COMMENTARY
P22 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 8, 2016
A Real Wedding
n By Rafia Zakaria
O
ne of our neighbors is in the wedding business. For this reason, it is nearly always wedding season at their house. The workday does not begin until sometime in the afternoon and it does not end until deep into the night — after the guests have left the brightly lit venues, and the chairs and tables and lights and stages have been dismantled, to be set up again the next day for the next wedding.
Over the years, their wedding business has grown to gargantuan proportions with attention being given to the most microscopic of details. It is not a surprising development; as Pakistan’s cities have swelled with newer arrivals and the progeny of old inhabitants have grown to adulthood, betrothals are numerous and more resplendent. There is, however, another reason for the ever-expanding numbers of businesses catering to the soon-to-wed. As the rate of rural to urban migration rises, and the expanding labor export market leaves many in a constant revolving process of arrival and departure, the family structures that sustained the marital celebration have all but disappeared. The consequence, of course, is that weddings (and not simply the matches made) are transactional affairs. It is far easier to pay someone to make the food, provide the music and set the stage; indeed, with money one can guarantee mirth and merriment of a sort that family relations never could. Those that are paid to be joyous and accommodating, after all, are much more reliable than the relations scarred by deceptions past, by inheritances denied — all the dark realities that those hosting weddings are eager to forget. And forget they do, thanks in part to those that have made weddings a business. With the once-loved ones duly sidelined, wedding organizers and planners will happily take over, ensure that the mehndi is arranged in glittering trays, the offerings for the bride, the perfume and the bangles, the shoes and the chocolate, are all arrayed on trays and wrapped up in tulle. Whatever gaps are left unfilled by the paid can be made up by friends enlisted over the years, whose weddings the now bride and groom have dutifully attended: the cashing in of favors past.
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If the now marrying have been lackadaisical in attending the mehndis, mayuns, nikahs and rukhsatis of others, the effects will be visible, usually on the dance floor. As all urban Pakistanis know, the number of dances to the latest Bollywood numbers, remixed rap anthems and revitalized oldies are all testaments to the popularity of the bride and groom. The sweaty, dancing, hapless souls, happy on demand and desperate for a bit of the limelight, must participate in the mandatory merriment; it may be their best chance to snag a wife or husband of their own. A second rank may constitute the recently married, eager to exhibit the dribbles of youth that marital drudgery has not bled away, exhibiting the triumph of still fitting into the garments of one’s glory day. Nearly everyone who reads this article will participate in such a spectacle in the short cool months, when large crowds are more easily amassed, fatty foods more easily consumed. Old saris will be dragged out per the retro themes of the day, itchy suits and overgarnished sherwanis stuck over bodies grown large between now and last December.
If the hirelings that have been employed to produce the wedding feast are well paid and honest, there will be biryani and korma
The Pakistani wedding, with its hollow adherence to custom and tradition, largely aped from television dramas and Bollywood sagas, is an attempt to patch up the holes and gaps of now with hired hands and self-serving friends. Underneath the mandatory merriment lies a torn social fabric that is not what it used to be and has little idea of what it wants to be and only mild heartburn. If not, the vapid consumption of grease-laden food will end
with a long night, solitary payment for communal gluttony. Those are the physical risks, the psychological carnage of forgotten sisters, ignored cousins and so much else that has a cost all its own — that accrues invisibly but inflicts its own mortal wounds, whose blood and gore lie just beneath the enforced joy. The wedding is an emblem of culture, and the Pakistani culture, battered by decades of war and demographic change, stands changed. The Pakistani wedding, with its hollow adherence to custom and tradition, largely aped from television dramas and Bollywood sagas, is an attempt to patch up the holes and gaps of now with hired hands and self-serving friends. Underneath the mandatory merriment lies a torn social fabric that is not what it used to be and has little idea of what it wants to be. A sincere commitment to maintaining familial relations requires more than attendance at weddings; it necessitates respect and a desire for love to mean more than the public proffering of hugs and kisses at nikahs and rukhsatis. If the increasing numbers of monetary transactions involved in arranging a wedding, from the florist to the DJ, from the caterer to the venue manager, are any evidence, then it is money and not family that is of primary importance. With the former, the pretence of a happy family untainted by sibling cruelties and parental favoritism can be magically recreated at the wedding venue: a glittering bride and groom, a backlit stage, thumping music, all making up for the love and closeness that is no more. The big wedding has long been a South Asian boast, and urban Pakistanis have begun to enact its grandiosity and faux sentimentality with the artifice of Bollywood productions. There are actors and actresses, some better than others; there are set designers and scriptwriters, choreography and music and, of course, heroes and villains. There is one crucial difference though: the unreality of the Bollywood production is well known but the chicanery of the urban Pakistani wedding, its glittery gloss over frayed families, its garish re-enactment of cinematic scenes, insists that it is, in fact, the real, joyful, thing. (Rafia Zakaria is an attorney and human rights activist. She is a columnist for DAWN Pakistan and a regular contributor for Al Jazeera America, Dissent, Guernica and many other publications)
Pakistan Super League Is Ready to Kick Start in UAE in February
BL, Pakistan’s largest bank, joined hands with Pakistan Super League (PSL) as the cricket tournament’s title sponsor of the inaugural event to be held in the UAE in February this year. The league will now officially be known as HBL Pakistan Super League and has managed an impressive roster of top international cricketers and coaches. In addition, franchise ownership rights were sold for a whopping $93 million, making it the single largest investment in any kind of sport in Pakistan.
The finest Twenty20 players in world cricket have been snapped by the five franchises that will play in the HBL Pakistan Super League to be held in the UAE in February. The player draft that took place at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore saw the five franchises picking nine players each. Lahore Qalandars got flamboyant West Indies opener Chris Gayle while Islamabad United bagged Australian all-rounder Shane Watson. Quetta Gladiators got England’s star batsman Kevin Pietersen. With a large population of Pakistan fans living in UAE, the inaugural PSL with top players is expected to draw large crowds. The Pakistan Cricket Board have already booked all the top stadiums in the UAE for the event. PSL had opted for a draft in place of an auction in order to ensure better competition with the result that all five teams are equally stocked with star power and skill. Peshawar Zalmi made the first pick and opted for Pakistan’s T20 captain Shahid Afridi. Pakistan’s in-form all-rounder Shoaib Malek went to Karachi Kings. Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan will also be seen in action. Dilshan, known for his innovative shots known as ‘Dilscoop’, is set to enthrall UAE fans with his whirlwind knocks. He has been picked up by Karachi Kings. Fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who was banned from the game for his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal, will also be in action for Karachi Kings. Peshawar went for Australian star spinner Brad
Hodge for their team. Islamabad went on to pick England wicketkeeper Sam Billings. However, it is doubtful whether Billings will be available as the dates of the tournament clash with England’s South Africa tour and Billings might be selected for the tour. It is understood that Lasith Malinga pulled out of his contract with PSL wanting to prepare for the oncoming World Twenty20 event. Pakistan skipper Younis Khan, who led the country to its only World Twenty20 championship, did not get picked, neither did Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene. Quetta Gladiators picked Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi. Another good pick by Quetta was Asad Shafiq, who is expected to add solidity to their batting line-up. Quetta also got Sri Lanka’s master batsman Kumar Sangakkara. Karachi got their local boy Fawad Alam while Azhar Ali was picked up by Lahore. Among the Bangladesh players, seamer Mustafizur Rahman was taken by Lahore while hard-hitting opener Tamim Iqbal was chosen by Peshawar. All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will be in the Karachi side. The coaches of the five teams will be Mickey Arthur for Kara-
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chi Kings; Mohammad Akram for Peshawar Zalmi; Dean Jones for Islamabad United; Paddy Upton for Lahore Qalandars; and Moin Khan for Quetta Gladiators. Teams: (all 20 players) Islamabad United: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Andre Russell, 3 Misbahul-Haq, 4 Samuel Badree, 5 Mohammad Irfan, 6 Brad Haddin, 7 Sharjeel Khan, 8 Mohammad Sami, 9 Khalid Latif, 10 Babar Azam, 11 Imran Khalid, 12 Kamran Ghulam, 13 Umar Amin, 14 Sam Billings, 15 Rumman Raees, 16 Amad Butt, 17 Ashar Zaidi, 18 Saeed Ajmal, 19 Hussain Talat, 20 Umar Siddiq Karachi Kings: 1 Shoaib Malik, 2 Shakib Al Hasan, 3 Sohail Tanvir, 4 Imad Wasim, 5 Ravi Bopara, 6 Lendl Simmons, 7 Mohammad Amir, 8 Bilawal Bhatti, 9 James Vince, 10 Iftikhar Ahmed, 11 Nauman Anwar, 12 Mushfiqur Rahim, 13 Usama Mir, 14 Sohail Khan, 15 Mir Hamza, 16 Safiullah Bangash, 17 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 18 Shahzaib Hasan, 19 Fawad Alam Peshawar Zalmi: 1 Shahid Afridi, 2 Wahab Riaz, 3 Darren Sammy, 4 Kamran Akmal, 5 Mohammad Hafeez, 6 Chris Jordan, 7 Tamim Iqbal, 8 Junaid Khan, 9 Jim Allenby, 10 Aamer Yamin, 11 Dawid Malan, 12 Imran Khan jr, 13 Shahid Yousuf, 14 Abdur Rehman, 15 Musadiq Ahmed, 16 Hasan Ali, 17 Mohammad Asghar, 18 Brad Hodge, 19 Israrullah, 20 Taj Wali Quetta Gladiators: 1 Kevin Pietersen, 2 Sarfraz Ahmed, 3 Ahmed Shehzad, 4 Anwar Ali, 5 Jason Holder, 6 Luke Wright, 7 Zulfiqar Babar, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Elton Chigumbura, 10 Bilal Asif, 11 Asad Shafiq, 12 Mohammad Nawaz, 13 Saad Nasim, 14 Mohammad Nabi, 15 Akbar-ur-Rehman, 16 Bismillah Khan, 17 Kumar Sangakkara, 18 Aizaz Cheema, 19 Rameez Raja Jr. Lahore Qalandars: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Bravo, 3 Umar Akmal, 4 Mohammad Rizwan, 5 Yasir Shah, 6 Shoaib Maqsood, 7 Mustafizur Rahman, 8 Kevon Cooper, 9 Cameron Delport, 10 Zafar Gohar, 11 Hammad Azam, 12 Zia-ul-Haq, 13 Zohaib Khan, 14 Azhar Ali, 15 Naved Yasin, 16 Adnan Rasool, 17 Abdul Razzaq, 18 Mukhtar Ahmed, 19 Ehsan Adil, 20 Imran Butt