Pakistan is witnessing the worst flooding in our recorded history. It is a saga of misery and terror that has been unfolding for over a month now, each day I watch the news and like everyone around the world I am appalled, horrified and heart broken. But there is another emotion I feel as well - is that optimism. You may think I'm either extremely callous or a bit mad to feel anything positive about this misery - I will not make any claims regarding my sanity, however I am not callous.
The Great Flood has been a recurring theme in various mythologies across the globe as well as many religious traditions especially the Abrahamic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We are all familiar with the story of the Noah who was instructed by God to build an Ark and fill it with a pair from every species as well as God fearing righteous people and only those who were in the Ark survived the catastrophic flood which annihilated everything else. Actually given the sparse population of the world and the isolation of the communities at that time a localized event such as the floods of Pakistan which cover a massive area could have seemed like a global event to the people who were affected. The fact that it is repeated in different stories and myths from all over the world could either indicate that spectacular floods have occurred throughout history in various parts of this planet or there could be a more global climatic phenomenon that occurred at some point in our distant past – the academics and the scientists have been researching that for decades and perhaps they will find the answer or maybe we will never know definitively. But I think it’s not important how it happened what is of more value of is what it really means.
Most people look at this event as an indication of God's wrath and how he punished the evil doers. I tend to look at it from different perspective. I feel that this is a story of renewal, regeneration and a new start. Something has to end before something begins. It is a story of change, change at its most chaotic and its most glorious. A change that created a new world.
For me the floods of Pakistan are also the harbingers of change. I am not talking about political change – politics are something which are of no interest to me, and without exception all politicians make me want to shove a finger down my throat and puke vehemently. The change I’m talking about is social. These floods have given thousands of people who were farming on behalf of their landlords for pitiful wages and under great debt, to escape the oppression. When the waters came everyone ran wherever they could find safety, for some people this was the only opportunity they would ever get to take their families out. Then there were people working at the brick factories, who were in essence slaves to their masters and their entire families were made to work so that they could pay off the debts they owed to the owners – for these people traumatic though this event was, it is perhaps as if God has answered their prayers and delivered them. That is why a majority of the people in the relief camps of the big cities refuse to go back.
This social change is also evident in the change of the mindset of these people. Suddenly we are hearing people criticize their elected officials by name openly for their apathy and haphazard working – something quite alien to our rural society. But hunger and desperation sheds all inhibitions and this is perhaps the best thing that these floods have brought. I do feel that gone are the days when the politicians could be assured of their wins in their traditional constituencies, they will find that they will need to jump through the hoops for their votes now.
The women who have been displaced bring with them marvellous talents of traditional embroidery, handicrafts, pickle making etc. If we could open centres for them in the relief camps where they could work on producing their talents and make money, it would not only ease the government’s burden of providing for them but also open a whole new economic avenue for their families and give women a sense of economic freedom. Economic independence for women is essential if we want to change the social fabric.
Interestingly the flood affected area of Sindh is also a hotbed of tribal and clan wars where the slightest thing can gurantee several dead bodies in both camps. However the flood is a great equalizer - enemies sitting side-by-side on high ground fighting not each other but for survival. Many of the clans have also now been broken up as different families ended up in various cities and camps - some will return some will not. Yet another chance for this land to leave the past behind. When the waters have washed away all their material possession surely the load of enemity is too heavy a burden to carry.
The complete inefficiency of our bureaucracy and government departments has also become blatantly clear, perhaps now they will find it hard to keep up their policy of “look busy do nothing” because the people are certainly not being fooled any more. The floods have washed away the bureaucracy’s façade of competency and aloofness which they had spent decades in cultivating.
Perhaps once again God has intervened – not to punish us but to give us another chance for a new beginning. Our challenge now is to stop running like headless chicken and clucking ‘we have no money’ ‘we can’t cope’ and implement strategies which can leverage this event to the nation’s advantage. God has done his part but we have to meet him half way.
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