The Commie Bag

Well I got a commie bag as a gift from my old friend Saad (please refer to a previous note the return of the Saad for greater clarity if needed).

The bag is your standard, no frills, canvas shoulder carry with an inked portrait of Chairman Mao and some funky Chinese lettering. I was on a flight to Karachi (a day trip with squeezed flight timings) so I decided to pack an extra shirt and my toiletries just in case!

I enter the plane and get the last seat on the left hand side of a creaking and very old Boeing 747 Jumbo (I think it was one of the planes banned by the EU for having outlived its utility by some 15 years) and hang the bag from the headrest of the seat in front of me. The reason for this (for you curious cats out there) was to have easy access to my iPod and my book (A Matter of Honor by Jeffery Archer).

A few moments later my fellow passenger arrives and as luck would have it; he was Chinese. Noticing my iPod in my ear and me engrossed in the book he glanced to the bag, muttered something to his other friend (also Chinese) and took his seat. He took out a magazine (in English, I think it was Newsweek) and started reading the latest article on Pakistan’s deteriorating political scenario. Every so often he would sneak a peek at my bag and then at me and then go back to reading the article while painstakingly underlining some of the sentences in the article.

We take off an hour and fifteen minutes late (the flight got delayed due to ‘technical faults’; and I thought this time they aren’t lying given the age and wear & tear to the plane) and the in-flight meal was served shortly thereafter. I continued to read while I enjoyed some Thievery Corporation tunes in the background. 10 minutes before our descent the pilot announced us to fasten our seatbelts and ‘bring our seatbacks to an upright position’ (the logic of which I intend to question someday) and I decided to wrap up the book and iPod for the return flight (it’s about 2 hours to Karachi from Islamabad).

Grasping the opportunity my neighbor blurts “That iz poltlait of Chailmen Mao! “ I nodded while briefly giving him a background on how I got in possession of the bag.

“You Know Chailmen Mao?” he asked.

“Not personally but yes I am slightly familiar with his political rule in China and the communist era.”

“Okay” He replied.

“What do you do?” I asked out of politeness

“Eye am Joulnalist” he stated.

“Well enjoy your stay in Karachi.” I replied and was on my way out when I stopped and asked “What is this lettering under the Chairman’s portrait?”

“Evelything foh tha People” was his stately reply.

And I was on my way off the plane, on the gangplank and on my way to the waiting office car to take me to my meeting.

All that way and till much later into the evening I kept thinking.

Why do we not have someone who can reform this country through a belief in those simple four words “Everything for the People!”

And then I was (and still am) sad about the current state of affairs in Pakistan. Sad to see all the potential in Pakistan go to waste, sad to see the talent in our Nation go astray, and sad to see myself not able to do much more than write this note to express how I feel.

p.s. I didn’t make the flight back and the bag (and its contents) came in mighty handy!