PenSparks!: July 2011

Most rural areas of Pakistan, including Sindh, reflect patriarchal charachter where father, the male head of family, is obeyed. In such societies women tend to work more but their work contribution is usu not valued. As a result investing in girl child education is not considered important. However, if a woman got educated against odds the patriarchal hold is weakened. For example, an educated mother would never bear with the situation if her daughter is not provided access to education.

Interestingly societies where females have access to education matriarchal mores tend to nullify patriarchal sway or may even influence family decision making. Examples are found in some communities with strong matriarchal traditions or ones having higher female litetacy.

In this context, policymakers are up against patriarchal sway where access to education is being provided. But what we see is the failure since female education had not been focussed ad it should habe been. In adfition, it's not just the question of access to education; rather, it is about access to the quality education.

We need to think about it....
Pls have your comments. Ty.

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Sunday, July 3, 2011

Children under 3 years are non stop ....

My son is under 3 but he is unstoppable. When I am home he takes over the HTC and starts playing games on it.

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Why weddings are so expensive and wasteful in Pakistan...

We Pakistanis spend a lot on weddings....on dowry, mehendi, weddimg dinner, and valima dinner. The families of both bride and the groom spend a lot on new, expensive clothes etc ... all showy, pompous stuff, puttig a lot of stress on golden savings and not minding to go in debt theteafter. Dinners are arranged as if they were in honor of visiting royalties.

The economic cost of a middle class wedding isl tremendous and may run as high as a few millions on an average, which includes the cost of gold jewellery gifted to bride from both sides.

As educated citizens we need to make our wise choices but we usu don't. We donot have the courage to change things for the better. Our timidity to make bold decisions must go. We all must admit our failure when we got married we followed the same pattern of lavish weddings.

But there is a way to make weddings simpler and austere once the whole burden of wedding arrangements befalls the groom, or the couple. If we encourage our youngers that they need to earn their marriages. Parents need to tell their sons that they will chip in but not foot the entire bill. The sons may begin to realize how much it really costs when we waste our hRd earned resources on lavish weddings like water.

Is nt it strange when the families spend so much on waste like this, they damn care how many poor girls do not get married; poor children do not have access to education and min health cover; and millions roam as jobless without min amount of investment to start earning.

Now, that brings us to the question what State should do. It needs to launch major awareness campaign round the year against the lavish weddings, putting higher taxes for discouraging such events and employing citizen committees to convince families to go for simple weddings. Incentives could include an education voucher to couple's two children only for edu for 10 years with a bond offer for the two with initial investment equal by govt with parents investing inti it for 20 years as tax deductible within a ceiling.

Just a few thoughts after attending a wedding valima last night. Pls comment. Thanks.

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