Books: Political Jungle

PAKISTAN: A WITHERING STATE?
BY SREEDHAR AND NILESH BHAGAT
WORDSMITHS
PRICE: RS 456
PAGES: 208

There has been a spate of writings on the question of Pakistan's survival. In 1971 it was on the verge of collapse. A few months ago it faced economic disaster after the United States imposed economic sanctions. The country's foreign-exchange reserves were cleaned out in a matter of hours. The doomsday prophecies are not without reason. In its 51 years Pakistan has had five constitutions, 23 years of martial law, constitutional autocracy, nominated assemblies and partyless assemblies; in the past 10 years, four elected governments have been dismissed prematurely.

In half a century, the Pakistani ruling elite has been unable to define the state's identity. Whereas M.A. Jinnah never talked of an Islamic state for Pakistan, his successors have wrestled with the problem ever since. Nawaz Sharif recently undertook the umpteenth move, through the 15th amendment to the constitution, to enforce Islam. But he has been accused by his detractors of using Islam to assume dictatorial powers.

Pakistan's sovereignty has long been eroded by the country's alliance with the US. The current minister of information, Mushahid Husain, had written some years ago on the role several American ambassadors had played in influencing successive governments, starting from Iskandar Mirza's in the 1950s to Zia-ul-Haq's in the '80s. He called these ambassadors Pakistan's American viceroys. The inability to curb sectarian and ethnic bloodshed, drug mafias and terrorist outfits further demonstrates the state's debilitation.

However, it will be erroneous to claim Pakistan will break up. As Sreedhar and Nilesh Bhagat point out, the great powers will not allow Pakistan to wither away as long as it serves their interests. The indulgence shown by the IMF in recently rescuing the country from near bankruptcy suggests as much.

AUTHORSPEAK: RUSI M LALA
Patient Hearing
A cancer survivor tells you how to steel yourself

For a cancer patient, treatment is often more trying than the dreaded C itself. Chemotherapy and radiation require the patient to muster every ounce of physical and emotional resource. For millions, the solace that comes from understanding the disease is painfully absent because they are deprived of even basic information about cancer and the physical changes it causes. Rusi M. Lala's Celebration of the Cells: Letters from a Cancer Survivor (Penguin) serves this purpose. Lala sees his book as a friend, philosopher and guide to fellow cancer patients, their families and friends.

While being treated at Mumbai's Tata Memorial Hospital, Lala and his wife met Vandana, who was suffering from a similar kind of cancer -- lymphoma or cancer of the lymph nodes. After a half-hour conversation in the waiting room, Vandana remarked, "No doctor has ever spoken to me like this." Lala, who's been fighting cancer since 1989, wondered, "If she could feel so much at peace after a conversation of just 30 or 40 minutes, how much more could be done through a book." He also told himself "anyone who has survived an experience like this comes out much enriched and has something to give to others". Vandana, to whom the letters are addressed, got cured. In 1996, she decided to do for others what Lala had done for her -- she started We Care, an emotional support group for cancer patients.

Director of the Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust and chairman of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy, Lala has been working regularly even while being treated. But the pace and perspective of life have changed radically: "Work is a therapy. But you shouldn't work too hard or get over-tired because then the cancer overtakes you. Your immunity is at a low ... I realise now how lovely life is. And a sunset is. And nature is. I cherish all the lovely cells in my body which allow me to live."

Lala was only 19 when he began his career as a journalist in 1948. His first book, The Creation of Wealth: A Tata Story (1981), was followed by three others. Then in 1992 came Beyond the Last Blue Mountain: A Life of JRD Tata and in 1995, The Joy of Achievement: Conversations with JRD Tata. Celebration of the Cells is his most heart-warming effort though. It is a testament to how cancer can attack a man's body -- but never conquer his soul.

--Nandita Chowdhury