A few million light years apart

Many different worlds exist within our country. This has always been true and is of course true for other nations too. People are divided on the basis of their income group, their ethnicity, their belief and other factors.
This gulf in our country has, however, become so big it seems the worlds simply do not meet at any point; they do not even seem to revolve around the same centre; there is no Sun to hold them in orbit. And this is one of the factors for the chaos and the anarchy we see all around us. The danger is that it is taking us closer and closer to destruction at various levels. Dichotomy in society is growing and so too is the sense of imbalance. This can never be a good thing.
Let us take an ongoing example. Elite schools in the major cities have in some cases warned parents to watch out for destructive behaviour, attempted suicide or self harm among young girls. The reason for this is, believe it or not, the fact that a pop star in a faraway land has left the band that brought him to fame. The young man involved is tween and teenage heartthrob Zayn Malik, his Pakistani origin making him a particular hit in the country.
The band Zayn has disassociated with is the squeaky clean boy band One Direction. But why his exit should create so much hysteria is a mystery. The link is of course to a wider phenomenon across the globe with social media carrying the message far and wide. Pakistani fans are not immune to this. The association in fact is closer with their counterparts in the west rather than girls their own age in their own country. One Direction draws a mainly female following.
For these other girls, the ones who live in a different world, problems are far more acute and far more real – the struggle to gain an education, access to opportunity, any form of recreation or a decent standard of living. Their parents struggle hour after hour in an attempt to deliver all this to them. They of course do the same, or more, for their sons. But the two sets of people do not really correlate with each other. They seem to breathe different substances and live in different realms.
We see this elsewhere too. As the elite, notably the young, in their designer outfits walk through the malls which have cropped up everywhere in the larger cities, those less privileged either serve them at counters or stand outside to watch. Often they are not even allowed into the mall or the restaurant. These people have become accustomed to being ignored, being almost invisible or at least of no consequence for the more wealthy who have come to occupy a more and more prominent place in our society.
It is not, however, a bigger space. Most of the country is made up of the poor or those who struggle to make ends meet. For many, lives are dominated by this struggle and by the effort to somehow make life a little better. Ideas such as cutting arms or legs for Zayn Malik as a demonstration of distress would be largely alien to them. Certainly, it is not something that is easy to understand. But in certain circles, it appears to be a real issue.
The question is: how are our worlds to be brought a little closer together? There is so much alienation between groups that association across class boundaries has become more and more limited. Even when they want to, children, most young people and many adults from one class bracket are uncertain how to relate to the ‘other’. The topics of discussion are different, ideas often dissimilar. Language adds yet another boundary and the growing sense of false supremacy means that many do not wish to look beyond their own tightly ringed circle.
This was not always the case. Compared to a generation ago, schools have become more stratified on the basis of wealth. The missionary schools and others like them attended by persons from many different backgrounds are beginning to fade away. So too is unification at other levels. The cinemas of the past, such as the Regal or Plaza in Lahore brought everyone together to watch action or adventure films or whatever else interested them. Tickets were cheap, the buildings accessible to all. Today cinema multiplexes have brought the movies back into lives after a long lapse, but this is true only for a few given the prices charged and the general ambiance of such places which discourages those without the right class order from
entering.
The same is the case with other entertainment. The simple funfairs or melas where everyone mingled have gone to be replaced by far more elitist, often fashionably charitable events. Activities and games have altered too. Hide and seek involving entire communities are no longer the norm. Those with their mansions stay behind their walls. It is no longer safe to venture outside, and no longer done to mingle with others who live in less affluent conditions.
The divide increases all the time. It increases with the lavish parties that are held, with food catered in from the most expensive eating places sometimes based in Dubai or elsewhere. It increases when the sale of designer lawn sets off mini riots. It increases when hybrid sports cars whisk past pedestrians unable to afford a motorcycle or barred by gender from riding a bicycle.
Gender too creates divide. Yes, in some circles this may be less and less true. In others, it is not. Women remain at the lowest tiers of society, hampered by poverty, discrimination and the other handicaps that go with being born female in our society.
The growing gap is dangerous. There is no force linking these planets which revolve separately along their own axis. The risk of this is that everything could fall apart. It is already a factor in the growing violence and distrust we see everywhere. We are descending into a condition of anarchy. If we do not prevent the slide now, a time will come when we are unable to step back and rescue ourselves.
We need to bring our people together. They need to consider themselves citizens of a single nation. Right now, this is simply not the case. The strings that join groups have been cut or at least severely strained. Even the manner in which we celebrate common festivals such as Eid signifies this.
The matters that are important to one group are insignificant to the other. We do however have a common interest in saving our country. To do so, we must find a ground on which we can come together rather than being pulled in separate directions and as a result being torn apart piece by piece. This is what is happening now.
It is visible too in terms of the beliefs and ideologies people hold on to. There are wide differences between them and the lack of tolerance aggravates the difficulties this causes in a country struggling to find any degree of cohesion in times that are becoming more and more complex in so many different ways and on so many different planes.
The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor.
Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com