| 10 October 2004 | Sunday | 24 Shaban 1425 |
Adventures in moon spotting
In a way, the mood of Ramazan, which begins less than a week from now, has already set in. In fact, from the time newspaper took up the subject of prices, and that of the refusal of the business community to compromise on lowering the prices of daily items (meat and milk being two clear examples), it was a reminder that nothing much had changed this year too. All that talk all over again.
But wait. For all the effort to mould the public opinion in the realm of consumer awareness and subsequent resistance (read restraint) that has gone on from last Ramazan until now, it would be of interest to see what happens in the holy month this year. The interest could well be academic perhaps. From last Ramazan to this one, there has been not only public lament, but much campaigning by numerous NGOs on this theme. But when it comes down to ground reality? What is the result then?
Do traders, shopkeepers and vendors and so on, realize that the way they exploit a given demand is unfair, unethical? Though to talk ethics in this might-is-right kind of scenario is asking for the impossible.
The other side of the story is that relates to the consumer. Does he show the resistance that he can? or wherever he can? The overall trend that we see around us is to spend, overspend, and spend tomorrow's money today. Saving is something that even banks have stopped advocating these days, observes a Karachiite, frequently agitated about how the affluent spend, and set trends.
I have been talking to people on the weather-beaten subject of price hike in Ramazan, and of the stereotyped pressure on the local administration to check traders for raising prices, and the usual hype there will be on this subject in the first fortnight of the holy month.
In fact in the first week of Ramazan there will be almost a high-pitched, high profile official campaign against price hike in certain areas, and due to the inadequacy of the infrastructure and the effort, nothing tangible will come about. Lowered prices will mean lowered quality. As simple as that.
The common man, the man with the fixed income will suffer yet again, and someone says to me that he will end up taking more personal loan, whose repayment will be a burden on his resources throughout the year. We are not talking of the enterprisingly dishonest or the daringly unscrupulous, who make their lasting contribution to the corruption in society.
One person saw another reason to dread the price factor in this month, when he referred to the fact that Ramazan was beginning in the middle of October, and for the salaried class this was a particularly hard hitting factor as, he explained, that when Eidul Fitr comes next month, it will again be the middle of the month. A doubly hard-hitting factor, evidently. Eid Mubarak!
The financial squeeze that average families are subjected to by traders, big or small, is something that is not restricted to just Sindh capital. It is a nation-wide context, and almost a national failing in this holy month, if one may call it that way.
This is, in a way demonstrated by the fact that it has been announced during the week that the "Cabinet Committee constituted by the Economic Coordination Committee has finalized a strategy to take immediate steps to ensure stability in prices, especially during Ramazan."
Even though the public tend to be cynical and skeptical of official assurances, declarations and promises, I am unable to restrain myself from quoting from this APP story which says: "the committee observed that the government was keeping a close vigil on prices, and would not let them go beyond the purchasing power of consumers."
A colleague argued with me to say those doing business in the encroachment zone would be fined, and either let off or taken to the police stations (Whose capacities are limited almost always). Nothing enduring even for the month of Ramazan would take place. The public attitude would be lacking in substance, and may well be described as one of weariness and resignation. The common man wanted "peace and status quo" and did not want to risk and ruin the mood of Ramazan, explained one Karachiite, who believed there was no point in coming forward to register complaints of either high prices or poor quality. It is absolutely futile, he underlines acidly. The procedure can be humiliating.
As he said this, I referred to the PPI news story, which said in Dawn on Oct 7, "City government officials get powers to check prices in Ramazan."
One hears the same old pattern being stressed. That the DDOs will be authorized to take action, including punishment and fine against those found indulging in profiteering, overcharging and violating the officially-notified price list. We had completely forgotten there is an "officially-notified price list", and had also forgotten that the kind of people who are hit by overcharging are often the people who can neither read such a list (often illegible), nor do they have the time to argue and verify that prices were being charged according to the listed prices. What are we talking about? Promising beyond means once again. All over again.
We may return to this theme again once Ramazan begins to see what becomes of the prices and the promises. Right now, the city government, which has some visible good work to its credit, proposes to establish 54 complaint centres in the city's 18 towns to ensure effective check on prices of essential commodities. These centres are intended to be staffed, from 9am to 6pm. (One hopes that the timings will be adhered to throughout the month).
One would like to conclude with what one mild-mannered citizen opined on this subject, as he philosophised: "this problem cannot be solved through tough measures. If the spirit of Ramazan cannot drive Muslims to be fair in their business dealings then nothing else can." There is indeed something to ponder upon, here. Dear reader.
Adventures in moon spotting
With Ramazan fast approaching, the country is again facing its usual challenge. Will we be able to spot the moon this year? This is not as straight forward a task as would at first appear. It involves at least three major questions.
First, what do we mean by 'spot'? You see it is not enough that the moon should be above the horizon according to astronomical calculations. That can be done by scientific (which is to say dastardly western), calculations, years in advance. These are obviously not to be relied upon, after all they could turn out to be a hoax, just like that alleged landing on the moon in 1969. Of course, not all western inventions are equally false or dastardly, loudspeakers, for example, are an important exception, but on really important questions, its best not to rely too much on them. We don't want to find out years later that the astrologers had borrowed their calculators from the ministry of finance and we have been fasting when we shouldn't have been.
This rings us to the second question, whom do we mean by 'we' in 'Will we be able to ...' Obviously, it can't be just anyone. Over the years, the consensus has been that the people best qualified to spot the moon are religious leaders. This is because the most essential quality required for moon spotting, is not excellent eyesight, but a pious character. Without piousness, it is very easy to mistake allow flying plane or a high jumping buffalo or the fast approaching WTO for the moon and conversely, not see the actual moon at all even if it pinches your cheeks. Since not everyone is equally pious, depending on their threshold, some people can see the moon before others can. In fact some people are so pious that they spot the moon up to a day before others, as our brothers to the north manage to do nearly every year.
All this is to come to an end in the new and efficient ISO 2001 certified Pakistan. There is to be a new committee for moon spotting. If the rest of the country is an indication, the new committee will be headed by retired army general who will be so pious that he will spot the moon years in advance and also very short tempered so that if any lazy civilian can't seen the moon when he is supposed to, he will deliver a sound thump on the head so that both stars and moon will become visible.
In yet another suspicious twist, the Frontier assembly has unanimously resolved that this new committee should be formed. This probably makes it certain that the PPPP (I hope I have the right number of Ps or this will come out wrong) will oppose the move, and request that Zardari be released before anything else. And it must be admitted that they have a case, why should Benazir be the only one who can't see her 'chanda.'In case some of you are keeping track, the third question is what is the 'moon' anyway? It has been years since I saw it through all the smoke and dust.
Speaking of the new Pakistan, one of its features is to be the rule of law. Some signs of this area already visible. After some laxity over the years, the dress code in the Punjab Club is now being very strictly enforced. At a recent function with much bright lights, police presence, and flag staff cars the place was awash with suits and sherwanis. The strict dress code is a hangover from Victorian times when laxity in dressing was meant to be a sign of a moral and ethical laxity. To their credit, the Victorians were actually genuinely concerned about the latter. Presumably, this is not on the Punjab Club's agenda. In any case, the old Pakistan continues to coexist with the new and a few feet from the bright lights were a row of Pakistanis wearing only half their national dress and relieving themselves against the wall of the same club. I am not sure but they might also have been expressing their opinion about dress codes in general.