| If human beings can be grouped, as they are in Chinese horoscopes, according to different species of animals, depending on the year of their birth, could not nations, one wonders, be similarly classified? Could a nation born, for example, in 1947 possess the same sort of characteristics as the animal associated by the Chinese astrologers with that year? What species amongst God’s creatures should Pakistan identify itself with in this dwindling menagerie we call a modern world? |
| A dove, perhaps? An unwise choice. Doves may be useful in sourcing dry land, as Noah discovered, but they are placid and pacifist by temperament. In any case, their claws have been found to be too fragile for defensive purposes. |
| A hawk, then? More powerful than a dove, certainly, with a natural tendency towards aggression, but essentially a smalltime predator which can often find itself the prey to larger predators. |
| A tiger, maybe? A noble choice, had the Asian tiger not been on the list of endangered species and being hunted to extinction. |
| A chameleon? Not a very suitable choice for those who prefer to show their true colours and not change to suit their surroundings. |
| A boar? Apt, if only because it happens to be the beast associated by Chinese astrologers with those born between 22 January 1947 and 9 February 1948, but liable to be disqualified on religious grounds. But even a boar has some virtues, one of them, being as the interpretation reads, that they are `saddened rather than annoyed at the lack of conscience and opportunism displayed in others, and try to influence the less candid with their own equitable behaviour.’ |
| In the context of the recent politics of the subcontinent , perhaps the animal Pakistan could most closely identify with in its present predicament is the inoffensive porcupine. It may be small, it may not possess a diversified armoury, it may bristle with resentments and barbed complexes, but it has two life-protecting qualities - one, that it is taken seriously, even by Indian tigers, and the other that it is indigestible. |
Published in DAWN, 16 June 1998, and reprinted in THE BARK OF A PEN (2001). |
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