WE are in the habit of doing things of daily life in the wrong way, the way that causes at best inconvenience and at worst pain for others as well as for us.

We forget our pain because it is self-inflicted but we happily ignore others` pain as if it is inconsequential. Norms, traditions and laws are outcomes of a long historical process driven by human needs which keep changing with the changing conditions. It`s not that everything we see operating in human domain is painless or non-exploitative. That is why societies conscious of human needs keep improving things incrementally to make the realisation of human potential possible in some measure. But we also witness a reverse process; certain cultures make it almost impossible for individuals to grow either by design or by default.

When going against common sense, which is basis of norms, traditions and laws, becomes a habit we see people behaving the way they behave in ourtowns and cities; trying for short cut they become a source of misery in social life.

What we do in social life have impact on all of us. Look at your roads. The driver in the fast lane drives slowly as if he/ she is on a pleasure drive.

Drivers who are behind overtake from the wrong side causing headache to others that increases the chances of road accidents. It`s funny to see the fast lane moving slowly and the slow lane moving fast. Imagine the mental agony of drivers who follow traffic rules. If traffic stops for some minutes for some reason, drivers in their indecent haste convert three lane road into five lane road causing further delay. The reason is that most of the drivers have got driving licences issued without undertaking the required driving test. The rich use influence and those not rich offer bribes to get the driving documents.

Nobody bothers to make queue or stand in queue whether they are in a bank, or bus stop or at wedding dinner.

Each of those present thinks he/she has priority and be served first. Jostling andelbowing not only create scenes but at times causes brawls resulting in a general melee. The result is that all lose their time and grace. The reason is that they have been taught neither at home nor at school that all individuals have equal rights and sense of entitlement is socially and culturally negative. Our ruling classes thrive on sense of entitlement and its negative impact has permeated all levels of society.

We cannot say what we mean. We lie and lie most of the times unnecessarily, out of habit, in fact. We have become compulsive liars. At an arranged function the chief guest would arrive hours late.

Duration of the delay would show the importance of the guest; greater the delay heavier the guest. When on the podium he/she would simply say; sorry I was busy with something important. It would be a sheer lie. But the things don`t stop here. Workers and skilled workers behave in a similar fashion. You need a plumbing or electric work to get done. You fix the day and time with a plumber or an elec-trician. You wait and wait on the day you fixed. You cannot trace him. His phone is switched off. After hours` struggle when you get connected, you would be told; `sorry sir, my uncle met an accident. I would attend you tomorrow.` The next day you are desperate. You would call him on his cell phone and the reply would be; `on the way sir.

Don`t worry.` He would be lying as he would be going somewhere else. He would arrive after half the day is gone. Before evening he would leave the things half-done and depart saying he would fix them tomorrow. No one plays straight with you like you never play straight with them.

We do it without ever feeling embarrassed. One of the reasons may be the long history of intruders we faced and lying or not playing straight was a componentofdefencestrategythat has got ingrained in our psyche.

But we need to look at the big picture to understand the intractable mess we are in. We are an old society but a new state that emerged in 1947.

Two crucial factors played abig role in making us what we are now. One, the Partition, especially the bloody division of Punjab, triggered a process that resulted in the slaughter of one and a half million people of diverse faiths and crossing of more than 15 millions across the borders. This ghoulish scene left little respect for norms, traditions and laws in the heart of the people. It showed that the cruelest could survive and the slyest would flourish. Two, the Muslim League, the political party that spearheaded the movement for the creation of a new Muslim majority state, was little more than a clutch of feudal landlords fearful of democratic future. Consequently they never ever made any effort to politically mobilise Muslim masses. They in fact discouraged anything that could create grassroots. The thrust was to acquiesce to the dictates of the colonial masters and seek possible concessions which would in no way disturb the colonial order which was going to be a white-washed edifice of the new state.

When moneyed Hindus and landed Sikhs fled this part ofthe Punjab, they left behind huge assets and properties which were up for grab. And the powerful in the new state grabbed all and everything without sanction of law. All who had the muscle presented their claims based on lies to appropriate the evacuees` properties and assets. So much so that migrants from cities of Uttar Pradesh became landlords in Pakistan. A new class of the people, close to the state and its powerful bureaucracy, was born from the womb of what we know as `claims` which were mostly false i.e. lies. The concepts of legitimate rights, honest work and rule of law were deliberately put on the back burner. Power or an arrogant sense of entitlement expressed in social life was the short cut that reflected a desperate desire for self-advancement. Individual gain by foul means became an accepted means for the achievement of social ambitions. Sadly, we forget that we are now metaphorically an epitome of what Jesus Christ said in the Gospel: `...

they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. soofi01@hotmail.com