Here are a few small observations that I came across in the recent past. They are not high-flying cases of financial corruptions by some government official amounting to billions of rupees and which one hears about in the local media every other day, but only teeny-weeny everyday incidences that I am sure every one of you must have encountered in your daily dealings.
These small events give us a hint about the prevalent wisdom that when the man at the top, i.e. the leader of a nation, does not enjoy a good reputation, it affects the people at the low end of the spectrum - especially that particular breed of society which is called as ‘the common man’.
The usual justification in such cases invariably runs like this: “Well, if the boss can do that, why can’t we? If the elite, despite their huge bank balances, agricultural lands, plots, palaces, farms, sugar mills, cotton mills, steel mills and other industries, can steal from the national exchequer, why can’t we - the poor lot - who have no such luxuries and businesses at our disposal and who deserve more rights and opportunities from the state?’
I had to pick up a relative from the Lahore Airport. The arrival time was early at dawn. I left from my hometown late in the evening the day before. It was about a six-hour drive. I reached Lahore around 4am. My relative had already arrived by then and was waiting for me at the airport to be picked. When I entered the city, a policeman at a checkpost signalled me to stop.
“Papers,” he said in the usual policeman tone. I had applied for the registration of the vehicle in my name and only had the receipt from the Customs and Excise Department in Rawalpindi. I told him so and showed him the receipt. “Driving licence,” he said next. I showed him my driving licence. “CNIC,” he said and I obediently presented him with my CNIC. At last, he asked for the photocopy of the registration book. And here I got stuck. I did not have it as such. Actually, I had thought since I had the receipt I would not need that. He told me to park the car aside, get out of it and talk to the officer. I did as he said.
The officer had his own round of questions and at length arrived at this: “What if I forfeit your car on the basis of suspicion?” Now this was quite unexpected. I instantly recalled in my mind the proverbial story of our police making an elephant to admit it was mouse. But I did not tell it to the officer and simply said: “Well, you have all the powers to do that, sir.” Finally, he came to the actual subject: The chai pani. Perhaps, if I was not pressed for time and if my guest was not waiting for me at the airport, I would not give him a dime and rather rebuked him but then, you know……
“How much,” I asked. “5000,” he blurted. I could not stop my laugh and started to haggle. “Ok, Ok,” said he, “500.” “500? That is just too much,” I protested again. “Well, we need to eat breakfast and we are 12 people in total,” he said. “That must be true, but I have only this much for you.” I took out a 50-rupee note and hurled it in front of him. He first refused to take it, but then noticing that I was putting it back in my pocket, he grabbed it with both hands. He even thanked when I was leaving.
I was at a gas station for a refill. I had parked my rusty car beside the CNG dispenser and asked the attendant to refill it. He went ahead. Just midway, my attention was diverted from the meter for a few seconds and the attendant suddenly stopped it. I was surprised. I asked him the reason and he said that the cylinder was already full. I asked for the bill and he said: “550 rupees.” I had arrived at my hometown just the other day and upon some calculation in my mind, I got suspicious. I asked him to show me the meter reading and when he did that, it said 450. A full 100 rupees, you know!
I had a few friends from my hometown and I took them to dinner in a nearby hotel. There were four of us. We had our full and upon leaving I asked for the bill. Usually, when you ask for the bill in the said hotel, the waiters go to the counter to fetch it. This particular waiter was, however, a wee bit more efficient. He immediately said “blah blah” much. I noticed a difference of 120 rupees. I asked him the reason and he said he had made a mistake. Of course, he had made a mistake. Quite a mistake, you know.
The place where I live, there is a park nearby. A few weeks back, I went there and saw a guy, who had mounted on a tree and was cutting branches from it. A park is supposed to be a public property. I told the park attendant to stop it and he simply said: “My duty is confined to the fountain.” The next day, when I went there, there was no tree but another guy cutting another tree. I asked him why he was doing that and he said: “No gas, no electricity. We cannot even cook our meals. What should we do?” He was, of course, right! So, I did not stop him!
There are a number of such small stories. The long and short of it is that we are bogged down in a nasty quagmire. We are surrounded by problems on all four sides. The worst of all is that we are lacking in an honest and able leadership. When a nation is lacking in such a basic department, it lacks in all others. I was translating some poems by the famous Pashtun warrior-poet, Khushal Khan Khattak, a few days ago and came across this:
“Once the king of Ethiopia attacked Makkah,
To wipe it off from the face of the earth,
The Quraish couldn’t stand the onslaught,
And they escaped here and there.
When Muhammad (PBUH) arrived on the scene,
The Arab bravery and valour gained currency,
Don’t say a word more, young man,
It all depends upon leadership.
When the leader of a nation is an able man,
Everything becomes a walk in the park,
Whether it is endurance or willpower,
A capable leader marches ever on, conquering all!”

n    The writer is a freelance columnist.
    Email: samiurn@yahoo.com