day labourers

day labourers
Originally uploaded by Sbmoot.

Pakistan has a reputation in Canada as a place that is rough and dangerous - and in some areas I suppose it is. There are people here who genuinely wish others harm and who are willing to harm themselves in the process. Nevertheless, it is also a country filled with people who are just simply getting along like everyone else. Most are friendly and warm, and most will welcome you when you greet them. Like most people everywhere I go, they are interested in learning about foreigners and their countries, and they enjoy having contact with them.

I had intended for some time to take some pictures of the day labourers who wait for work on Street 16 near where we used to live in Islamabad, but I didn't get around to it before leaving Pakistan last January. Every day, throughout most of the year, you can see these men hunkered by the curb, often sheltering under trees from the sun or rain, their tools arranged in little pyramids before them - a sort of advertising: I can do whatever can be done with these implements. Hire me.

Thing is, I generally try not to take pictures of people without permission when traveling in the developing world - I find that it is somewhat objectifying to do so sometimes, and besides, some people just don't want to have their picture taken. Also, in Islam (at least as practiced in Pakistan), some people believe it is against God's law to allow themselves to be photographed. So it's really much more respectful to ask.

And anyway, this is a great way to meet people!

Despite what I just said, most Pakistanis seem to love photographs - when they are in them. Someone once told me, but I don't know if it's true, that it's considered lucky to have your picture taken with a foreigner, but that doesn't explain why people so often approach me when I have my camera in hand, and ask to have their picture taken. In the case of these day labourers, this is exactly what happened, so I didn't have to ask for permission - they called to me as I was coming up to them and practically started to pose on the spot! I was only too happy to oblige, of course, as that's why I was there. We chatted for a few minutes (as much as possible considering we had a language barrier), and a couple of them told me their names, but except for one who was named Ali I forget them. Perhaps they'll remember mine.

What the kids are saying, or: the difference between boys and girls

I originally was going to title this "Insight into Boys and Girls". It's based somewhat on what I know about my sister's tastes and preferences.

That is me on the left in the funky purple pants, with my two brothers and my sister. It was taken some time around 1975 or 76, in front of the garage door of my parents' house. I guess my father thought it would be a good idea to line us up according to age and/or height. Kim didn't seem to be into it as much as the rest of us... and now you know why.

I Feel a Rant Coming On...

Uncontroversial
Originally uploaded by Sbmoot.

There is a debate in Quebec about "reasonable accommodation" of immigrants from non-western countries, particularly muslims. Some of the debate has racist overtones, but mostly I think it is just people trying to cope with the challenge of other peoples' ways. Nevertheless, I was reading yet another article on the subject this morning, when this photo came to mind. I didn't take a lot of photos of women while in Pakistan, but this is one I did manage to capture as we drove by in our car, in Karachi last June 1.

Today's article, in La Presse, was about a decision by the Directeur Général des Élections du Québec to require veiled Muslim women wishing to vote to identify themselves to election officials by lifting their veils to show their faces. The response (also in the newspaper) from the Muslim community was that this was really not much of an issue, since the vast majority of women will do just this if necessary, though preferably to a woman rather than a man (and fair enough). They just wish the elections officials had spoken to them about it before making the big announcement.

The response from some other commentators was a lot of lofty tsk-tsking and worrying about social strife.

The announcement was apparently made necessary by several factors, including hostile verbal attacks from some quarters, compounded by a stupid series of articles in another newspaper (the Journal de Montréal) in which the Niqab was compared to any mask, and people threatened to "protest" (against what, exactly?) by going to the polls wearing Darth Vader masks and the like. The DGE even received physical threats and has had to hire bodyguards.

What really burns me about this is that for a couple of days, André Boisclair of the Parti Québécois has been using this fabricated "issue" of veiled women voting in his election campaign. I suppose he and his supporters have no shame. No more than Jean Charest, the Liberal leader and (for the moment) Premier of the province. He hasn't been making quite the hay that Boisclair has been making, but he is clearly not on the right page here, taking the same stand. This morning's Globe and Mail has a good editorial about it.

My observation has been that the Muslim community in Québec has not been at the origin of much of the debate about "reasonable accommodation". On the contrary, much of the hostility - and debate - seems to be coming from the majority community, and mostly from people who are being inconvenienced in very minor ways (or not at all) by the need to deal with the demands of other cultures on the members of those cultures themselves. What difference does it make to me if a woman covers her face in public? What difference does it make to me if a man or woman wishes a space in which to pray in a public institution? Why do I care (to take a different religion and a different issue) that a police force adjusts its uniform to allow officers (and fellow citizens) to wear their (culturally and religiously required) turbans while on duty. In other words, I just don't get the controversy.

And this tendency to talk about "us" and "them"? Discouraging. Never mind those born here - children of immigrants. They are fellow citizens, period. But think of immigrants: If someone has chosen to move permanently to Canada, and if Canada has accepted him or her as a resident and ultimately a new citizen, then "they" are "us". They get to add their distinctiveness to our community, and we get to grow and learn from them. This isn't open-mindedness; it's just the way things are. And so much the better for my country.

I think most Canadians get this, and in Quebec as much as anywhere else. But as usual, a small number of bigots are getting far too much press of late, and the vast majority that just wants to get along and figure things out is being misled about the wishes and expectations of minority communities.

On a more minor point...

From my perspective, many of the veiled muslim women in Quebec look very dour, in their black niqabs and chadors. This is just a fashion comment - it has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity or whether the women in question should dress this way (see above for that). I can't help but think, though, that perhaps if they dressed more colourfully the whole issue would take on a different tone. Pakistani women dress in bright colours: It's fun. The woman in the picture is actually a bit drab for Pakistan.

But ... as someone who is himself often cited for violations by the fashion police, far be it from me to give advice. Well, apparently not all that far. Ok, end of rant.

Remember this Face

Brick Kiln Worker near Wagah Pakistan
Originally uploaded by Sbmoot.

This photo was also posted on my other blog, but I thought it would be a good place to start here, as well. The comments below are also pretty much the same, though I've added a bit, and thrown in a second photo.

I took the photo in December, 2006 while returning from the border ceremony at Wagah, near Lahore. I find myself returning to this face very often - something about the man himself, and the portrait, seems to have become part of me.

He is a worker in one of the brick kilns that dot the landscape in northern Punjab, where they make bricks from the red clay. I had wanted to have a look inside one of these places for a while, and my driver stopped spontaneously, suggesting we go in here. I was only there for about 10 minutes, but it was enough to confirm that I am very glad this is not my lot in life.

Many (some say most or all) of the labourers in these kilns are essentially slaves - bonded-debt labourers. I don't know what this young man's status is, but I fear he is in that group. Like most Pakistanis he was very happy about having his picture taken by a Western visitor, and when I showed him his own face on the back of my digital camera, he squealed with delight and ran off laughing. I still think of him often.

The other photo is the same man with his companions. When I invited them to have their photo taken, they were naturally very happy - and a couple of the quickly ran off to get a couple of bricks and some materials they use in their work.

Brick Kiln Workers
Originally uploaded by Sbmoot.

I wish I knew what was in that bag.

And a quick aside: In a comment on these photos over on Flickr (click on either picture to go to that site), one reader pointed me to a story about the brick kiln workers in a newspaper website from India. Worth looking at, I think.