Downside Up

A world upside down may do South Asia a lot of good. This is a place where a lot of not-so-nicethings are happening with no one able to do anything about it. Perhaps the sheer act of turning things topsy turvy on the map will help us right our collective bearings, and the way we think of our terrain, ourselves, and our neighbours.

Think of it this way: Pakistan has always thought of India – as the enemy to the east. Suddenly, north is south, east is west, and the enemy is just not there! This is just a taste of how things will change. In the Universe within which the earth spins, the North. Pole and the South Pole are equally important. But because the Northerners monopolised science, history, cartography and astronomy, we Southerners are relegated to the nether world. Actually, of course, there is no reason why what is presently North should monopolise the top of the page. Actually, there is no reason why the top of the page should necessarily be 'good', but let that be. If we cannot change the goody-goody image of top of page, for now we will simply change the configuration of what goes in there—we will turn the map downside up, reverse the text to be right side up, and sit back and watch the fun.