Writing by hand makes kids smarter

Not necessarily true for all people, but I suspect that it is for many.

How writing by hand makes kids smarter
TheWeek.com, October 6, 2010
http://theweek.com/article/index/207846/how-writing-by-hand-makes-kids-smarter

Younger Americans are typing or texting more and writing less, even in school — and that's a problem when it comes to brain development

With the ubiquity of keyboards large and small, neither children nor adults need to write much of anything by hand. That's a big problem, says Gwendolyn Bounds in The Wall Street Journal. Study after study suggests that handwriting is important for brain development and cognition — helping kids hone fine motor skills and learn to express and generate ideas. Yet the time devoted to teaching penmanship in most grade schools has shrunk to just one hour a week. Is it time to break out the legal pad? Here's a look at how the brain and penmanship interact:

Writing by hand can get ideas out faster
University of Wisconsin psychologist Virginia Berninger tested students in grades 2, 4, and 6, and found that they not only wrote faster by hand than by keyboard — but also generated more ideas when composing essays in longhand. In other research, Berninger shows that the sequential finger movements required to write by hand activate brain regions involved with thought, language, and short-term memory.

Writing increases neural activity
A recent Indiana University study had one group of children practice printing letters by hand while a second group just looked at examples of A's, B's, and C's. Then, both groups of kids entered a functional MRI (disguised as a "spaceship") that scanned their brains as the researchers showed them letters. The neural activity in the first group was far more advanced and "adult-like," researchers found.

Good handwriting makes you seem smarter
Handwriting also affects other people's perceptions of adults and children. Several studies have shown that the same mediocre essay will score much higher if written with good penmanship and much lower if written out in poor handwriting, says Vanderbilt University education professor Steve Graham. "There is a reader effect that is insidious," he says. "People judge the quality of your ideas based on your handwriting." And the consequences are real: On standardized tests with handwritten sections, like the SAT, an essay deemed illegible gets a big zero.

This isn't only an English-language phenomenon
Chinese and Japanese youths are suffering from "character amnesia," says AFP's Judith Evans. They can't remember how to create letters, thanks to computers and text messaging. In China, the problem is so prevalent, there's a word for it: "Tibiwangzi", or "take pen, forget character." "It's like you're forgetting your culture," says Zeng Ming, 22. So closely are Chinese writing and reading linked in the brain, says Hong Kong University linguist Siok Wai Ting, that China's reading ability as a nation could suffer.

New technology is part of the solution
New touch-screen phones and tablets, like the iPhone and iPad, are providing a countervailing force, translating handwriting into digital letter forms or making writing practice fun (a $1.99 iPhone app called "abc PocketPhonics" rewards kids with "cheering pencils"). In Japan, an iPhone game called kanji kentei — a character quiz with 12 levels — has become a hit with all age groups.

Science may just be catching up with common sense
Heather Horn in The Atlantic Wire says that while all this research is fascinating, it mostly shows that "scientists are finally beginning to explore what writers have long suspected." She notes a 1985 article in the Paris Review in which the interviewer asks novelist Robert Stone if he mostly types his manuscripts. His reply: "Yes, until something becomes elusive. Then I write in longhand in order to be precise. On a typewriter or word processor you can rush something that shouldn't be rushed — you can lose nuance, richness, lucidity. The pen compels lucidity."

Sources: Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Wire, AFP/Reuters

Bringing Islam to Our Campuses

Bringing Islam to Our Campuses
Ali A., IslamicInsights, April 19, 2010
Source

Allow me to start with a few inter-related questions. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word "Shia"? Is it a specific color? Is it a certain "Shia" practice, or tradition, or occasion? Is it some experience you had while growing up? Is it a picture of some iconic "Shia" figure, or some symbol? Perhaps, it may be something totally different. Now, think about what comes to your mind when you hear the word "Muslim"? Is it the same color? How is this image similar or different from the one you have for "Shia"? Similarly, think about the words "Jewish", "Hindu", and "Buddhist".

These questions are meant to draw your attention to a basic anthropological observation. The more visible and ritualistic aspects of a religious tradition – symbols, celebrations, practices, people – usually become the medium through which most followers develop their understanding of the religion itself. These aspects may also become the primary markers of identity for the followers themselves and in the eyes of the outsiders. Traditions, practices, and other outer aspects are a very useful medium to convey deeper religious meanings and also to preserve them. They appeal to multiple levels of human faculties – physical, emotional, rational, spiritual. The problem occurs – and speaking from an Islamic perspective and focusing only on Islam here – when in the minds of the followers the visible and ritualistic aspects become all what Islam is supposed to be, and the followers do not realize their deeper meanings and social implications. Islam, in other words, becomes merely ritualistic or superficial.

A Self-Transformative Approach

The ritualistic Islam is just one among many other kinds of Islam-s out there. Whatever the kind of Islam we understand and practice is what we will bring to our on-campus activism. However, our understandings may or may not be in line with the true essence of Islam. That uncertainty alone is enough reason to warrant, in the first step of any outreach efforts, a careful reconsideration of our Islamic understanding. That brings me to a major point of this piece. Our outreach efforts should be oriented toward a sincere and constant reevaluation and development of our Islamic understanding, and through that process we should define the kind of outreach projects and activities we want to do as organizations or movements.

That reevaluation cannot happen simply by listening to monologues; that further development of Islamic understanding cannot happen if we just think about 'educating others'. They require a different approach, in particular, a discursive space for self-reflective, critical, and constructive engagement. That is what we first need to build within our organizations. Without a constant reevaluation of our Islamic understanding, the choices we make about activities, speakers, and outreach strategies and content may all just reinforce our previously held beliefs.

Having such a discursive space would also allow us to evaluate our activities and strategies on a regular basis. For evaluating the effectiveness of any of our activities, a critical measure should be to see if the members themselves have learnt from that experience. This is a critical element of, what is named here as, the Self-Transformative Approach. Promoting awareness of Islam should not be like teaching physics. I may or may not believe in Quantum Mechanics or String Theory, but I can still teach them in my classes. Islam should not be treated that way. Islam, as I have understood so far, is about "believing" and "doing" and their inseparable connection, but more than that it is a way of "being". It is a journey of self-transformation. Our outreach efforts should also be part of that journey, but they should not become the end in themselves.

Organizing outreach activities – congregational prayers, Du'a Kumail on Thursdays, tabling for promoting Islamic awareness, lecture events, etc. – in themselves cannot be the criterion of our effectiveness and success. Instead, what we gain from those experiences – in terms of increasing our spirituality and social awareness – is how we should evaluate their impact, along with other indicators. (As I write these words, I should ask myself: how does this activity relate to my own journey?) I strongly believe that as we do Islamic outreach with this approach, or method, transforming ourselves and building an environment of sincere learning and activism, we will inevitably impact others around us.

Expanding Our Horizons

A critical factor in this self-transformative approach is the scope of the perspective with which we understand Islam and do Islamic activism. I may lead a discussion on Hajj where I may just focus on the DOs and DONOTs of specific rituals and the places to visit in Mecca and Medina, or I may also delve into the deeper meanings of each and every ritual obligation of Hajj, from declaring the Niyyat (intention) and Tawaf (circumambulation) of Kaaba to the mandatory stay in Arafat and Sacrifice. Similarly, I may read Du'a Kumail and its translation every Thursday evening with friends, yet not reflect on its meaning or relevance. Or, I may also ponder over that one beautiful point toward the end of Du'a Kumail, asking God to turn all of my activities, during day and night, into a constant remembrance of God, and based on that standard define and evaluate my activities, values, career choices, and goals of life. When I organize a food drive, I may just satisfy myself by feeding the poor. Or, I may also take the next step and realize that Islam's socially conscious teachings demand that I ask why the poor is poor and what could be done about various forms of economic and social exploitations which lie at the roots of widespread hunger and poverty. All these examples are meant to elaborate the same point: our perspectives or levels of understanding of Islam have a direct impact on the scope of our activities; hence, the need for constant re-evaluation and expansion of our horizons.

For that reason, it is absolutely essential that we educate ourselves in scholarly literature on religious and contemporary issues. And, just knowing them is not enough. We also need to see what principles and inspirations we can derive from them that could guide our activities. In short, we need to develop an informed perspective (or perspectives) for all of our activities. The "Save Darfur" movement provides a useful illustration, and warning, in this regard. Without doubt tragic injustices occurred in Sudan and needed our immediate attention. A large number of ordinary participants across North America supported the "Save Darfur" movement out of their genuine concerns, humanitarian and religious, but they did not know that the organizers of the movement were intentionally pushing their hideous agenda behind this cause. Mahmood Mamdani of Columbia University has documented the politics of that agenda in detail in his book Saviors and Survivors. In short, as Alan Kuperman summarized in his op-ed in the New York Times (May 31, 2006), instead of helping the cause, the "Save Darfur" movement actually "poured fuel on the fire". It is unfortunate that, still unaware of the organizers' agenda, a majority of ordinary participants continue to support that movement.

An informed understanding of issues and surrounding politics, therefore, is absolutely essential for all activities and causes that we take up on our campuses. In order to build that informed perspective, I emphasize again the need to develop a discursive space for critical dialogue among ourselves and also with scholars – from campus and outside – where we can define and evaluate our principles, strategies, alternatives, and short and long term goals. More examples of issues about which we need to observe similar care include the efforts to promote a positive image of Islam in Euro-American societies, defending pro-justice causes like that of supporting the Palestine cause, talking about gender issues, and presenting various moral and philosophical positions in the name of Islam.

It is quite natural to have doubts and unresolved questions during the college years. Students come across a range of conflicting ideas and questions in their classes, particularly those in social sciences and humanities. Those ideas directly impact their thoughts, outlooks, values, identities, lifestyles, and goals of life. It is very important that our gatherings provide a positive environment to engage those doubts and questions and use those occasions as opportunities for sharing and learning knowledge. Such gatherings, similarly, can help participants reevaluate their culturally constructed ideas of taste, desire, beauty, identity, and aspirations in life, all of which also impact their understanding and practice of Islam.

For example, the discussions and other activities may draw their attention to individual consumer choices and their connection to exploitation of people, cultures, and environment in their own country and other parts of the world. Such activities may also help them to realize the connection between, for example, "perfect body" images in their favorite Disney movies, TV shows, teen magazines, and advertisements and teen's low self-esteem and materialistic attitudes, and, also, how these adverse effects could be countered by re-defining our standards of beauty and adopting simplicity and modesty. The activities may also examine the distorted histories that are taught in classrooms, in different on-campus events, and promoted through celebrations and holidays like Columbus Day, and their connection to reinforcing racism and historical injustices. I feel that such discussions would inevitably have a self-transformative effect on all participants, including the organizers, broadening their understanding of what Islam is about and also its relevance to society. Islamic Insights contains a range of excellent topics and material to engage with in our campus activities. See also an excellent list of discussion topics compiled by SIA Chai-Chats.

We should also encourage our members and participants to gain necessary skills, knowledge, and experiences to advance their understanding, such as, learning relevant languages, studying Islamic and contemporary thought and history from multiple perspectives, and traveling abroad to explore different cultures and meet peoples.

Toward Building A Movement

Any on-campus organization, movement, or community that seeks to promote Islamic awareness cannot be built by just a one-day event or a few events each year. That community has to be developed through regular interactions and purposeful activities among organizers, members, and general participants. The regular activities can give them a sense of belonging, a conducive environment for spiritual and intellectual nourishment, a consistent impetus for social activism and striving for self-improvement, and life-long fraternity and learning opportunity through sustained communication and activism after graduation. We need people who are not only highly educated in different fields but who also have informed perspectives, sincere concerns, and positive identities, in short, those who are on the journey of transforming their "beings". In that process, they will inevitably influence the professional areas and communities that they will join after graduation. Promoting these qualities should be one of the major tasks of our on-campus Islamic activism, and as I have argued in this piece, building that discursive space with a friendly and constructive culture can do a lot of service in this regard.

Based on the above discussion, I hope we can see that doing Islamic activism should not be treated like joining just any other cultural or social organization on campus. Islamic activism demands a constant self-evaluation. Any attempt to change our surrounding has to start from within ourselves; the personal is directly connected to the social. And, our activism should be guided by an informed understanding of Islam and contemporary issues.

A practical concern emerges when we try to establish that conducive culture in our organizations: Start with changing hearts or disciplining actions based on Islamic teachings? A frequent issue that comes up in this debate is that of Hijab. Should we have Hijab as a requirement of membership and participation in our activities; at official forums should we allow members who dress modestly but do not cover themselves in formal Hijab to represent the Islamic cause of our organization; about a policy that asks, as the minimal requirement, not formal Hijab but just adherence to "modesty" (for both males and females), what may be its impact on the overall culture and direction of the organization? I cannot get into the details of this particular issue and the broader debate here, but if I may briefly share my perspective, the two directions do not need to be contradictory or mutually exclusive, and the emphasis on one direction or another can vary with contexts. In the university environment and in many other settings, however, I am inclined to approach Islamic activism with an emphasis on the first direction, not as an instrumental choice or strategy but as an appropriate approach to encourage individual perspective-building and meaningful self-transformation. I take this position with the realization that the outcome of this method may not always turn out to be what I consider is the best action or policy. This last point is further elaborated in the following section.

An Ethics of Engagement

Please consider this discussion as only a prologue, an opening of the discussion on this important topic. I do not directly address the related challenges here. Challenges like how to handle ideological and political differences, how to balance theory and practice in our activities, how to reconcile multiplicity of perspectives and the need for unity in actions, how to engage with non-member Muslims and non-Muslims on campus, how to work with other organizations for common causes without compromising our principles, how to build coordination with other Islamic organizations in different universities, and so on. I must admit that these are difficult questions. But at the same time I believe that these challenges should not undermine the objective need and importance of having that self-reflective, discursive space in our organizations.

Toward addressing some of those challenges it may help if instead of unpacking and confronting each and every challenge through rational discourse we start by reflecting on the method, or the ethics of engagement, for building the said discursive space. The method proposed here is oriented in a form of practice – not just rational dialogue – guided by the core teachings of Islam. It is to embark on the journey of self-transformation and in that process tackle those challenges with humility, sincerity, willingness to learn and share, and putting into practice what we learn and believe. There are risks involved in this attempt too. Among other things, this ethics of engagement would be seen as advancing a particular perspective, at the expense of others and excluding those who do not necessarily subscribe to its standards; this ethics is also a perspective after all. That is a valid question, and one of the challenges for any attempt to theorize our activism.

In engaging with that challenge, I would submit that the propositions presented in this article – or proposal – are meant less as a perspective with specified utopian ends or destination and more as a perspective that tries to outline a process of discovery through self-transformation. These propositions are based on a few principles, or (pre)requisites, which I believe are at the core of Islam, and they are what I propose as that ethics of engagement. Let me explicitly outline those principles so you can evaluate them in your discussions and through practice. The first is spirituality; the second is developing a critical social consciousness and striving for social justice and other humanitarian causes; and the third involves attitudes of sincerity, humility, devotion to learning, and willingness to sacrifice.

As I understand, all of these principles have strong rational and spiritual basis. The first is a universal goal in the teachings of all Abrahamic religious traditions, and, arguably, could be found in other prominent religions too, and may even appeal to those who consider themselves 'spiritual but not religious'. Perhaps the most direct statement of this goal in the Islamic tradition could be found in Sura Ash-Shams (Qur'an 91: 1-10). To purify and develop our "beings" and rise above the 'material' in the quest of limitless transcendental realities is a very common realization and pursuit among sages and saints all throughout history. Spirituality also has deep implications for our "worldly" lives and our assessment of social problems, and for the same reason, it should be part of a perspective for social change – as in adopting spirituality as a lifestyle emphasizing simplicity and modesty to resist hyper-consumerism and materialism. The second principle also has deep resonance in the essential teachings of many major religions. Furthermore, it is a shared principle among many pro-justice, environmental, and humanitarian movements – basically, among all those who, irrespective of their religious or non-religious affiliations, are concerned about miserable conditions of humanity today and realize that there are structural and cultural causes responsible for these miseries. The third principle should be self-evident from the teachings of many major religions and from experience. (The comparisons here are meant to point out the wider applicability and universality of these principles and not to advocate a philosophy of religious pluralism that hinges on moral and cultural relativism. I think that much should be obvious from the very nature of the above principles and the overall discussion in this article.)

If we could all agree upon this minimum standard, as the common denominator, and build from there the culture of our organizations and the scope of our activities, I believe we could address many problems and challenges that we face in our activism. One of the outcome of this (usually gradual) process of transformation of "beings", or consciousness, is that it would align our individual predispositions with each other. The logic of our working together would then transcend from the bond of "agreement on particular issues" or "agree to disagree" to the much stronger bond of sharing common goals and principles and supporting each other in our respective journeys, with humility and sincerity. At the same time, we should not expect that this creative process or practice will always result in a unanimously agreed upon perspective or policy on specific issues.

I hope that the points presented in this proposal contribute to theorizing the method and direction of our on-campus Islamic activisms, from defining and evaluating our strategies and activities to making alliances with other organizations for common causes. The discussed approach and their underlying principles favor a discursive and self-transformative process to encourage meaningful perspective-building and activism, and at the same time, they acknowledge the need for some ground rules and boundaries, in order to address, if in part, the problems of endless arguments, lack of direction, and doing activism without understanding. I hope student activists find this proposal helpful toward building meaningful Islamic movements on university campuses and beyond.

Youth and the issues they face today

A laudable and much needed service for our communities. For details see Muslim Youth Helpline's website.



See another noteworthy initiative here: Children's Islamic Library

Hope other communities can take inspiration from the above two projects. For the library project, I think a further challenge would to be incorporate general educational and recreational material, especially considering the dearth of Islamic educational material in certain areas. The challenge would be to develop the logistics and compile a list of quality material. By 'logistics' I mean general guidelines and review process.

Meri Mehboob Kahin Aur Mila Kar Mujh Se

Sahir's poem on Taj Mahal reminds one of Ali Shariati's On the Plight of the Oppressed People. Like Ali Shariati, Sahir seeks to set standards for beauty and love.

A question that comes to mind: Beauty and Truth, are they two separate things? Could a magnificent monument - be it Taj Mahal, Egyptian Pyramids, large Cathedrals, or extensive Mosques - built on the involuntary sweat and blood of innocent people be ever considered beautiful?

I copy two different translations of the poem below.




Taj Mahal by Sahir Ludhianvi

For you, the Taj may be a monument of love;
you may adore this lovely spot
but, darling,
let's meet somewhere else!

In such royal places,
we-- the poor?
Regal opulence seen every which way,
two poor lovers-- here?
Really out-of-place!

Sweetheart, under this so-called symbol of love,
if only you'd seen the vulgar splurge of opulence.
Charmed you may be by royal mausoleums,
if only you'd thought
of our own dismal homes!

Countless millions are in love;
who can say their emotions aren’t real
just because they, like us, have no means
to put up an advertisement?

These mausoleums, these arrogant forts,
these pillars of royal eminence, these lush gardens:
In these very flowers and vines
runs the blood of our own ancestors, my love.

Don't you think they must also have been in love,
the people whose art and skill
made this monument so beautiful?
They and their loved ones now lie nameless,
in unmarked graves,without a single candle
yet lit for them.

These gardens, by the Jamuna [River],
this palace, the embroidered doors, walls and niches--
that's just how an emperor,
using his wealth and power,
mocks the love between us destitutes.

Could we meet somewhere else, darling ?

Translated by: Riz Rahim

Taj Mahal by Sahir Ludhianvi

The Taj, mayhap, to you may seem, a mark of love supreme
You may hold this beauteous vale in great esteem;
Yet, my love, meet me hence at some other place!

How odd for the poor folk to frequent royal resorts;
‘Tis strange that the amorous souls should tread the regal paths
Trodden once by mighty kings and their proud consorts.
Behind the facade of love my dear, you had better seen,
The marks of imperial might that herein lie screen’d
You who take delight in tombs of kings deceased,
Should have seen the hutments dark where you and I did wean.
Countless men in this world must have loved and gone,
Who would say their loves weren’t truthful or strong?
But in the name of their loves, no memorial is raised
For they too, like you and me, belonged to the common throng.

These structures and sepulchres, these ramparts and forts,
These relics of the mighty dead are, in fact, no more
Than the cancerous tumours on the face of earth,
Fattened on our ancestor’s very blood and bones.
They too must have loved, my love, whose hands had made,
This marble monument, nicely chiselled and shaped
But their dear ones lived and died, unhonoured, unknown,
None burnt even a taper on their lowly graves.

This bank of Jamuna, this edifice, these groves and lawns,
These carved walls and doors, arches and alcoves,
An emperor on the strength of wealth,
Has played with us a cruel joke.
Meet me hence, my love, at some other place.

Translation by: K.C. Kanda

On Rumors

Here is another interesting article from Psychology Today. This is the first time I have come across with this magazine. The articles in it seem to be of mixed quality. Especially, I have problem with how they essentialize males and females - their desires, attitudes, behavior - without giving consideration to the variations within and across ethnic and cultural groups.

However, the below one and the other one which I copied in the previous post seem quite interesting. This one is especially relevant to how we construct the social reality around us.

The 8½ Laws of Rumor Spread
Some rumors grind to a halt, while others circle the world. Why some ideas spread and others die.
By Taylor Clark, Psychology Today, Nov/Dec 2008

If I'm not gullible and you're not gullible, how come some improbable stories take a long time to die?

...

Most of us don't like to think of ourselves as gullible. But we're especially likely to accept as true—and do our best to spread—tales that have several specific characteristics that take aim at our best defenses.

At its core, a rumor is just an unverified scrap of information we pass among ourselves to make sense of the world. In one case study conducted at Ohio University by psychologist Mark Pezzo, students had heard that someone on campus had died of meningitis. The story spread because the anxious students were trying to find out what was going on: "Is the rumor true?" "How do you get meningitis?" "I heard that everyone on campus will need to have a painful spinal tap, did you hear that?" In the marketplace of misinformation, fit rumors survive and spread like epidemics, while unfit rumors die quick deaths. So what separates the fit from the unfit? What, in short, are the laws of effective rumors?

1: Successful rumors needle our anxieties and emotions.

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, water wasn't the only thing that flooded the city. In the environment of intense anxiety and uncertainty, grim rumors flourished: Sharks have infested the water! Terrorists planted bombs in the levees! Murdered babies and piles of corpses filled the Superdome!

Unfortunately, the national media reported many of the rumors as fact—especially after a misinformed Mayor Ray Nagin told talk show hosts like Oprah Winfrey that "hundreds of armed gang members" were killing and raping at will inside the dome. Yet once the crisis began to abate, investigators found that almost all of the widely circulated stories were false. FEMA doctors even showed up at the Superdome with a refrigerated 18-wheeler to cart away the hundreds of dead bodies rumored. They found six—none of them a homicide victim.

So why did these stories pop up? Fear breeds rumor. The more collective anxiety a group has, the more inclined it will be to start up the rumor mill. As Rochester Institute of Technology rumor expert Nicholas DiFonzo explains, we pass rumors around primarily as a means of deciphering scary, uncertain situations: Exchanging information, even if it's ludicrously false, relieves our unease by giving us a sense that we at least know what's happening. "One major function of rumors is to figure out the facts and find what the appropriate, adaptive thing to do is. Look at 9/11. I don't ever remember feeling so threatened as I did after 9/11, and people used rumors to try to manage the threat."

Thus when 9/11 left people terrified and searching for answers, they heard a horde of alarming (and completely false) rumors—that terrorists had injected anthrax into one of every five cans of Pepsi, that no Jews showed up to work at the World Trade Center on 9/11 because they knew about the attacks beforehand. (In fact, about 15 percent of those who died in the attacks were Jewish.)

Very few of the tales were positive, because we're naturally more inclined to pass on negative information. "As humans, we have a tendency to weight negative information more," says Helen Harton, a psychology professor at the University of Northern Iowa. "It makes evolutionary sense. It's more important to know how to avoid a tiger than to know where a field of nice flowers is."

Of course, most of us don't have to worry about tiger attacks anymore, but we do dread things like layoffs at work. So we toss rumors back and forth to figure out what's really up.

2: Rumors stick if they're somewhat surprising but still fit with our existing biases.

If you ever open endlessly forwarded e-mails, you're probably familiar with at least one notorious malapropism from President George W. Bush: "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for 'entrepreneur.'" Or this embarrassing gem from the pop starlet Mariah Carey: "When I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean, I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." Can you believe they actually said these things?

Well, don't. Both quips were made up by pranksters. Even so, they enjoyed viral spread for the simple reason that both are juicy enough to be shocking—yet not so far-fetched that we doubt the two parties could have uttered them. They confirm what many already believe—that Bush is, let's say, not quite firing on all cylinders, and that Carey is a vain diva—without setting off too many common-sense alarms.

In short, we're primed to accept them. As Mikkelson explains, "These stories get in under our radar because they click in with what we already believe, or want to believe." If you already think liberals are waging a war on religion, you'll be more likely to buy 2008's (untrue) rumor that the new dollar coins omit the customary "In God We Trust." (It's printed along the side.) If you buy the idea that too much money unhinges people from reality, you might believe the story that Tiger Woods rented a mansion for the 2007 U.S. Open, moved everything out, and flew in all of his own furniture so he would feel at home during the four-day tournament.

Even when presented with evidence refuting a rumor, we often stick to our biases. A 2007 University of Maryland study found that only 3 percent of Pakistanis believe Al Qaeda was responsible for 9/11. "It's difficult for them to accept that Al Qaeda, their fellow Muslims, could have perpetrated these acts," says DiFonzo.

3: Easily swayed people are more important than influential people in passing on a rumor.

In the mid-1970s, the Life Savers Company introduced a product that revolutionized the way kids chewed gum: Bubble Yum. Before it came along, you had to work on a piece of gum for ages to make it soft enough to blow bubbles. But Bubble Yum was squishy right out of the wrapper. It was the perfect gum… maybe a little too perfect, kids thought. What was making it so soft? Soon, the obvious answer presented itself: spider eggs. Bubble Yum was made with spider eggs.

This bit of schoolyard conjecture became ironclad truth with staggering speed, sending Bubble Yum's sky-high sales into a tailspin. Within 10 days of first getting wind of the rumor, Life Savers executives commissioned surveys that revealed "well over half" of New York area children had already heard it.

The spider egg story didn't zoom from kid to kid so quickly because of well-connected playground information magnates or influential adolescent gum mavens, but because kids are credulous, and credulous people make rumors go. "It's your willingness to pass things along that matters, not necessarily how much status or respect you have," says Duncan Watts, a sociologist who researches information spread for Yahoo. Kids will believe almost anything (another long-lived schoolyard rumor claimed the "Mikey likes it" Life cereal kid died after a mixture of soda and Pop Rocks made his stomach explode), and thus rumors run rampant in schools. But the same is true of gullible adults: They're the ones who really fuel rumors.

4: The more you hear a rumor, the more you'll buy it—even if you're hearing that it's false.

According to a poll, 11 percent of Americans believe the rumor that Barack Obama is secretly a radical Muslim who refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance and was sworn into the Senate on the Qur'an (and probably hates mom and apple pie as well). The myth that he is a Muslim is so pervasive that The New Yorker could satirize it on a cover depicting a cheery new prez Obama hanging out in the White House in full Islamic garb—with an American flag burning in the fireplace and a portrait of Osama bin Laden on the wall.

But if the hyper-liberal New Yorker was trying to expose the absurdity of the rumor, someone probably should have talked to Mark Pezzo first. Even hearing that a rumor is bunk, he observes, tends to plant it deeper in your mind. "No question, the more you hear something—even the same thing from the same person—the more you believe it," says Pezzo. "Politicians know all about this; the more I heard about weapons of mass destruction, the more believable they seemed to me. Even a denial can be a repetition of a rumor." (Just ask Senator John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential bid sunk thanks to whispers about his swift-boat service in Vietnam—even though most of the media stories were about how the rumors were false.)

What's more, repeating a rumor can also make people believe it came from a credible source. In one Stanford study, the more subjects heard a rumor about dried rat urine on Pepsi cans, the more likely they were to attribute the information to Consumer Reports rather than to The National Enquirer.

5: Rumors reflect the zeitgeist.

Every fall, right around mid-September, Barbara Mikkelson starts receiving urgent reports of a grisly new trend in gang initiations. Prospective gang members are driving around in the evening with their headlights intentionally turned off, the story says, and when a well-intentioned motorist flashes his brights at them, the would-be gang member has to follow the car home and kill everyone inside. SO NEVER FLASH YOUR LIGHTS THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU LOVE!

It's always in mid-September that the rumor resurfaces. "That's when you first have to start thinking about putting your headlights on when you're coming home from work," she explains. "Headlights are on people's minds. That's why you never hear it in the dead of winter or the height of summer."

Rumors have the greatest chance of multiplying when the topic is something people are already pondering. As University of British Columbia psychologist Mark Schaller points out, "What matters is a match between the nature of the information and the goals of the people who are trafficking that information." So what's on our minds lately?

The election of 2008, and the thousand plausible and implausible tales swirling around the candidates. Among the best ones: As a Navy pilot, John McCain executed a "wet start" (a maneuver that involves flooding your fighter plane's engine with fuel so that starting up unleashes a huge and macho burst of flame) so reckless that he actually set an aircraft carrier on fire. Then there's the one about how Barack Obama has been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan—they're tricky, those Klansmen.

6: Sticky rumors are simple and concrete.

Examine your stockpile of offbeat conventional wisdom: It takes seven years for swallowed gum to pass through the body. We only use 10 percent of our brains. The Great Wall of China can be seen from space. People swallow eight spiders a year in their sleep.

These tidbits are all simple and specific, with a vivid detail that sticks in the mind. They're also false. But they illustrate the point that tangible, easily graspable tales have an excellent chance of catching on. "Complicated ideas are not that spreadable," says Duncan Watts. "Ideas with content, when they do spread, lose their content." Rumors work just like a game of telephone; after they've been transmitted a few times, the details get lost and the message grows simpler.

According to Mikkelson, the spider-swallowing rumor got its start when a columnist for PC Professional wrote a story bemoaning our tendency to believe every harebrained factoid in mass e-mails; the writer made up the statistic as an example of the kind of ludicrous thing credulous people will, um, swallow. In time, the fact that it was a joke got lost in transmission, and now millions live in fear of sleeping with their mouth open.

The principle of concreteness also helps spread urban legends (which are rumors presented in story form, usually as something that happened to a friend's ex-girlfriend's mechanic's second cousin). Ever heard the tale of the guy who accepts a drink from a stranger at a bar, then wakes up in a tub full of ice, one kidney poorer? How about the one where the woman tries to dry out her wet lap dog by putting it in the microwave? Chances are, you remembered those tall tales because a visceral image—fingering your stitches in an ice-filled tub, watching a live dog sizzle in a microwave—got lodged in your mind.

"Urban legends survive only if they conjure up very visual or very tactile images," says Chip Heath, a Stanford business professor who studies idea spread. "Our brains are wired to remember concrete, sensory things better than abstract things." For example, if researchers give people lists of words to memorize and then recall later, the tangible ones ("apple," "pencil") will spring to mind more often than the conceptual ones ("truth," "justice").

7: Rumors that last are difficult to disprove.

Ever wonder why even the craziest legends and conspiracy theories never seem to die? Why do people still believe there's a giant prehistoric reptile prowling Loch Ness, even though innumerable hours of investigation have produced zero proof of such a creature? Well, it's a pretty big lake: How can we be sure she's not in there? It's tough to disprove the idea definitively.

As DiFonzo explains, a rumor like "On Thursday's Late Show, David Letterman's hairpiece fell off!" doesn't work, because people can check it out and easily find evidence it didn't happen. But a rumor like "I heard David Letterman's hairpiece fell off during a show, but they destroyed all the tapes!"—that's more like it.

Persistent rumors tend to have what Chip Heath calls a "testable credential," some element that can be misconstrued to give the story a whiff of credibility. "Rumors very often have a little truth test that people can run," he explains. "There was a rumor in the San Francisco Bay Area in the '90s that Snapple supports the KKK. You turned the label around, and you saw a capital letter K with a circle around it. People were doing that test, and then all of a sudden this seemingly preposterous rumor becomes more plausible." (For the record, Snapple bottles do bear the K—the symbol for "kosher"—as do thousands of other drinks and food products.)

8: We are eager to believe bad things about people we envy.

Is there anyone in America who hasn't heard about Richard Gere and the gerbil? The story goes something like this. Gere checked himself into Cedars-Sinai Hospital in California complaining of intestinal pain and rectal bleeding. When doctors investigated, they found Gere's beloved pet gerbil Tibet, shaved, declawed, and dead, lodged in Gere's rectum—the result of "gerbilling," a sexual practice common among gay men. So doctors performed an emergency gerbilectomy on Gere. The gerbil was removed—but the story stuck.

Needless to say, none of this ever happened. Gere was never admitted to the hospital for rectal bleeding, and "gerbilling" is not a sexual practice at all, among gay men or anyone else. Gerbils aren't even legal in California (for agricultural reasons, not sexual ones). Like most rumors about celebrities, its origin is unknown, but we do know the rumor hit a tipping point in the 1980s after a hoaxster, claiming to be from the ASPCA, flooded Hollywood fax machines with a bogus press alert about Gere's putative "gerbil abuse."

Celebrities are easy targets for sordid tales. An almost equally widespread rumor is the one about the lead singer of New Kids on the Block being rushed to the emergency room, where doctors pumped his stomach and removed more than a gallon of semen he'd swallowed during an orgy of oral sex. The details vary: Sometimes the quantity of ejaculate is reported as one gallon, sometimes 10. Sometimes the substance removed is human semen; other times it's dog semen. The rumor has variously featured Rod Stewart, Elton John, David Bowie, Marc Almond, Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol, Jeff Beck, Jon Bon Jovi, Alanis Morrissette, Li'l Kim, Foxy Brown, Britney Spears, and Fiona Apple. But the basic story stays the same.

Once someone hits a certain level of celebrity and adulation, it seems, the mill starts to churn automatically—and the more beautiful and successful the star, the more depraved the rumors. Jamie Lee Curtis is a hermaphrodite. Cher (or Janet Jackson) had a rib removed so she'd look skinnier. Catherine the Great died trying to make love to a horse.

What is it about celebrity rumors that makes them spread so widely and stick so hard? Part of it is good old-fashioned schadenfreude. "People pass along rumors that they, on some level, tend to agree with, if there's something in the story that they identify with, that they want to be true," says Mikkelson. "We envy celebrities, and it's just human nature to pull down what has been raised so high."

Richard Gere is so annoyingly handsome that we want to believe he's really a sicko or otherwise flawed. Girls were so taken by the New Kids on the Block that men longed to believe they were actually secret gay dog fellators.

The easiest way to tarnish the reputation of a male heartthrob is to undermine his masculinity and suggest he's not interested in women at all—but rather, men, gerbils, or dogs. Which is why gay rumors have plagued so many handsome Hollywood leading men, from Tom Cruise to Johnny Depp to Orlando Bloom. "Saying that so-and-so good-looking male actor is gay is seen as pulling him down a peg or two," explains Mikkelson. "It's like, well, he may be attractive to women, but he's not attracted to women—so there!"

The Ninth Law

We might also postulate a final law of rumor survival: Sometimes, there is no "why." Often, we tell remarkable tales to build relationships or show off our yarn-spinning prowess—not necessarily because we think they're true.

And hey, sometimes they are true. Research by DiFonzo and Prashant Bordia, of the University of South Australia, has found that in groups with an established hierarchy—like large offices—the scuttlebutt you hear about company affairs is around 95 percent accurate.

"Every Halloween, you hear the rumors about people putting razors in apples and giving them to trick-or-treaters," DiFonzo says. "Actually, my own family had an experience where my wife found a sewing needle embedded in a piece of our kids' Halloween candy. I know, it sounds crazy—the rumor expert believes a rumor. Don't tell anyone."

Consumption as a Lifestyle

While reading the article, Today's Consumption in Egypt by Mona Abaza, I could not help but notice again and again the parallels between the changes that have already happened in Egypt more than a decade ago and the rapid social changes happening in Pakistan today. Thanks, in part, to the neo-liberal economic reforms and opening up of our markets to multi-national corporations. This article focuses on only the consumption facet of these changes.

Consider this. In order to sell your products you need to have a certain demand for them in Pakistan. You create this demand by promulgating a certain lifestyle 'with a modern feel to it', you target certain segments of the population which have aspirations to become "modern" and can spend. You make their wants their needs and give them loans and credit cards for the immediate gratification of their desires. See these recent ads: ‘Pepsi’ here, ‘Capri’ here, ‘Jazz Share’ here, ‘Credit Card’ here. Good or bad, we can decide that later, but first, it is necessary to understand what is happening to Pakistani society.

I should also point out that my comparison (extrapolation) here is limited to mostly the middle classes in the urban areas in Pakistan. The rich always had these consumption trends. For the poor, these changes only increase their desires and frustration. See my notes at the bottom.

Image: Park Towers Mall in Karachi.

Excerpts from the article:

The New Consumption Trends

"During the last decade Cairo has witnessed a flowering of shopping malls, ATM and mobile phone use, resort-style recreation, and fast-food consuming, all of which represent a radical departure from previous Egyptian consumer habits. These new behaviours symbolize Egypt’s increasing integration into the world capitalist system, if not its growing participation in multiple dimensions of globalization.

"For those of us who grew up in Egypt during the era of Gamal Abdel Nasser in the sixties, we can still recall seeing in our households locally produced consumer durables from the Ideal national company. The stoves, refrigerators, metal cupboards, beds, and desks, while aesthetically unattractive, were functional.

"Sadat’s shift of alliance from the Soviet Union to the Western world in the early seventies was followed by the policy of the “open door,” or privatization at the expense of the “public sector” state monopolized large-scale industries. The shift from the Nasserite “state capitalist” era to full integration into the world capitalist system went hand in hand with encouraging consumerism and new lifestyles among Egyptians.

"Cairo alone boasts twenty-four shopping malls, all of which were constructed since 1989, Yamama Center being the first. They have even appeared in the most remote villages of the Egyptian Delta. Cairo´s supermarkets such as the French mega-store Carrefour, offer everything one can imagine, from household items, food, beverages to readymade home-delivered meals. ATM cards, almost unheard of some ten years ago, are becoming popular and ATM users are expected to reach around 10, 000 in the next ten years. The acquisition of mobile phones has risen significantly from 200,000 in 1999 to 4.9 million subscribers today, spurring increasing numbers of thefts and pickpockets of mobile phones. The newly created shopping malls, super hypermarkets, and mega-stores in Egypt are indicative of the dramatic transformation of consumption habits.

"Fancy restaurants and bars carrying ostentatious names like: La Bodega, Le Morocco, Le Peking, The Cellar, Justine, Villa Rosa, Cortigiani, Le Bistro Provencale, Sangria, Blues, and Casablanca are also multiplying. For the special occasion of Ramadan international five-star hotels like the Hilton, Marriott and Sheraton compete to offer the best iftars (the meal signifying the breaking of the fast) and traditional Ramadan evenings with oriental cuisine buffets, patchwork tents, shishas (water pipes) and entertainment that might even include whirling dervishes. The coffee shop culture has also become popular for middle class Egyptians. It would be erroneous to believe that this emerged only in the last decade. In fact, the sixties’ bourgeoisie had already adopted the café culture of the pre-Nasserite elite. Simonds of Zamalek, an Italian inspired coffee shop, had been the “in” place during the sixties competing with downtown cafés like Groppi, Lapas, the Indian Tea House, which were frequented mainly by Cairo’s elderly. These spaces were typical beau monde for parading and showing off. Today, the new coffee houses—and they are plenty—offer a mid-way solution for the younger generation of yuppies who can afford to pay for an over-priced drink, croissant, or a sandwich. Middle class Egyptians have in recent years been exposed to the culture of breakfasting on croissants, espresso and cappuccino’s, just as they have learned to eat Japanese, Italian, Thai, Indian, Iranian, and Lebanese food, thanks to the proliferation of restaurants that serve international cuisine.

"Leisure resorts, secondary residences, and walled and gated communities, such as Qattamiyya Heights and Beverley Hills, have multiplied in Egypt. Advertisements sell a simulated dream of grandiose villas located in new, mainly desert, communities outside the city. They are incorporated in larger condominium complexes that might include a swimming pool, a fitness centre, and, the ultimate, a golf course. In other words, everything that leads to a healthy, luxurious, and suburban life, the counter image to the rotting polluted old Cairo.

Young and Restless!

"Youngsters now have a number of affordable ways to spend time. They could go to the numerous internet cafes, bowling alleys, cinemas, or air-conditioned fast food chains, which are available both, in shopping malls, or as independent spaces. Discotheques and night clubs cater largely to the richer strata. Travel to the Far East has become an exotic tourist destination for the Egyptian rich who discover Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore; international music is widely available, and Arabic music video-clips are becoming increasingly hybridized. Popular satellite channels transmit programs with a “mixing” of, for instance, Indian and Thai dances and landscapes, Egyptian and Gulf young singers, and European and North American tastes and music.

Fulfillment or Frustration?

"Does intruding consumer culture, together with its simulative aspect for the poor, serve as an accommodative element with the galloping inflation and growing poverty? Would window shopping and aimless flanerie be sufficient replacements for consuming? Does window shopping, in other words, fulfill dreams or increase frustration? Or, as many have asked, can new consumer possibilities lead to forms of democratization? For example, do mobile phones carry a democratizing effect since, after all, “everybody” can own one? Today porters, maids, cooks, lower grade employees, and taxi drivers carry mobiles. Admittedly, mobile phones have facilitated communication and made life easier for the lower classes who might not even have home phone lines in their shanty housing areas. Mobiles are no longer a luxury item.

After the Egyptian pound was floated in 2003 and led to a nearly 40% inflation, many ask for how long more can the government hold power? One could argue that these sanitized and modern spaces, like shopping ma ls, serve merely as “clean air conditioned” spaces for escaping the crowded streets of Cairo, flirting, time spending, and possibly, shop lifting according to the recurring complaints of the managers of these malls. But today more than ever, the distinction between the haves and have-nots is flagrantly displayed; the boasting of wealth through consumerism can only sharpen class differences.

Observers acknowledge that the main opposition and forthcoming actors in the political arena will be the Islamists. Would these rising social actors adopt an accommodative attitude towards consumer culture or reject it as a form of West-toxication? The example of the young, new-age style preacher Amr Khaled reflects rather that for young middle class Egyptians most likely, a happy marriage between religion and consumer culture is in the making."

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The article makes it clear, but I want to emphasize again: I do not mean to imply in any way that in Pakistan we just do blind imitation of the West. Rather, we do what I like to call a "creative adoption" of things from the West, from India, and elsewhere (See this for an illustration). We observe things, we engage with them with our creative imagination, and then re-interpret them while giving it a local flavor in the adoption process. Our professionals educated in marketing psychology, business management, arts and media, economics, journalism, etc. consume and reproduce these trends in media and other avenues. "Can iftaar dinner be complete without Pepsi?" you hear that in ads during Ramazan. And love Pepsi as you sing "Dil Dil Pakistan"! Or, "Let's re-discover our cultural heritage" and "It's a form of art" which some channels use to wrap vulgarity and sell the viewers to products. The 'commercialization of culture' has many other problems too.

In addition to macro economic changes and the expansion of middle classes in Pakistan in the recent years, there are other internal and external factors that are crucial for any understanding what is happening to the society in Pakistan. For example, the education structure (schools, college, universities, professional institutes) has lengthen the duration of schooling for young people, and along with other social and economic factors, has expanded what we call the adolescence age between childhood and adulthood. You did not have this gap that much in agriculture based communities of our past, where a child would directly enter into adulthood, once he/she is able to work in the field/house, has attained puberty, and therefore, the logical next step was to get married, which was also a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. That is not happening anymore, in the newly expanded middle classes. The new age group of adolescence is a reality today, but there is a vacuum of productive roles and activities for this age group (in our community especially), and this vacuum is being filled by the new lifestyle and consumption habits promulgated by media and other social outlets, as described above. Change is not bad in itself; it is good or bad depending on who is leading the change and in what direction. More on this some other time, inshallah.

Another quick thought. A trend is often observed in the newly expanded middle and upper classes in Pakistan: to show off their class status through spending and consumption, of a certain lifestyle, in housing, and on social occasions. Those that live in Pakistan know about the 'dekha dekhi' trend. Yet they are also familiar with the trend of aspiring to appear unique. (These tendencies are of course not limited to Pakistan. Materialism exists everywhere.). The struggle for uniqueness in weddings is an example - from the selection of invitation cards to the selection and decoration of the wedding hall, to the kind of food and how it is served, to what kind of make-up and dress the bride (and bridegroom) wears, and what kind of car does she comes in and leaves!

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Click on the tag/label “Materialism” (right column on top) to find other related posts in this blog.

Umrao Jan Ada's Pakistan

If you know Urdu and are in touch with Pakistani culture and media, you must know how popular the serialized TV plays are in Pakistan. You might have heard about a recent serialized television play called Umrao Jan Ada, which was aired on Geo TV in 2003. The serial was based on Mirza Hadi Ruswa's early twentieth century Urdu novel with the same title.

In what follows, are excerpts from an article, entitled "The Courtesans in the Living Room," by Kamran Ali, published in the ISIM Review in Spring 2005. The article analyzes the politics behind the recuperation of the Umrao Jan Ada story from the past by the predominantly liberal media for the purpose of influencing the contemporary moral discourse in Pakistan. The below analysis shows that media does more than merely reflecting the ground reality; it actively seeks to construct and mold public opinion in certain directions. The analysis in this article also provides a good example to explore the broader secular-liberal politics in the social and political spheres of the Pakistani society, especially, during the past few years of "enlightenment". I hinted at this politics in an earlier post where I talked about the 'discovery' of Bulleh Shah by our pop culture.

Before you read the excerpts, please do note that my intension in this post is to just highlight the liberal politics and the role of media. I do not intend to get into a discussion about the merits or problems of liberal notions of liberation, justice, and tolerance, and in contrast, what may be the alternative ways of looking at women's status and problems in Pakistan. Also, below is not a summary of the abovementioned article; I am only focusing only on certain aspects.

The Courtesans

"The courtesan (tawaif) has been a stock character in popular South Asian literature and movies. Indeed the “fallen woman” is universal in its appeal among readers of pulp and highbrow fiction. Yet in Pakistani films and literature the courtesan’s character remains intertwined in a morality play and almost always achieves a tragic end (mostly commits suicide), repents for her “wayward” behaviour or, extremely rarely, becomes a sharif bibi (respectable woman), which for a courtesan may be akin to a social death. In contrast, in Rusva’s novel the protagonist not only survives, but becomes a respectable poet and a wealthy patron of art without renouncing her past profession. In this sense the novel is unique in its empathetic treatment of courtesan culture.

"These interventions do put forward an argument for re-evaluating the space of sex workers in contemporary Pakistani society; Geo TV’s initiative can be understood as an extension of this thematic interest in courtesan life by liberal intellectuals. This opening allows Geo to produce Umrao in a country where extra marital sex legally remains a crime against the state and where memories of severe punishment for sexual liaisons under the Hudood Ordinance of the Zia-ul Haq era in the 1980s still resonate among the populace. Unlike the modest reach of the above-mentioned academic works, Geo’s production brought courtesan life into domestic spaces (50 million of 150 million Pakistanis have access to TV) as it also intervened into a debate on morality, sexuality, and gender politics in present day Pakistan. Why, one might ask, have Pakistan’s liberal intelligentsia and feminists chosen at this juncture to depict the life-world of the prostitute and the figure of the courtesan as metaphors to argue for sexual freedom and women’s autonomy?

Inside the Kotha

"As Umrao grows up accomplished in the various skills of courtesan life, she is much sought after by many members of the elite that frequent the kotha. She is eventually “given” for the first time to a respectable Nawab who retains the exclusive right to her company and maintains her through gifts and cash. This man becomes the first of many with whom Umrao is shown to, within the parameters of Pakistan’s censors, have a sustained sexual relationship. There are many twists and turns in the story, but Umrao is always characterized as an extremely sympathetic person — a victim of circumstances beyond her control — with whom the audience can empathize and identify. Periodically the play does remind us that Umrao is a courtesan (with its contemporary connotation of a prostitute) and hence allows for the audience to create a distance from her guilt-free sexual relationships. Yet despite the techniques that the director uses to distance us from the protagonist’s assertive sexual practices—perhaps to satisfy the censor—the audience is constantly exposed to and remains engrossed in Umrao’s various relationships.

In addition, life in the kotha itself is portrayed in extremely women friendly terms. There is camaraderie among the younger women in the household and the audience gets the sense of a caring family. The strongest person in the entire household is the chief courtesan, Khanum, who rules over the household as a deft diplomat who has the power of coercion always at her disposal. The interesting aspect of this household is the secondary and dependent nature of the men. In traditional kothas, as depicted in the serial, men occupied the more subservient roles of servants, doormen, musicians, and instructors. Men, of course, were also wealthy patrons and benefactors. But even they, within this domain, deferred to the immense power that these women wielded in their own space and treated the courtesans as equals.

A Liberal Fantasy of What "Tolerant Islam" Should Look Like

"Further, in contrast to Pakistan’s recent history of rising Islamic radicalism and the Islamization process of the Zia era, the play seeks to display a much more tolerant atmosphere not only in terms of gender relationships, but also in its depiction of Islamic authority. There is a retainer in the kotha, Moulvi Saheb, who is married to the main female servant in the household. Moulvi Saheb teaches Umrao the Quran and religion, literature, and morals. He is portrayed as a man of religion, yet accepts the lifestyle of his surroundings with ease and grace. Similarly, in one episode Umrao runs away with her paramour and ends up in an unknown village after being abandoned. Here she finds the shaykh of the local mosque who generously gives her shelter and then helps her to establish herself as a local courtesan with her own kotha and clientele. These portrayals use the midnineteenth century Muslim society in North India, and its imagined tolerant social space where religious leaders and courtesans could co-exist, to implicitly critique the moral and theological extremism of contemporary life.

The Politics

"The choice of Umrao Jan Ada to argue for women’s liberation and religious tolerance is an intriguing one. Historically modernist Muslim reformers of late nineteenth century opposed Nawabi culture, of which courtesan life was an integral part. Post-1857 Muslim reformers like the author Nazir Ahmed, Sayed Ahmed, the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, and the poet Altaf Husein Hali (inlcluding Deobandi religious reformers) in their writings argued against the extravagance, impiety, and ignorance of the Nawabi era, which according to them was the cause of Muslim backwardness. In contrast they advocated the pursuit of knowledge, piety, and restraint.

"It appears that the female director and script writer of Umrao sought to make an implicit argument against those tendencies of Muslim reformist thought, whether secular or religious (Deobandi), that asked women to distance themselves from the realm of custom which was deemed superstitious, un-Islamic, and irrational. This reformism indeed aided some women to gain more rights within the emerging middle-class household. For example, literacy skills along with modes of reformed behaviour did open spaces for women to articulate their rights in marriage and property. Yet, these gains were at the cost of losing separate spheres of female activity that were condemned by the modern reformists as the realm of the nafs, the area of lack of control and disorder. The creators of this play through their depiction of female spaces, use the mid-nineteenth century milieu to invoke this sense of disorder/sexual themes and link it to an older oral tradition of women’s narrative construction and other forms of popular performances—the arena of reformist attack—to make a more contemporary case for women’s emancipation and equity.

In invoking this past the producers present an alternative narrative of custom, traditional space, and Muslim religious practice. This move to reinvent the past as tolerant and inclusive is linked to a liberal political agenda that is in opposition to an earlier generation of modernist thinkers. Using late-nineteenth century North India as a backdrop, this serial confronts the more homogenizing elements of Islamic politics in Pakistani society; a major political task for liberals in present day Pakistan. The play’s implicit portrayal of a more tolerant and inclusive national entity interestingly enough also relates to President General Musharraf’s propagated rhetoric of a modern, moderate, and Muslim Pakistan. This resonance perhaps allows liberal intellectuals the space to use media outlets to promote agendas of diverse freedoms and tolerance without the fear of state censorship. The long-term implications of this tentative cultural alliance between liberals and the Military junta require a detailed discussion and analysis that cannot be provided here. However, in conclusion I would raise another politically important question that the liberal intelligentsia rarely confronts. As issues of gender equity and tolerant Islam are emphasized in the play, the idiom of this discussion remains within the parameters of high Urdu culture. In this play as in others, the depiction of late nineteenth century North Indian life is depicted as Pakistani Muslim culture and in doing so remains oblivious to extremely vital issues of cultural and linguistic diversity within Pakistan.

The Question of Diversity

"Since Pakistan’s independence in 1947, Urdu’s dominance of the cultural center has bred a sense of exclusion among other linguistic groups (Pashtun, Sindhi, Punjabi, Baluch, among others) hindering the emergence of a national culture that democratically includes the diverse voices and languages present in Pakistani cultural spectrum. Where Geo’s Umrao Jan Ada tackles the issue of female emancipation using North Indian ashraf (respectable Muslim elite) culture, it addresses an audience that is also culturally steeped in other traditions, vernaculars, and cultural ethos. The imposition of nineteenth century high Urdu culture, though in this case ostensibly well meaning, retains within it the hegemonic aspect of centralizing state projects of cultural homogeneity which have continued to undermine the rights of the various linguistic and cultural groups that constitute Pakistan. In this sense the liberal feminist agenda in its attempt to re-interpret “tradition” and Muslim social practice in South Asia, may still be entangled in modernist projects where experiences of specific linguistic groups who have a longer urban history (as in the case with Urdu speakers) takes precedence over practices of other ethnicities. A more inclusive cultural politics may yet require a sensitivity toward the diverse histories of the various peoples who inhabit Pakistan."

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Insightful and provocative, isn't it! I won't comment any further on the above analysis, but would like to point to a useful sociological framework to evaluate the abovementioned politics.

The above analysis helps us identify the different players/groups competing in, what Bourdieu would call, the "cultural field". They each bring their "habitus" (outlook, cultural values, practices) and their capital (ability to influence) to dominate the field. The players in this case are the liberals, the reformist-Islamists, the traditionalists, and the non-Urdu-speaking groups. Depending on a group's capital, as well as support from the adjacent fields (of political and economic, among others), a group is able to gain dominance in the cultural field, if only for sometime. Other groups keep exerting their opposition to resist this dominance, so the dominant group has to continuously invest its energies to maintain its dominance. In the cultural field, it would be through continuously shaping public opinion and cultural discourse.

Now, if we place the different players of the Pakistani cultural politics in this framework, we can see how certain groups were dominant under Zia-ul Haq's regime and how others are under Musharraf's blessings. And how in each episode, the dominant group tried to re-write history and shape cultural discourse, through all available means of reaching out to the people. Print and electronic news and entertainment media is one example. Re-writing textbooks and formation of education boards with set agendas under both regimes is another.

This framework should also help us analyze the competition surrounding the very existential question for Pakistan for the last sixty years: What is Pakistan's identity, who should we - the Pakistanis - identify with in our cultural outlook and practices, or should we have our own unique culture, but who would determine that culture and on what basis, and why should others allow one person or group to do this determination for all others?!!

IT TAKES A VILLAGE: COMMUNITY AND THE CHALLENGES OF THE TIME

“It takes a village to raise a child,” says an African proverb. That is, the parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, elders, religious leaders, in sum, the entire community nurtures a child. The saying may have evoked an image of an African village in your mind where a child grows up playing with friends in the neighborhood. The child participates in religious rituals and celebrations, learns to read and write with peers, and helps the elders in the field or market. And through this experience develops his/her personality, world outlook, social roles, skills, desires and expectations.

This adage is equally applicable to our complex life in modern cities. However, you can also add the modern forms of socialization like modern education, mass culture, media, internet and other such elements of our modern lives to the list of factors that nurture our children and youth. In fact, these modern forms of socialization play a major role in this nurturing. Today our children spend a good part of their day time in school, with their friends, and in front of TV, videogames, and internet, which if you count is more than the time they spend with their parents. How good or bad is it? I leave that discussion for another occasion. But to make a quick comment here: when the motive becomes maximizing profits in any institution, be they the media or schools, you cannot expect your children to be treated like innocent beings to love and nurture rather they are seen as consumers to sell products and make profit of, in one way or another.

This is where a community’s role becomes very important. For it can create the conditions – culture and institutions - to ensure the development of the whole child. Not just the education part, but also in terms of nourishing cultural values, spirituality, positive social interactions, and a sense of purpose, in short, the well-rounded nurturing that Islam has asked us to provide to our children. The community can effectively buffer against the influence of endless materialistic competition being promoted in the name of choice, secularism in the guise of moderation, and individualism and atomization of society in the name of freedom that is part of the package our children receive from the abovementioned modern forms of socialization.

The community can centralize resources that parents alone cannot provide. Not all parents can be super mom and super dad in all aspects of the nurturing process. And not all parents can afford to buy a library of instructive books and latest educational resources for their homes. They can care but they cannot satisfy all the needs of their child. And, then, not to forget those parents that let the TV baby sit their children while they are busy with other chores. Think of the problems that you see today relating specifically to the youth, such as feeling of isolation, stress, peer pressure, generation gap, drugs, crime, and negative relationships. These problems are structurally connected to the rapid changes accompanying the neo-liberal global market expansion, the visionless flooding of mass culture, and the general corruption of values in the larger social context. To expect that the parents could resist these overwhelming changes all by themselves is wishful thinking. Surely, there is no substitute for parents, but they alone are not enough. And don’t wait for a solution to come from the government. Only by strengthening our communities can we tackle these social problems. Only by acting collectively as a community and by developing effective public avenues within our communities can we provide a healthy environment to our children that would nurture different aspects of their personality, talents, creativity, views, social interaction and cooperation, and a positive attitude toward the larger society to change it for the better.

Granted, the ground reality of our communities may not be very ideal. But if the choice is between the private companies (and other such for-maximizing-profit institutions) and our communities, for nurturing the values of our young generation and guiding their lifestyles, I prefer our communities. I see it more practical and effective to invest efforts at making our communities a better experience for our young generation than try to resist the larger structural pressures without them.

(April 30, 2007)

THE ELDERLY NOBLE

So I read somewhere about this fiction novel that focused on the changes in the Egyptian society in the past few centuries. The writer is Muhammad al Muwaylihi. A passage struck me as very illustrative. The main character of this novel is an author who goes to the tombs outside of Cairo for inspiration. One day, he sees an elderly noble who steps out from one of the graves. After introducing himself, the noble asks the author to go to his house and bring him his horse and some clothes. The author respectfully replies that he does not know where the nobleman lived.

The elder noble gets mad and says:

'Tell me which country are you from, for heavens sake? It's clear that you are not an Egyptian. There is no one in the whole country who does not know where my house is. I'm Ahmad Pasha al-Manikali, the Minister of War in Egypt.'

The author replies:

'Pasha, believe me, I'm from pure Egyptian origin. The only reason why I do not know where you live is that houses in Egypt are no longer known by the names of their owner but by the names of their street, lane and number. If you would be so kind to tell me the street and lane number of your house, I will go there and bring you the things you ask for.'

I find this story very interesting. I feel that certain changes have also occurred in our community and the broader Pakistani society that in some ways parallel the changes illustrated in the above passage. Especially concerning the traditional roles of our women. Think about this: Previously women were known as 'munnay ki amma' or 'umme-fulan' (mother of someone) or 'bint-e-fulan' (daughter of someone). Now they are also known as Dr. Masooma and Miss Fatima (as a teacher or a newscaster, for example).

Take another example. Girls in our Khoja families used to get married at 15-16 in the past. I am thinking about the marriage age of our grandmothers and mothers. Now, the marriage age is rapidly increasing: I would say about 19-20 in our Khoja families, generally speaking(, and among many Syed families, about 23-25 or so. In Iran, I would guess 24-25 as the average marriage age for women in major cities.)

Now, is that good or bad, that's another discussion. The point is that our culture is changing. Our society is changing. The traditional roles of being a mother, a wife, a sister, and a daughter are now accompanied by new social roles of being a doctor, a teacher, a journalist, and a social worker.

Are we ready for these changes? How are we accommodating to these new roles? I am thinking about the different kind of pressures that a girl faces in our community if she is 22 and not yet married. The subtle comments that elder aunties would pass, which many times are out of benevolence and true concern, often make the girl feel that her life has come to a stand still. There is no purpose, no meaning in life anymore for her unless she gets married and advances to the new role of being a wife. I am also thinking about many girls that leave their education in the middle after they getting engaged or married. Sometimes because they feel they have gotten too busy. Sometimes because their husbands or husbands' families do not like them to pursue higher education ('aakhir usay bachchay hi to paalnay haiN').

I mean to present the above examples only as illustration to state the issue. The transforming role of women in our time and in our community is something we need to assess urgently, especially if we are concerned about issues like generation gap, growing number of divorces and marriage conflicts in our community. If today our girls have aspirations for higher education or participation in the larger society or have made ideals for prospective spouses, it is not very useful to blame media for all this and do nothing about understanding these issues. Those that are concerned sometimes only emphasize traditional piety and traditional roles for women as a solution. For example, they would engage or marry their son or daughter at 15-16 while these youth may still be in secondary school or in the first year of college. These youth may not have a good idea of what they want to do in their lives, what kind of spouse they are looking for, what kind of family arrangements they prefer. They suddenly find themselves in the midst of everything. Especially in the girl's case, the in-laws then play a major role in determining the activities and goals of her life - for example, the extent of which she can pursue her education. No wonder we are seeing more and more cases of marital conflicts and divorces in our Jamaat. Some others that are also concerned about this issue, especially among the youth, tend to get reactionary at times but often do nothing more than expressing frustration and rebelling in various forms. That doesn't help much either.

I really feel we need to adequately assess the changes happening in the social organization of our societies. And instead of falling into one or another camp, we need to develop a third way that is true to Islamic values and considerate of modern changes.

(December 24, 2006)

ABOUT A PEN-NAME

KZ is a pen name that I used about eight years ago, couple of years before leaving abroad for higher studies, to publish a piece in a local community magazine. The article was about hijab, women, and their participation in society. My inspirations was primarily Shaheed Mutahhari - the profound thinker and activist.

In that article, KZ outlined the dilemma that many women confront in our modern era. A dilemma that especially challenges the Muslim women and is fundamental to their long historical struggle. The dilemma is this: How is liberation from the shackles of jahilia and oppression possible (which are forced upon sometimes in the name of tradition and other times in the name of religion), how is the recognition of their equal dignity and respect, opportunities for the development of their potentials and talents, and their participation in the larger society all possible, but without falling into the trap of modern materialism, from becoming commodities and mindless consumers in the service of capitalism, which is only another from of oppression over female bodies? In other words, Muslim women today would not want to go back to the confines of jahilia but they do not see their liberation in becoming models for Lux Style and Victoria Secret either. Is there a third way out?

Much has changed in these past years. A new generation is assuming the face of our closed communities. With schooling, entry into variety of professions, media, internet, this new generation is much more connected to the mainstream compared to the previous generations. The boundaries that traditionally circumscribed our self-involved community are now expanding. My own experience and thinking have expanded in many ways in these years. As I think through that question again, it seems to me that the dilemma that KZ stated was a reflection of the broader challenge that all Muslims, and for that matter, all of humanity is confronting today, especially the young males and females, who hold the future in their hands. A challenge to construct that third way confronting the confusions, dilemmas, temptations, and contradictory messages of our modern era.

To build a perspective of that third way is the objective of this blog. Somehow I feel that KZ’s deep concerns, relentless search for truth, sincere faith, and never ending optimism all together could penetrate into some of these modern dilemmas. KZ's reflections will be very visible in many posts that you will read in 'sporadic meditations'.