Another Season, Another Drought

 It's that time of year when every self righteous MP, NGO and non-profit organization rushing to aid the drought stricken folks of the arid North gets vociferous about the needs of pastrolists. I'm not a believer in Voodoo or Indian "Karma" but I can't help think that may be we are being repayed for our consistent exiguous choice of leadership. It's only in NEP where mediocrity, fear, desperation and perpetual dependency are virtues richly rewarded. If we are to free ourselves from this vicious cycle of poverty, we will have to act as individuals and groups to correct errs that have been made in the past.

  Call me insensitive but I do not see the point in the continuation of this most primitive method of self sustenance. Being a pastrolist living at the mercy of elements in the 21st century is no longer a viable livelihood choice. Any government worth its salt will sure not let its citizens suffer such an ignominious existence. Tremendous strides have been made in turning nomads into sedentary farmers in other parts of the world and I do not see why we are not agitating for such change here in NEP. If any of our civic groups, MPs and local media were good enough, they would be preaching the virtues of educating children and not making them perform laborious tasks such as herding Camels that die by the thousands every time drought strikes which believe me, is almost once a year. While the world around us collapses on itself, it is surprising that many of us are sweating the small stuff. We focus more on whether Red cross rushes to our aid every time a drought strikes and not on what we can do to be self sufficient.

  Our brain dead MPs , at this time of the year, can be seen distributing food donated by foreigners in the hinterlands of our province as the poor and hungry sing songs in their praise. These men make exploiting poor people look elegant, cool and fun. Given the reality of their existence is the culmination of hypocrisy and nightmarish descent into madness for the few that have a guilt sense, it won't be so hard to anticipate the demise of these parasitic men. Not to be pedantic but our not-so-mysterious, intermittent downward slide can be blamed on who we choose to represent us in positions of leadership.

 I hope we all live too see the day North Easterner's will elect a leader who is highly articulate, deeply thoughtful, not overly crippled by the poison of tribalism and capable of improving quality of education, creating jobs and taking NEP to a new frontier. I can ascertain you that tribalism can kill you faster than any germ.