I absolutely love the way the Indian mentality works. It's hypocritical and wrong, controversial and sometimes correct. We go on about how we're such a cool culture; how we've matured. But the reality of it is we still live in a time capsule when it comes to certain issues. So check it out. The very pretty and modern, by Pakistani standards, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar steps foot on Indian soil in hopes to mend Indo-Pak relations and of course, we (junta, media and critics of all kinds), immediately tagged her an emerging fashion icon not a core-shaking change-bringing minister. She, needless to say, was not too thrilled with the title. A quick note to the Paki Foreign Minister: the minute we see you sporting Cavalli shades, 17 Lakh Hermes Birkin and Jimmy Choo heels, we officially crown you a stylista among other monikers.
But what I loved most was the abundant amounts of lechery that was displayed by the men of India who were interested in her visit. They paid ‘special’ attention to her. I, however, am more interested in how our own politicians looked at the pretty good looking minister. Everyone knows how lecherous our ministers can be. Hey, some of them are convicted criminals for goodness sake!
I really don't think anyone took her seriously, sadly. Maybe it has something to do with her being a prominent Pakistani female. As women we look to them as oppressed women - becharis and all that jazz. So when we see a modern Pakistani in a position of power, we're almost intrigued. But then, we also put her down to nothing by belittling her nothing but a Fashionista. The men are no different. They don't take her seriously because she's a Pakistani female minister who happens to be pretty god-damn hot. So in totality, India doesn't look to her as a woman who will make a difference to IndoPak relations.
She has been given a byline too: "A breath of fresh air." But I don't really understand what that means. The bigger question is, would we have perhaps paid a bit more attention to the issue at hand if the Pakistani Foreign Minister were a male? Perhaps then we would have actually been more concerned with what he came to achieve versus Khar's Cavalli shades.
I don't know what will happen with Indo-Pak relations. I'm not sure we really will be able to solve the underlying issues; there are far too many under rooted historical, political, social and even religious problems which have been long drawn out. But there are people on both sides of the border who are willing to try and bring some changes to the relationship of India and Pakistan. But if all we can do is demean them, then really what changes in our herd mentality are we so proud of?
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