Lahore
February 6, 2007
The weather is nice these days – the January cold is behind us and the heatis still a few weeks away. Add two back-to-back long weekends (Muharram followed by Kashmir day) and the stage is set for enjoying a cricket match. Batting against weak bowling, I love; bowling against weak batting is also quite good but fielding for any bowling or against any kind of batting is anathema to me. Unfortunately, weak batsmen and bowlers are difficult to find in this cricket crazy place. The solution is obvious – I decided to watch Pakistan play South Africa this past Sunday. Most of you know what happened so there is no need to get into that painful episode but two symbolic things have stuck in my mind. First, the bowling of Muhammad Samiwas eerily reminiscent of Waqar Younis bowling to Jadeja at Bangalore in the quarter final of the 1996 World cup. It was one shortish ball after another, ideally suited to big heaves over mid-wicket. Why didn’t Sami or Waqar change the line or length to avoid the obvious slog? Second, in the 48thover or thereabouts, a new South African batsman lifted one over mid-off, the fielder charged in for a difficult chance; he ended up not getting to the ball and conceded four runs. He could have easily saved the four if he had not attempted the catch. Why did he make that choice? Was he thinking?
During myriad post dinner conversations spanning multiple decades, I maintained that education was not the panacea for Pakistan’s problems. My argument rested upon the uncivil and irrational behavior of educated Pakistanis. Now, after spending the last year in Pakistan hobnobbing with the educated elite, I have come up with a theory explaining this paradox.The Pakistani system punishes active thinking, so the “educated” come outworse than the totally illiterate who at least learn to think on their feet as a consequence of their street experience. The “educated” get drafted into the civil service and other good jobs, public and private, perpetuating this cycle. It is interesting to see intelligent people who left Pakistan for the West at various stages of college (or high school) education having to unlearn their childhood habits and then re-acquiring a questioning, critical attitude towards life. All professionals successfully employed outside Pakistan can probably identify with this phase of unlearning bad habits and then acquiring the habit to think.
Indeed, many of Pakistan’s problems are either caused by the educated few or are exacerbated by a poorly thought-out and horribly executed remedial action imposed by the Aitchison and Punjab University graduates. In Pakistan, therefore, we have to work on quality (teach our kids to think for themselves) as well as quantity (increasing literacy rate) in education. Maybe an Oxford education had something to do with Pakistan winning theWorld Cup in 1992.
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring.
I liked it as this a reality regarding our education system which probably gives everything but “Critical Thinking” or Free thinking.Also the “Unlearning” phenomenon is largly a truth and applies to most of us.One good reason for this downfall is obvious and remediable.We have neglected our teachers did not develop a mechanism to EDUCATE our teachers and to TEACH them as to how to teach
Another aspect is faulty education system. Pakistani education produces subjects it can’t produce leadership. One institiution that has focused on leadership is Army that is why they are ruling Pakistan.