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March 23, 2006
| OPINION |
United we stand
Life is a great teacher that teaches us valuable lessons mainly through signs and symbols that we can decipher with thinking and reflection, writes Khalid Chaudhry
As presented by history, countries and empires tend to decline after a rise. Pakistan has, for many years, been taking a battering from its people internally which in turn makes it easy to be exploited by hostile external forces. At times one desperately wishes that one had a magic wand by waving which our people could be unified and strengthened and all their troubles resolved.
If the decision-makers in Islamabad, along with the rest of the government machinery that form the ‘brain’ and ‘nervous system’ of Pakistan work carelessly and imprudently, the nation simply won’t last very long.
The same applies to the industrial section. If the medical community and health-care institutions, which are like the body’s ‘immune system’, under-perform, the country will be beset by problems.
The transport system must similarly work well, as must the farmers who can be called the nation’s ‘heart’ that nourishes the whole system. The same can be said for the media, which is the ‘voice box’ and ‘tongue’ for individuals and groups of our compatriots.
What lessons can be learned by looking at the world around us? One example is of the birds that we have seen flying in from the northern skies to the lakes and warm waters down south before the advent of winter (i.e. hard times). We may also have noticed that they all fly together in a formation shaped like an arrowhead, instead of striking out alone. Why is that so?
Scientists have been fascinated by the ‘V’ formation used by geese when migrating south in the fall season. They discovered that by flapping its wings, each bird creates an uplift for the bird following immediately behind. Through this ‘V’ formation, the entire flock manages to extend its flying range by at least 71 per cent, which would not have been possible at all if each bird flew separately.
The lesson that can be learnt by humans from the geese is that people who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily with each other’s cooperation. If a goose falls out of this special formation, it then experiences an aerodynamic drag or resistance and realises the advantages of flying together with the other birds due to the lifting power generated by the preceding bird.
If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those people who are headed the same way as we are. Likewise, it was observed that if a goose falls sick or gets wounded and has to quit the flock, two other geese accompany it down to provide help and protection. They stay with their fallen companion until it can either fly again or perishes.
Last October’s massive earthquake brought lessons of its own. The first thing it did was to quieten those local and foreign critics who had been saying that the Pakistanis did not have compassion or sense of unity to care about others. As was seen in 1965, the spirit was alive; our people are capable of rising above provincial, ethnic and other such considerations.
Nothing can cause greater damage to national cohesiveness than the sowing of hatred against each other. The real representatives of this land are the ones who spread the message of tolerance and unity for their compatriots, not just through words but, through their deeds as well. They are the ‘elixir of life’ for this nation, to be sought after and followed. n
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