Azerbaijan – The land of Fire

The word ‘Azerbaijan’ means ‘the land of fire’ and the word ‘Baku’ means ‘the city of winds’. The name says it all; in Azerbaijan there are many places where there is centuries’ old naturally lit fire due to the seepage of natural gas from the soil. Baku as the name says is the city of winds that witness very fast winds and an unpredictable weather. I came to Azerbaijan in August 2011 and immediately fell in love with this great country with its friendly and hospitable people. Azerbaijan and Pakistan has many similarities in terms of culture, language and history. Like Pakistan was colonized by the British, Azerbaijan was colonized by the Bolshevik Russians, who tried to suppress Azeri language and religion. Similar to Kashmir dispute is the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, where Azerbaijani territory has been occupied by a belligerent neighbor.

A Bride dancing during her wedding

Wedding Culture in Azerbaijan is very exciting and full of festivity. Every Azeri wedding is like a mega celebrity wedding with lots of guests, food, and dances.   A wedding usually starts at 6 p.m. and continues until mid night where food keeps coming all the time and people eat and dance like there is no tomorrow. The most interesting feature of an Azerbaijani wedding is the special and mesmerizing dance by the Bride and Groom. Like Pakistan, all the guests pay cash gifts to the newlywed couple as a honeymoon gift.

Azerbaijani cuisine is one of the most rich and sumptuous cuisines.  When someone invite you at his/her place expect the dinner to last for 5-6 hours, where food will comprise of 5-6 courses and the host will urge you to continue eating. The dinner will always have the national meal, Aash, dolma, and Pakhlawa. Aash is a pilaf with rice, mutton and dry fruits whereas dolma is a mixture of minced meat and rice steamed inside the grape leaf. Pakhlawa is a sweet dish made up of wheat, sugar, butter and nuts.

Novruz is a national festival celebrated with the great excitement and zeal. Novruz celebrates the arrival of spring. Its history dates back to the Zoroastrian people, who used to dance around fire to welcome spring. The Azerbaijani state officially observes a national holiday for one week, and organize national level celebrations. People light fire in every nook and corner of the country and jump over it. The superstition is that if you jump over the fire, all your bad luck for the coming year will vanish in the fire.  People also cook many sweet dishes and share it with guests and neighbors. Pakhlawa, Sakarbura, and Badam Bura are the sweet dishes that they never miss during the Novruz.  Children rings the call bells of neighbors, put their hats in front of the door, and hide. According to the Azerbaijani custom, the neighbor put sweets and dry fruits in the hat for the children. People also listen secretly to their neighbor’s talk and believe that the first good thing they hear will become true for them. Another interesting feature of Novruz is the egg fight; people hit boiled eggs together, the person whose egg is cracked first loses the game. People also set the Novruz special tray that contains some grass in the center and seven different types of dry fruits, sweets, eggs, and candles all around.

Novruz Special Tray

Another important festival is the ‘Pomegranate Festival’ that is celebrated in Goychay, a city famous for its pomegranate farms. During the pomegranate festival, people make a lot of food items for pomegranate and serve it to all the guests and visitors for free. They make fresh pomegranate juice, pomegranate jam, pomegranate sauce, and pomegranate wine. They also present fresh pomegranates to all visitors as a gift. People in Goychay believe that if a couple get married during the pomegranate festival then they will surely live happily ever after. There are many couples who get married during the Pomegranate festival under the state patronage.

Pomegranates from all over Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani language has a lot of similarities with Urdu; it comes from the Turkic family of languages that uses many Persian and Arabic words. If you know Urdu you can easily learn Azerbaijani. Like the word Kuca means Street, and the word Muktab means School. The word Kitab means Book, and Shagird means Pupil.

Azerbaijani Pilaf is very similar to Kashmiri pilaf, and it contains mutton rice and different dry fruits. Azerbaijani Qutab is very similar to our Paratha and Peraski is very similar to our Samosa.

Azerbaijan is also one of the fastest growing economies with around 30 % of growth per annum. In addition to a booming oil industry, Azerbaijan is also rapidly growing in construction, banking, food processing, IT, and tourism sectors. This year Eurovision, the European Song contest is also coming to Azerbaijan that will bring millions of tourists to the vibrant city of Baku. Eurovision is something about which everyone is so excited in Azerbaijan and the city of Baku has been preparing to host millions of tourists who will land in Baku to witness the song contest.

Azerbaijan recently started a world class Diplomatic Academy that functions on the American model of higher Education. All the faculty members at Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy have PhD’s from leading American, British, and German Universities. The graduates of Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA) are working with various International Organizations as well as Foreign ministries of their respective governments. ADA is the only university in the Central Asia and Caucasus region that has a green campus that uses solar and bio-thermal energy, has rain water collection system and is environmentally sustainable. ADA offers fellowships to all admitted foreign students that cover tuition and housing.

Football is the most popular sport in Azerbaijan, where everyone from age 3-80 is a fan of football teams. People play football all the time, and even in the densely populated city of Baku they still find space to built football fields.

An encounter with Thai Food

Being a food lover, my understanding of any culture comes from the kind of food they serve. From my early childhood, I am a big fan of Thai food, especially the Tom Yom soup. Last year, I got a chance to go to Thailand for a month, where I encountered the authentic Thai Cuisine.

After a night long tiring journey to Bangkok, I was welcomed with a traditional Thai breakfast comprising of Fried Rice, Chicken and Tea. This encounter was very refreshing and pleasant indeed. For lunch, the hot and spicy Tom Yom soup is a must in a traditional Thai lunch. Other items includes: Fish, Rice, Salads, Chicken and lots of fruits. Dinner also comprises of more or less the same items.

More use of Seafood in Thai cuisine is clearly, an outcome of proximity to the sea; and more use of hot spices is a trademark of tropic climate. 
Food also tells us the secret of Thai people’s smartness. Thai food is low in calories and it is moderately sweet unlike many Central Asian foods. Also, the meal timings are very important; Thai people take an early dinner (between 6 to 7 pm), that gives them a large window of time to digest the food, before they go to sleep, which is very healthy indeed. Also, the serving is very balanced and non-excessive, that ensures a healthy lifestyle. 
Food helped me understand Thai culture in a much better way, where I found Thai people to be very culturally distinct and respectful.

Cultural Dimension of Srilanka

One of my favorite travel destinations is Srilanka (Also known to many as Ceylon), where I have been twice after the war ended in 2009. One of the reasons why I love Srilanka, as a travel destination is the respect that Srilankan immigration authorities give to a Pakistani Passport holder by granting a free on-arrival visa for 30 days.

When I went there the first time in 2010, I was impressed by the cleanliness of streets, and responsible drivers. The Srilankan drivers are particularly courteous towards pedestrians and they stop their vehicles the moment they see a pedestrian wanting to cross the road. The first encounter to Srilankan food was not quite good, but once I adapted to the hot and spicy Srilankan Cuisine, there was nothing better than that. I still miss the spicy Srilankan food. Culturally, Srilankan people are very helpful. They will always find time to accompany you to different notable places. In Colombo, Many people speak fluent English, so there is no linguistic difficulty for foreigners.

The second time when I went to Srilanka in 2011, I saw a stark rise in the number of foreign tourists in Colombo. This was also reflected by the rise in prices, in the markets of Colombo. This time, I also had the opportunity to visit Kandy, about which I always heard good things during Cricket commentaries. I decided to go to Kandy via Train, and also explore the railway system of Srilanka. The country is using old “Made in India”, trains that are slow and congested but they provide a greater opportunity to move around and converse with different people. The train also passes through some serene and scintillating places that compensate for the extended travel time, as compared to a bus journey. It also gave me an opportunity to talk to many Srilankan families about their lives and learn more about their culture and history. My conversations were very interesting; the families were friendly and hospitable; and they also offered me some Bananas that they were eating, which I accepted with thanks.

After four and a half hours of train journey, I finally reached Kandy. Kandy welcomed me, with a sprinkle of rain and an exotic scent of tea. I simply loved the natural beauty and the sprinkle of rain, which is a regular feature of Kandian Climate. The city is also very famous for its tea plantation. One interesting incident that happened in Kandy was when I asked the directions for Kandy Lake from a traffic sergeant. He instantly stopped a bus, and told me to board on it; he also told the Bus driver - in Sinhala - to drop me off at my destination.

I also went to the highest hill-top in Gampola (a place next to Kandy), where the government has constructed an amazingly beautiful Inter-faith worship place having a Mosque, A Buddhist Temple and a Hindu Temple together. The place was filled the spirit of peaceful coexistence among the three major religions followed in Srilanka.

I also visited the “Tooth Palace”, that was full of pilgrims from All over Srilanka and South India. Every day hundreds of people come to Kandy just to see a glimpse of Buddha’s tooth, which is preserved in the Tooth Palace. It was interesting to see the excitement of people, who travelled long distances to visit the Holy Palace. I also visited the International Buddhism Museum that contains Buddhist archives from all over the world. It was nice to see a special “Pakistan Corner” that contained Buddhism archives from Taxila, Pakistan.

On my way back, I took a bus, to diversify my experience. The bus was much quicker and it completed the distance in just three in half hours. But, I missed the beautiful scenes and long conversations that I experienced through a train journey. Kandy has left pleasant memories in my mind; still when I think of Kandy, I became nostalgic about the Beauty and hospitality of Kandy.

A smile comes to my face whenever, I think about the great time that I had in Srilanka; and I want to go there again and again.

Democracy Versus Subordination

Democracy can’t be exported anywhere in the world because it’s not merely the name of holding elections, rather it is a culture of governance and decision-making that ensures participation at the lowest level. In practice, democracy is the most abused concept in the contemporary history, where any action can be labeled as a democratic act.

As Abraham Lincoln rightly said that democracy is a “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.” In practice, the executive uses democracy as a tool to advance their agenda through token representation. A study of the governance structures of the Post-Soviet countries reveal that majority of the population is unaware of the soul of democracy where participation is not real, rather a show, where the executive proposes an idea, in an authoritarian way - leaving no room for dissent -  takes a decision and then declare it to be perfectly democratic. This is subordination rather than democracy. A significant number of people thinks that, having a right to select the car they want to buy, dress they want to wear or a home they want to live in, is democracy and they are happy to have this right because they didn’t had it in the Soviet times.

What is required, is a culture of democracy, where participation in decision-making is ensured at every level not merely a cosmetic measure.

Ageism & Youth

The social norm that I experienced all my life and that disturbed me the most is the phenomena of “ageism”; people tend to judge you by your age rather than your work or wisdom. Whenever young people want to contribute, their suggestions are rejected on the plea of “They are young, and they don’t know, what we know”. This attitude of elders discourages initiative and critical thinking in Youth, which is vital to for growth and progress. Similar is the case at work places, where junior (Young) staff members are never given a part in policy deliberations. One reason could be insecurity from the highly qualified young staff, who are far brighter and pragmatic in their approach.

Youth needs openings to get their voices heard, to contribute positively to the society.

Youth's Cut: Consensus -building?

Youth's Cut: Consensus -building?: "Today I got a chance to be part of a brainstorming session. The aim of that session was to reach a “consensus” on a brand name. During th..."

Consensus -building?

Today I got a chance to be part of a brainstorming session. The aim of that session was to reach a “consensus” on a brand name. During the process, when the debate got heated and dissent was in the air, suddenly the boss (who claims himself to be an experienced facilitator and a mediator) said: “let’s close the discussion and reach to a consensus.” Then he intimidated the members to select a name of his own liking.

That’s how democracy works in Pakistan. This very incident reflects the level of understanding that we as a nation have on democracy and consensus-building where dissent is considered as disrespect and deviance. Electoral process (no matter, how bizarre and messy it is) is considered to be a legitimate excuse to govern people in the most demeaning way.

I think it’s time that we differentiate between electoral democracy and democratic governance. We need leadership who practice democracy as a way of governance, rather than a tool to manipulate and dictate their vested interests. We need to understand and practice the essence of democracy rather than limiting it to 'Tokenism'.