Aman Ki Asha! May that day arrive when this border becomes the kissing lips of the beloved.

Mazar-e Mirza Ghalib

The sadness of separation and the yearning to be socially one again still remains quite strong.  It’s a shame that two nations, one big and the other gigantic, sitting side by side remain so distant.  So much to revive, share, and create – culture, economics, creativity, tourism, and a mind boggling variety of food. 

Is it too much to ask? a borderless border, free trade, travel and tourism. 

Came across some lovely emotions expressed by yester year progressive writers while reading “Anthems of Resistance” by Ali Hussain Mir 7 Raza Mir – an IndiaInk Roli Books. 

 Ghalib: 

Voh din aaye ke aansoo ho ke nafrat dil se bah jaaye; Voh din aaye ye sarhad bosa-e lab ban ke rah jayee 

Yeh sarhad doobte taaron ki, ubharte aaftaabon ki, Yeh sarhad khon mein lithde pyaar ke zakhmi gulaabon ki 

Main is sarhad pe kabse muntazar hoon subhe-e farda ka 

 May that day arrive when hatred ebbs from the heart in the form of tears 

May that day arrive when this border becomes the kissing lips of the beloved 

This is the border of the setting stars, of rising suns; This the border of love’s roses soaked in blood 

I, for long, have been waiting at this border for a new morning. 

 Sardar Jafri: 

Tum aao gulshan-e Lahore se chaman bardosh; Hum aayen subh-e Banaaras ki raushni le kar 

Himaalya ke havaaon ki taazgi le kar; phir us ke baad ye poochenge, kaun dushman hai? 

You come bearing the gardens of Lahore on your shoulders; We will bring the brightness of Benaras’ morning 

The freshness of the Himalayan breeze; And then, we can ask one another: who is the enemy?

Attending Nasscom India Leadership Forum 2010

Nasscom Night

Attending the Nasscom Leadership Forum 2010 was an interesting experience.  The conference was well attended by decsions makers from across the globe – specially executives from USA and Europe. The venue (Grand Hyatt, Mumbai) was just that grand and the overall event management was good too.  The food was great and so were the evening entertainment events.

I particularly enjoyed the inaugural speech by the CM of Mahrashtra – as he played the perfect salesman dedicating most of his speech to Mahrashtra being the state to do business in.  The Nasscom team seemed very competent and the senior IT personalities played their part well in making the guests comfortable and in promoting Indian IT.  My special thanks to Mr. Som Mittal, President of Nasscom in specially welcoming the Pakistani delegation to Mumbai. It was very heart warming and was followed by a a very warm round of applause by all the guests.

However, I was not too impressed by the discussions in the the sessions and workshops I attended.  The ”wow” “game changing” factors were not there in the content – atleast not for me.

I also realized that despite the unbelievable, ”in your face” “on the sidewalk” “clearly unavoidable” poverty all over Mumbai, the global executives seemed comfortable being in India and transacting business in India.

I guess safety and consistency in business policy are the key motivators for global players to be in India (not to mention the availability of the talent pool).

Seems like the only (or the primary) hurdle we have to overcome at the moment is to make Pakistan a safe place for foreigners to come and conduct business.

I think we need to take drastic steps to at least immediately make the key cities 100% safe.  Even if we have to cordon off and (electronically monitor or tag) every citizen coming in and out of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad we should do this.

Pak IT/BPO sector keen to engage Indian biz

A five-member delegation from Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITES (P@SHA as it is called) is hobnobbing with representatives of the Indian IT industry at the Nasscom India Leadership Forum 2010 here.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/02/10/stories/2010021052590400.htm

Phobia!

And I thought the Pakistani media is unprofessional and engages in sheer sensationalism.  During my short trip to India I was disturbed and very disappointed by the hysteria created by Indian TV anchors on any news relating to Pakistan.  I found their coverage including the tone and the content to be very unprofessional, outright discrimnating and very hostile.  Not only was the media in this hyteria state of mind but most of the government officials and politicians being interviewed showed a clear “mind made up” mindset that all evil comes forth from Pakistan.

I find this extremely unprofessional (no matter which side of the border engages in it).  But clearly, I noticed that the Indian media/political colleagues have taken a more extreme stand.  During the recent Pune incident – the TV coverage and the immediate blame game towards Pakistan made me very uncomfortable being in India.  I actually felt insecure – and that is not a good feeling to have.

If there is any real and serious progress to be made between the two neighbors, the media has to play a more professional, independent, and thoughtful role.

As a global citizen, our role is to give feeback to the decision makers and the opinion makers.

Heck, 800 million less issues to deal with!

If any Pakistani doubts that Pakistan cannot make it as a mainstream country, just take a trip to India! The first thing that came to my mind, after my recent trip to India, was that we had 800 million less issues to deal with! By this I am clearly referring to the population difference between the two countries.  India is on the world map as an emerging nation.  However, they really have a population nightmare to deal with – and day to day quality of life seems pretty miserable for most. 

Heck, we have only 180 million to take care of – provide education, employment, law and order. We already have a decent infrastructure and a population that is reasonably spread out – not crammed like crazy. What are we waiting for? Let’s wake up and smell the Chai! My appeal to every individual – stay positive and contribute what you can towards nation building causes – civility, discipline, law and order, politeness, patience, equality, and loads of charity.

India – an experience!

At the Taj on Valentine's Day

Mumbai is like God’s own backyard – chaotic, in-process, evolving, romance and tragedy, good shit and bad shit – all in one.  You can’t miss the extremes.  Attended the Nasscom Conference 2010 and heard plans of achieving $50 billion in IT exports while on the street it seemed like I had gone back to the British/Mughal  days! I had read “A fine balance” by Rohinton Mistry – so I guess I was looking at Mumbai thru Mistry eyes!  For an outsider – it is a sad sight – though, for an Indian I guess it’s the business of “life” as usual.

Took a flight out to Jaipur, did the usual sightseeing.  Loved the Amer Fort.  Jaipurites seem pretty laid back and relaxed.  Took a day trip to Ajmer to visit the Mazar of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.  Paid my respects – though the mazar was in the hands of so called Khadimeen – who made the visit very uncomfortable with their constant badgering for donations and all sorts of rubbish.

Drove from Jaipur to Agra and stopped on my way to visit the Fatehpur Sikri Fort.  Lovely, majestic fort.  Agra is a whole different story – very dirty and the people seem very rude and rough.

What a coincidence – we are at the Taj Mahal on Valentines’ day! It is beautiful (even without the romantic story attached to it).  Plan to drive to Delhi for a couple of days then off to Karachi via Lahore!

UNDP Human Development Report 2009 – A Regional (BIPS) Comparison

Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report (pioneered by Dr. Mahbub ul Haq) looks beyond GDP to a broader definition of well being.  The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). The index is not in any sense a comprehensive measure of human development. It does not, for example, include important indicators such as gender or income inequality nor more difficult to measure concepts like respect for human rights and political freedoms. What it does provide is a broadened prism for viewing human progress and the complex relationship between income and well-being.  Here is how the numbers look for BIPS (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka).  Would love to see a discussion analyzing this data and suggestions on how and what we should improve going forward!

Remembering Dr. Mahbub ul Haq…

^{Dr. Mahbub ul Haq (February 22, 1934 – July 16, 1998), born in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, was an influential and world renowned Pakistani economist. He is the pioneer of Human development theory and founder of the Human Development Report. His works also opened new avenues to policy proposals for human development paradigms, such as the 20:20 Global Compact and the setting up of the UN Economic Security Council that became the inspirations for the establishment of United Nations Economic and Social Council.}

“The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people’s choices. In principle, these choices can be infinite and can change over time. People often value achievements that do not show up at all, or not immediately, in income or growth figures: greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities. The objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives.”

http://hdr.undp.org/en/humandev/

Mahbub ul Haq
Founder of the Human Development Report

The sweetest blog post “Taha” by dear friend Jawad Farid.

Absolutely love this post!!

http://blog.alchemya.com/?p=950

“I don’t know where he goes when he looks through me. His don’t disturb me, I am thinking look…

If he is sitting with me, I can feel the transition and the change. The momentum shifts, he slows downs and settles, like our Civic adjusting to the fourth gear and cruising at 60 miles an hour on Creek Avenue. I can see the world whizzing by, one milestone, one tree at a time, while Taha wraps himself up in a temporal field; like a lay down with a blanket and a good book. It’s funny it does feels like that – a good book. A memory wrapped up in thin petals of colored paper and cherished for the next few months. Like a clear signal that finally cuts through the noise, he looks at me and says, clearly, making the effort to reach me. Or when after a long run on Sunday morning at the Museum, he decides to sit in my lap or on the floor and reach for the sky with his eyes and for Pandora with his mind.

I don’t know what he sees when he goes where he goes to think and slow down. Maybe one day he will take my hand and show me.”

Cautiously unplugged in Spider Magazine

“I think everything about our IT industry is positive. I don’t see anything negative about it and I stand by my claim.  I am not saying this because I am biased. I don’t think of flags when it comes to business.”

Cautiously Unplugged..