Dear Rubina Sahiba,  

Your column Kefayat Sha’ari (financial prudence) is really bringing out many critical points in every day life of the 170 million people of Pakistan along with being very entertaining at the same time.  

With the present government in place, most Pakistanis are really practicing prudence as prescribed by the government. No electricity, no water, no sugar, hardly any roti – nothing but Kefayat Sha’ari, that is all they have to live on – all that good stuff represents a living example of the beauty of the democracy. The democracy that they were demanding for a long time and the one they voted for. They have it right in their faces, fully bloomed and bigger than life, they can enjoy it with its full beauty at all hours of the day since the factories are closed, the offices hardly open, the schools are kind of hit and a miss. So what they have is democracy with all its magnificence and Husen. They can eat it, drink it and live it out to their heart’s content.  

Knowing how much an MNA makes, I think we should all become an MNA when we grow up. That would be the best way to enjoy Jamhuriat ka Husan. It should not be too difficult to be an MNA because fake degrees can be arranged easily and they cost much less than the tuition fees and books which are often required if one is silly enough to opt out for a real degree.  

Look at Baber Awan, the federal minister for law, how well he has done with a fake degree. He could not have achieved all that with a real one – if you don’t believe me, check them out standing in the sugar line, they all have real degrees but no sugar.   

Look at the president, he has no degree at all and of course he does not need any as long as he continues sacrificing a black goat every day. And that should not be a problem; without being extravagant, he can easily afford it. He has millions of dollars stashed up in the Swiss and the American banks, the expense of a black goat a day is least of his worries. In fact one needs to be intelligent, caring, sensitive and compassionate to be worried about little things around him – luckily, he is above all that – he has no worries.  

No matter how you slice it, you find the beauty of the democracy is certainly dazzling and overwhelming in every walk of life in Pakistan. I wonder if those wonderful democratic Pakistani rulers have heard about what happened in Kyrgyzstan recently or are they too busy enjoying Jamhuriat ka Husen?   

Javed