With all the strange revelations surfacing about Pakistan president General Musharraf’s wheeling-dealing with Taliban leadership, I am getting apprehensive that the US administration may act, if it does at all, in a ham-handed manner in Pakistan, creating further confusion and mayhem.
I wonder what the trained/experienced veterans in the US State Department doing…sleeping…demoralised? My advice: Wake up and assert yourself. You are paid to advise the President of the USA!!! The situation in Pakistan is highly complex and calls for intelligent handling of the situation after due deliberation.
Let me state at the outset that Bush and Musharraf are not evil…you would understand better if you read on…Ironically you may begin to sympathise with them. But that’s not the reason to allow them to play havoc in the world!!! They must be put on the leash…sooner the better…
While “pundits” in the US, Pakistan and elsewhere would try to find a strategy, let me get back to my favourite Suzanne White’s Chinese astrology to understand Bush and Musharraf relationship, and why they are acting in a strange way.
President Bush in Chinese astrology is a “Dog”. White says: “Dogs are: Attentive, Well meaning, Helpful, Altruistic, Modest, Devoted, Philosophical, Dutiful, Discreet, Loyal, Intelligent and Enthusiastic….but Dogs can also be: Mean-spirited, Disagreeable, Bad-tempered, Self-righteous, Judgmental, Quarrelsome, Accusing, Nervous, Anxious and generally Impossible to live with.”
President Musharraf is a “Goat”: White says: “Goats are: Appealing, Altruistic, Creative, Empathic, Intuitive, Generous, Artless, Romantic, Sensitive, Compliant, Candid and Self-effacing…but can also be: Self-pitying, Pessimistic, Fugitive, Parasitic, Vengeful, Lazy, Indecisive, Contentious, Violent, Capricious, Tardy, Careless and Bigoted.”
Now as to what sort of relationship Bush ‘the Dog’ and Musharraf ‘the Goat’ enjoy: “The Dog is all moral standard and high-mindedness. Very often, Goat’s ideals begin and end with where the next meal is coming.. Goats are often on the side of the person carrying the wallet…Dogs likes things to be clear, just and fair. The Goat does not know what those terms mean…
“To a Dog devotion and loyalty come first. To a Goat, blind devotion and loyalty are for fools who don’t know which side their bread is buttered.”
How true!!! If you find this analysis interesting and wish to read further you may read/buy Suzanne White’s New Chinese Astrology.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.