Celebrating the culture of resilience

By Waqar  Jappa

Tragedies, they say, keep no calendar. And, there is no such thing as a sweet or an un-harmful tragedy. They are painful. They bring despair, grief and sorrow.  We as a nation in our short history have had many tragedies. Some were self inflicted, others were thrust upon us. Yet, others were a work of nature.  But, thanks to the exceptionally resilient character of this wonderful nation, we navigated through turbulent times and emerged victorious almost every time. No doubt, it took us some time but we made through them, every time.

That is the kind of nation we are; hard, resilient, self motivated and sinfully patriotic. These are the basis of our national culture. This is who we are. This is us; you, me and every other Pakistani out there working really hard in his own capacity to make his/her family, department, community, nation and countrymen proud. And it is not without impediments. Trust me. There are hurdles on the way but we go on.

There is this some force that keeps us pushing. It does not let us give up and overwhelmed by the obstacles. What is it? How does it look like? Ever wondered?   It is this resilient character that defines us. It is deep rooted. It runs in our blood. It is what we have inherited from our ancestors. The whole freedom movement of the subcontinent revolves around it.

Brilliance in resilience against all impediments is a prerequisite for an ideal that you think is worth sacrificing your life for.  This is what M.A Jinnah did. This is what Faiz sahb did. And this is what every Pakistani has done particularly, during the last 12 years against an enemy that has no face, no heart and so cruel who didn’t even spare our children.  But, we stood victorious in the end. Who defeated him? Yes! It was our resilient, firm and steadfast character as a nation that we must be proud of, dealt the fatal blow to the enemy.

Take a good look into the life of any of your family member, your friend, your teacher, your colleague, your boss or your milk man at your doorstep or your Sabzi wala down the street or the gentleman cobbler on your way to office. You would find one trait common in all of them: resilience. This is what defines Pakistan as a nation-A Resilient Nation.  Is it not a reason enough to celebrate our culture of resilience, be happy and satisfied?

Now, I understand. Some of you may agree. Others may not. And yet few would be highly skeptical of the proposition which is absolutely fine. Difference of opinion is everybody’s right and it must be respected. What is not desirable is that difference of views might lead us to demonization of others. That is dangerous. It is dangerous for the individual as well as for the overall well being of a pluralistic society. For, it blocks the ways for discussion and thus hampers what has been ensured by the law of the land: freedom of expression.

Good God! What am I doing? Sermonizing? Seems so. I should better stop this blog here.

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Writer is a part time actor, occasional documentary film maker and a regular blogger. He has an M.Phil in media studies.