Remember the maashqi (water-carrier) who became the king and appointed all his relatives to high government posts? To raise funds for his rule, he decreed that coins cut out of a mashq (a large leather bag used for water-carrying) will be the sovereign currency. I forget now what happened to that country. Just like someone might well ask one day, in not too distant a future, what happened to a country called Pakistan? -KHURSHID ANWER, Lahore, via e-mail, January 24.