatment, with one attendant, over a period of about three to six months, depending on her condition.
Rifat, who looks ambitious, said: "I want to advance my studies. I am fond of getting higher education. I want to recover fully as early as possible." She queried if she would ever be able to do so.