New World of Old World Language

We may live in as many worlds as we have languages and books, for each defines at length or informs for a short while the island we call mind.

Where moderns may transparently believe that brevity is best and written language should be about conveying information, older minds know the soulful experience of reading--perhaps also of listening to-- stories produces worlds unbounded by space or time.

For many, in fact, immersion in stories, true or not, becomes a much preferred way of experiencing the world.  For many too, the conveyance of story may be the primary way through which the world may be accessed.

Those of a literary turn know as well that all fictions, all completed media, all works of art are timeless and all lessons conveyed by the authors of histories become timeless too.

One may, for example, quote Hemingway, the man, in the past tense ("Hemingway said . . .") but a passage associated with his work or ascribed to a character earns always its "says", for such as Brett and Jake live perpetually in the authored work and may be considered present in its exegesis, forever  parting and unparted in an ending that never ends.

In the wake of a chain of bombings that has so far claimed 71 lives in northeast India comes this piece from Rupee News as conveyed by Moin Ansari: "4th Battle of Panipal: Is Delhi preventing it or ensuring it?"

While a modern may think there can be no second "4th Battle of Panipal", a mind tuned to the literary way of life may find in glorious analog the keyhole between times as well as a glimpse of the timeless.

"Indian machinations in Kabul are reminiscent of the Marhatta messing with the Pakhtuns and the Balauch in the 18th century. With dreams of Mughal grandeur, they began to think of themselves as successors to the Mughals. They began harassing the states of the Punjabis, Pathans and the Baluch."

Instead of the "That was then, this is now" of jazz legend, what one discovers through such reading is "That was then, and this is then too."

Perpetual ambition, enmity, rivalry, and war: "A grand alliance of Durrani from the West and the Ebngalis from the East defeated the Marhattas . . . ."

Could not such be as true today as yesterday?

Is not such true always?

Would we not wish it so forever?

This too comes from the latest Rupeenews.com (November 3, 2008), also produced by Moin Ansari: "There is an American grand plan, that accepts India as the preeminent power in South Asia, and wants all the nations of South Asia to support India being bolstered as a bulwark against China."

Considering the billions of dollars the U.S. has shipped to Islamabad in the twin interests of defense and development, as much rings not quite right: "Balance of power" and "regional stability" fall much more closely in line with traditional American foreign policy lingo.  For the time being, India enjoys greater internal stability and less threat overall than does Pakistan, but that is not India's doing: Pakistan could and should be doing every bit as well.

Nonetheless, and back on-topic for this post, the most important word is . . . "is", not "has been", not "may be" or "will be" but plainly, "There is an American grand plan . . . ."

If there is an American grand plan anywhere for anything following tomorrow's election, the American people would surely love to hear of it. 

For most Americans most of the time, the present is fleeting, the farthest thing from perpetual or perpetuating.

Reference

Guardian UK.  "India and Pakistan celebrate."  August 15, 1947: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1947/aug/15/india.pakistan

Moin Ansari.  "4th Battle of Panipal: Is Delhi preventing it or ensuring it?"  http://pakistanledger.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/is-delhi-preventing-the-4th-battle-of-panipat-or-instigating-it/

Rupee News.  Front page, November 3, 2008: http://rupeenews.com/

VOA News.  "Death Toll in India Bombings Reaches 71."  October 31, 2008: http://voanews.com/english/2008-10-31-voa3.cfm

# # #

Comments

[James]

Moin Ansari--

It is good to meet you.

Regarding the trivial:

--The first and last lesson in writing I got from dear old (and departed) dad was, "You're an atrocious speller." I hope I've improved with age, but proper nouns still drive me nuts, and now and then a bit of phonetic invention (plus a typo or two) makes its way to the Internet.

--While I do write well, I do so only in English. Having taught English as a second language, I am aware of language-development difficulties both in growing up in bilingual households and in acquiring a second language as an adult. I don't think I could do it, and I admire everyone who can and has.

--I haven't used this blog to promote a community of like-minded URL's. As far as I'm concerned, there are no minds quite like mine, which might be a good thing, lol, but I resist also fixed association and with them related social and political duties and stances.

More substantial, off-hand:

1. These are the estimated figures I have for this year's U.S. contribution to Pakistan:

Source: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/pakaid.pdf (Congressional Research Service)

$57 million - Pakistani Defense Forces (training and equipment funding)

$55 million - Counternarcotics Funds

$255 million - Coalition Support Funds

$75 million - Frontier Corp

$298 million - Pakistani Defense Force Financing

$2 million - Military education

$22 million - International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement

$10 million - Nonproliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining, and Related

Total U.S. security-related financing for the defense of Pakistan: $774 million

$30 million - Child survival and health funding

$30 million - Development assistance

$347 million - Economic support

$42 million - Food Aid

$0 million - Human Rights and Democracy Funding (last year, the government claims to have spent $11 million in that category)

$0 Migration and Refugee Assistance (last year, the government claims to have spent $4 million in the category).

Allocation is one thing, of course, and both receipt and spending two others. A lot of people want the noted funds tracked and reported openly. Obama, in fact, may pick up some points by turning up contractor-fraud and other forms of misspending early in his yet-to-be-installed administration.

2. For many if not most Americans, Islam in an unknown and Pakistan even less known or understood--it's not an easy state for summarizing politics--so as we come around to discussing terrorism, less informed minds, to be polite, aggregate information and consequently misjudge their threats. I have not looked into Hindu-side terrorism, although it killed Ghandi, but I would like to and may do so soon. At the same time, I'm framing what I observe into two globalizing movements, with figures like Pervez Hoodbhoy producing through their lives and voices an international leadership community and others like the Shabaab in Somalia trying to wind the clocks back to a world in which they would have that same relevance but with a purpose that feeds back to their own aggrandizement through arms and the dispensing of punishments.

From time to time, I may report on other conflict, such as that in Kenya or Zimbabwe, and note where some processes, especially the conscious development of adversarial divisions to produce violence plays across cultures and religions.

3. On general principles: the "Grand Game" has got to go.

4. Incoherence in Pakistan's politics over time draws a variety of internal and external responses, none of which what a single good sentence can do: clarify, illuminate, and make good.

Smile.

Pakistan's in deep trouble today. I know that. I believe, however, that President Zardari's administration hasn't been installed long enough to determine whether he's going to redeem himself or line his pockets, or both, and then in what order, but I'm sure he has in mind a more intellectually and culturally spacious an Islamic state than that riding horses out of the mountains.

I have other business to get on to today, so this will have to do for now.

--Jim

[Moin Ansari]

Thank you for quoting me in your brilliant essay....it is literature.

Hook us up on your Blog Roll or as a link so that we can continue to feed your brilliance.

If you don't minds...its like advising Shakespeare...can we suggest a couple of things.

1) Bengalis should be spelt Bengalis and not "Ebngalis" (probably my typo got copied over!!)

2) The second point is a bit more nuanced..in the aftermath of 911...the US DOD calculated the loss to Pakistan was $20 Billion...the US gives Pakistan only $650 million per year...by US law half of it stays in the US, 25% is spent on administrative and logistics costs. The remaining 25% is given by the US Ambassador to his/her favorite US based NGO. Almost none of the aid actually reaches the poor or even the rich in Pakistan.

The other $5 billion is reimbursement for the use of 4 bases as well as logistical support for the supply chain that moves 80% of supplies from Karachi to Torkhum.

3) The current PPPP government calculated that Pakistan has spent about $35 billion on fighting the war for the US on the Durand Line. So the $5 Billion was pennies on the Dollar.

For all this...Pakistan gets "Do More" and India gets free reign to train and arm terrorists who cross the border from Afghanistan and rain terror on the civilians.

No thank you for Pakistan from the ingrates or the others who don't know. It is deja vu again. In the 80s 2 million Muslim kids were used as cannon fodder to bleed and destroy the USSR. They defeated the Soviets, and the evil empire imploded.

Kudos for Pakistan came in the form of a decade long embargo and a triple regime of sanctions...

...so much for the wisdom of the Pakistanis in choosing the USA over the USSR.

Oh! Yeah..here are two of my latest...which may provide fodder for your creativity...http://rupeenews.com/2008/11/11/new-obama-universe-indias-six-migraine-headaches/

and here is another...http://rupeenews.com/2008/11/11/trade-first-no-nonsense-banker-steers-pakistan-out-of-global-finance-crisis/

KEEP IN TOUCH..you really write well.

...and so its goes

Editor Rupee News
http://www.rupeenews.com
Moin Ansari