South Asia like all other places in the world has its own set of pros and cons.
I would like to elaborate on the point that south Asia is a large combined continent and has innumerable amounts of advantages and disadvantages both. But it is impossible to count then all due to its sheer size and multi-cultural environment.
Let's take a look at the weaknesses of south Asia first. The first most glaring issue remains to be overpopulation and poverty. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh combined have an immense arsenal of people. Indeed, in some areas the quantity of people per square feet are so crowded that you will find 2 families stuffed into one small room.
This problem also expounds on the problem of poverty in the sub continent, when there are so many people in a country so economically challenged, poverty streams from such a nation. The vicious cycle between overpopulation, poverty and a failed economy acts as an ever constant bane adding to the problems of this society. This is because when a whole subcontinent is deprived of the basic necessities of life, how can you expect it to survive in other aspects of the way a subcontinent is supposed to be.
Unlike the European union the south asian sub-continent lacks unity, faith or discipline. The same traits our leaders hoped we would acquire and use in our daily lives. Unfortunately the leaders south Asia has seen over the years following its inception have left the area with no vision and a sense of being lost in time and space, fragmented and intolerant.
It feels as if there is no vision in any of the leaders or the coming new generation as to how to deal with these issues and the fact that illiteracy is rampant in this area does not give its future a very optimistic or positive feel.
Lastly, the ever present blame game that everyone is engaged in leaves the sub continent with a sense of confusion, fragmentation and distrust. When there is no tolerance regarding other peoples view or opinion the nations are always at war with each other and one can see the moral fabric of the society unravelling under the pressure of so much negativism.
So why is it that we are forever so negative about south Asia? Why does it have to be the butt of so many bitter jokes? Why has the patriotism died down?
We should be positive about our subcontinent, our people. There is no other race like us and instead of cursing our fate we should be proud of our individuality.
The culture, food and hospitality of south asians is known across the world. A recent example I would like to quote is from the tv series 'George ka Pakistan' where the first thing he noticed about the people was their hospitality. When his show ended he applied for a Pakistani nationality because he was so taken by the beauty in kindness of the people.
The diversity within the subcontinent is astonishing. There are so many ethnicities, races, religions and traditions that there is never any lack of colour to be seen in terms of variety In the society. There is no one way about things, and this I feel may be a factor of maintaining the tolerance of the people as it exists right now.
One more strength about the people of south Asia that I would like to mention is their tenacity. Their stubbornly unyielding trait of hope, survival and strength to hold onto the things that really matter no matter what their situation is; a family might be on borderline poverty but they will still go out of their way to serve their guests and help out a stranger in need. The begger on the streets will be pleading for his next meal but sit down with him and you'll know how intellectual he is. The people of south Asia are survivors. They know how to make it when they have nothing or they will die trying.
South Asia also has tangible advantages; it is rich in resources and has strategic geographical locations with both land and water access that makes other countries clamoring for a place in its industries.
Lastly, south Asia now is equipped majorly with a huge arsenal of nuclear power at its disposal increasing its status and military power in the whole world.
Thereby, I would like to conclude that South Asia is a rich subcontinent with everlasting potential, and it is upto us to either use its weaknesses to fight our never ending battles or utilize its strengths to raise it out of the ground and rise as victors in the world.
Onaiza Qureshi
I would like to elaborate on the point that south Asia is a large combined continent and has innumerable amounts of advantages and disadvantages both. But it is impossible to count then all due to its sheer size and multi-cultural environment.
Let's take a look at the weaknesses of south Asia first. The first most glaring issue remains to be overpopulation and poverty. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh combined have an immense arsenal of people. Indeed, in some areas the quantity of people per square feet are so crowded that you will find 2 families stuffed into one small room.
This problem also expounds on the problem of poverty in the sub continent, when there are so many people in a country so economically challenged, poverty streams from such a nation. The vicious cycle between overpopulation, poverty and a failed economy acts as an ever constant bane adding to the problems of this society. This is because when a whole subcontinent is deprived of the basic necessities of life, how can you expect it to survive in other aspects of the way a subcontinent is supposed to be.
Unlike the European union the south asian sub-continent lacks unity, faith or discipline. The same traits our leaders hoped we would acquire and use in our daily lives. Unfortunately the leaders south Asia has seen over the years following its inception have left the area with no vision and a sense of being lost in time and space, fragmented and intolerant.
It feels as if there is no vision in any of the leaders or the coming new generation as to how to deal with these issues and the fact that illiteracy is rampant in this area does not give its future a very optimistic or positive feel.
Lastly, the ever present blame game that everyone is engaged in leaves the sub continent with a sense of confusion, fragmentation and distrust. When there is no tolerance regarding other peoples view or opinion the nations are always at war with each other and one can see the moral fabric of the society unravelling under the pressure of so much negativism.
So why is it that we are forever so negative about south Asia? Why does it have to be the butt of so many bitter jokes? Why has the patriotism died down?
We should be positive about our subcontinent, our people. There is no other race like us and instead of cursing our fate we should be proud of our individuality.
The culture, food and hospitality of south asians is known across the world. A recent example I would like to quote is from the tv series 'George ka Pakistan' where the first thing he noticed about the people was their hospitality. When his show ended he applied for a Pakistani nationality because he was so taken by the beauty in kindness of the people.
The diversity within the subcontinent is astonishing. There are so many ethnicities, races, religions and traditions that there is never any lack of colour to be seen in terms of variety In the society. There is no one way about things, and this I feel may be a factor of maintaining the tolerance of the people as it exists right now.
One more strength about the people of south Asia that I would like to mention is their tenacity. Their stubbornly unyielding trait of hope, survival and strength to hold onto the things that really matter no matter what their situation is; a family might be on borderline poverty but they will still go out of their way to serve their guests and help out a stranger in need. The begger on the streets will be pleading for his next meal but sit down with him and you'll know how intellectual he is. The people of south Asia are survivors. They know how to make it when they have nothing or they will die trying.
South Asia also has tangible advantages; it is rich in resources and has strategic geographical locations with both land and water access that makes other countries clamoring for a place in its industries.
Lastly, south Asia now is equipped majorly with a huge arsenal of nuclear power at its disposal increasing its status and military power in the whole world.
Thereby, I would like to conclude that South Asia is a rich subcontinent with everlasting potential, and it is upto us to either use its weaknesses to fight our never ending battles or utilize its strengths to raise it out of the ground and rise as victors in the world.
Onaiza Qureshi
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