Ysa Chandna
Representing Pakistan at Georgetown University in Washington, DC
The following is a transcript of the speech that night.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming here tonight. My name is Ysa Chandna and I am here to represent my country, Pakistan.
When Karen e-mailed me, and asked if I could represent Pakistan, I was delighted! But then I read the e-mail completely, and read that she wrote I had under 3 minutes to do so!
I worriedly thought to myself, well, how do I represent a country like Pakistan in 3 minutes? But then I thought to myself, to introduce you to Pakistan through an old tradition which exists in our mountains.
This tradition is of the “3 cups of teas”. When we meet for the first time, and we share a cup of tea, to me, you cease to be a stranger. When you chance upon me for a second time, and together in my mountains we share another cup of tea, you become not only my honoured guest but also my friend. If destiny holds, if fate holds, and you and I meet one more time. With that third cup of tea, you become my family!
Ladies and gentlemen, we do not have the time for three cups of teas. However, tonight, let my three minutes metaphorically represent each one cup of tea.
Well, how does a student of Foreign Service introduce a subject to you? We only know one way--- we go back to the basics, back to history. These three men are the founding fathers of Pakistan. The photo on your far left is of the Founder of Pakistan’s National Movement, Choudhary Rahmat Ali. He had a brilliant concept--- one which combined the civilisations which settled on either side of the Indus River. His concept was to merge together the peoples and the martial races of Central Asia, of the Middle East and of South Asia into one country. The name he gave that country was Pakistan.
As you know, Afghanistan means the Land of the Afghans. Kazakhstan, the Land of the Kazakhs. Turkmenistan the Land of the Turkmens. Pakistan means the Land of the Pure. Pak means Pure and –istan “the land of.”
The photo in the center is that of our National Poet & Philosopher, Sir Alama Iqbal. He gave the concept of Choudhary Rahmat Ali a structure and an ideology. He gave the peoples of this new nation the codes of conduct, on how they would behave with each other, and how the state would behave with them. How the society will be structured.
So now we had a concept and it had structures. The photo on your far right is that of our Founder, Quaid-i-Azam Mohamed Ali Jinnah. Quaid-i-Azam literally translates into The Great Leader. He founded Pakistan in 1947 and gave the concept and ideological structures a reality.
This new nation had a beautiful culture and people. Pakistan is a huge country with a lot of diverse cultures. Pakistan is the home to many religions including Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism. And Pakistan has a lot of ethnicities that make Pakistan the great country it is. We have the Baluch, the brave people, from the southwest mountains of Pakistan. We have the Pathans, the proud and fierce people, from the northwest mountains of Pakistan. We have the Gilgitis and the Baltis, with a land so beautiful that the Walt Disney Corporation actually approached Pakistan and proposed to make a Disneyland there. We have the Kashmiris, perhaps the most beautiful land in all of Asia. We have the Punjabis, with a culture so rich that perhaps they are unparalleled. And we have the Sindhis, with some of the most beautiful music and delicious foods. Together they make the country of Pakistan.
Now its people have gave this country many achievements. I cannot hope to go through all of them in one single night, let alone in one slide, so I will introduce you to some of my own personal inspirations. What you see on the top left-hand corner is the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam, the founder of Pakistan. We boast of some of the most beautiful architecture in not only all of Asia but also all across the world! Underneath that, you have the photo of my favourite band, the Vital Signs. They were the pioneers of pop music in Pakistan and their tracks are still widely heard today! Underneath the photo of Vital Signs is the photo of Dr. Abdus Salam. He was not only the only Pakistani but also the only Muslim to ever win the Nobel Prize.
In the second column, we start with the photo of Amir Khan. How many of you are familiar with boxing? Well, Amir Khan is the top boxing champion of the world right now, and he is from Pakistan! On December the 10th, he comes to Washington DC to face off one of your American boxing legends, Lamont Peterson. I will definitely be there, I also hope to see you all there! Underneath the photo of Amir Khan, is the photo of Pakistan Army soldiers kissing their Cambrian Patrol Gold Medals. Cambrian Patrol exercise is the most grueling exercise devised by any army of the world. 100 Armies Contended. The Men at Their Best won it! I will come to the photo at the end of the page at the very end. Because that is a photo that is very important.
In the third column is the photo of the charismatic Imran Khan. He is the only Pakistan Cricket Team captain to have ever won us the glory of the World Cup in 1992! Underneath the photo of Imran Khan is the photo of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, he is the father of our nuclear energy. In the fourth and final column is the photo of Jehangir Khan. He dominated the World Squash Championship for decades. It was either he who won it, or his successor Jaan Sher Khan, another Pakistani. Underneath the photo of the Squash Champion is my personal favourite, Shoaib Akhtar. He is the greatest, the fastest bowler in the world. And in this photo, there is a cultural dance prepared in his honour.
Now coming back to the final photo at the bottom of the page. It is the photo of a man who is drowning in the floods which struck my country last year. He knows not how to swim, but he does the only thing he does know. He holds the flag of Pakistan high and proud above his head. This, ladies and gentlemen, I believe is the greatest achievement of Pakistan. The resiliency of its people. We suffer many adversities, but each time we bounce back stronger than we went down.
This also brings me to my next slide. Pakistan faces many challenges. We suffer from natural disasters. We have suffered some of the worst natural disasters in the world. We have suffered from earthquakes and we have suffered from aftermath landslides. We have suffered from floods. But along with natural disasters, we suffer from poverty. We, now, face yet another challenge. The challenge of terrorism. I will keep this presentation apolitical and will not go into details. But that is because the people of Pakistan are apolitical. The girl you see in the photo has nothing to do with politics, but at the end of the day, it is the common people of Pakistan that are suffering. They are the victims of the challenges we face. There is an American author, Greg Mortenson, who travelled throughout Pakistan and he wrote, “When you fight terrorism. Your fight is based in fear. But if you promote peace, that is based in hope!” That is what the people of Pakistan need, peace and hope.
Before we have our final cup of tea, which will bond us tonight as one family, I would like to remind you of one of the verse of our national poet. I will translate it shortly after.
Tundi-i-baad-i-mukhalif sey nah ghabra, Aye Auqab!
Yeh toh chalti heyn tujhey ucha uraney kay liye!
Translated that means, “O’ Hawk, Fear not the winds which billow towards you.
They blow to make you fly higher!”
Ladies and gentlemen, Pakistan is on the road to its recovery. The crescent of Pakistan will rise higher than it has ever risen before. That is inevitable. It will happen. Now that we are family, I urge you to become a part of its success. For those who support it today, will be proud of Pakistan tomorrow.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Pakistan Zindabad.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Representing Pakistan
XA-I American Friends Program
at
School of Foreign Service in DC
Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia
United States of America
.
.
.
.
.
Ysa Chandna
Representing Pakistan at Georgetown University in Washington, DC
The following is a transcript of the speech that night.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming here tonight. My name is Ysa Chandna and I am here to represent my country, Pakistan.
When Karen e-mailed me, and asked if I could represent Pakistan, I was delighted! But then I read the e-mail completely, and read that she wrote I had under 3 minutes to do so!
I worriedly thought to myself, well, how do I represent a country like Pakistan in 3 minutes? But then I thought to myself, to introduce you to Pakistan through an old tradition which exists in our mountains.
This tradition is of the “3 cups of teas”. When we meet for the first time, and we share a cup of tea, to me, you cease to be a stranger. When you chance upon me for a second time, and together in my mountains we share another cup of tea, you become not only my honoured guest but also my friend. If destiny holds, if fate holds, and you and I meet one more time. With that third cup of tea, you become my family!
Ladies and gentlemen, we do not have the time for three cups of teas. However, tonight, let my three minutes metaphorically represent each one cup of tea.
Well, how does a student of Foreign Service introduce a subject to you? We only know one way--- we go back to the basics, back to history. These three men are the founding fathers of Pakistan. The photo on your far left is of the Founder of Pakistan’s National Movement, Choudhary Rahmat Ali. He had a brilliant concept--- one which combined the civilisations which settled on either side of the Indus River. His concept was to merge together the peoples and the martial races of Central Asia, of the Middle East and of South Asia into one country. The name he gave that country was Pakistan.
As you know, Afghanistan means the Land of the Afghans. Kazakhstan, the Land of the Kazakhs. Turkmenistan the Land of the Turkmens. Pakistan means the Land of the Pure. Pak means Pure and –istan “the land of.”
The photo in the center is that of our National Poet & Philosopher, Sir Alama Iqbal. He gave the concept of Choudhary Rahmat Ali a structure and an ideology. He gave the peoples of this new nation the codes of conduct, on how they would behave with each other, and how the state would behave with them. How the society will be structured.
So now we had a concept and it had structures. The photo on your far right is that of our Founder, Quaid-i-Azam Mohamed Ali Jinnah. Quaid-i-Azam literally translates into The Great Leader. He founded Pakistan in 1947 and gave the concept and ideological structures a reality.
This new nation had a beautiful culture and people. Pakistan is a huge country with a lot of diverse cultures. Pakistan is the home to many religions including Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism. And Pakistan has a lot of ethnicities that make Pakistan the great country it is. We have the Baluch, the brave people, from the southwest mountains of Pakistan. We have the Pathans, the proud and fierce people, from the northwest mountains of Pakistan. We have the Gilgitis and the Baltis, with a land so beautiful that the Walt Disney Corporation actually approached Pakistan and proposed to make a Disneyland there. We have the Kashmiris, perhaps the most beautiful land in all of Asia. We have the Punjabis, with a culture so rich that perhaps they are unparalleled. And we have the Sindhis, with some of the most beautiful music and delicious foods. Together they make the country of Pakistan.
Now its people have gave this country many achievements. I cannot hope to go through all of them in one single night, let alone in one slide, so I will introduce you to some of my own personal inspirations. What you see on the top left-hand corner is the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam, the founder of Pakistan. We boast of some of the most beautiful architecture in not only all of Asia but also all across the world! Underneath that, you have the photo of my favourite band, the Vital Signs. They were the pioneers of pop music in Pakistan and their tracks are still widely heard today! Underneath the photo of Vital Signs is the photo of Dr. Abdus Salam. He was not only the only Pakistani but also the only Muslim to ever win the Nobel Prize.
In the second column, we start with the photo of Amir Khan. How many of you are familiar with boxing? Well, Amir Khan is the top boxing champion of the world right now, and he is from Pakistan! On December the 10th, he comes to Washington DC to face off one of your American boxing legends, Lamont Peterson. I will definitely be there, I also hope to see you all there! Underneath the photo of Amir Khan, is the photo of Pakistan Army soldiers kissing their Cambrian Patrol Gold Medals. Cambrian Patrol exercise is the most grueling exercise devised by any army of the world. 100 Armies Contended. The Men at Their Best won it! I will come to the photo at the end of the page at the very end. Because that is a photo that is very important.
In the third column is the photo of the charismatic Imran Khan. He is the only Pakistan Cricket Team captain to have ever won us the glory of the World Cup in 1992! Underneath the photo of Imran Khan is the photo of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, he is the father of our nuclear energy. In the fourth and final column is the photo of Jehangir Khan. He dominated the World Squash Championship for decades. It was either he who won it, or his successor Jaan Sher Khan, another Pakistani. Underneath the photo of the Squash Champion is my personal favourite, Shoaib Akhtar. He is the greatest, the fastest bowler in the world. And in this photo, there is a cultural dance prepared in his honour.
Now coming back to the final photo at the bottom of the page. It is the photo of a man who is drowning in the floods which struck my country last year. He knows not how to swim, but he does the only thing he does know. He holds the flag of Pakistan high and proud above his head. This, ladies and gentlemen, I believe is the greatest achievement of Pakistan. The resiliency of its people. We suffer many adversities, but each time we bounce back stronger than we went down.
This also brings me to my next slide. Pakistan faces many challenges. We suffer from natural disasters. We have suffered some of the worst natural disasters in the world. We have suffered from earthquakes and we have suffered from aftermath landslides. We have suffered from floods. But along with natural disasters, we suffer from poverty. We, now, face yet another challenge. The challenge of terrorism. I will keep this presentation apolitical and will not go into details. But that is because the people of Pakistan are apolitical. The girl you see in the photo has nothing to do with politics, but at the end of the day, it is the common people of Pakistan that are suffering. They are the victims of the challenges we face. There is an American author, Greg Mortenson, who travelled throughout Pakistan and he wrote, “When you fight terrorism. Your fight is based in fear. But if you promote peace, that is based in hope!” That is what the people of Pakistan need, peace and hope.
Before we have our final cup of tea, which will bond us tonight as one family, I would like to remind you of one of the verse of our national poet. I will translate it shortly after.
Tundi-i-baad-i-mukhalif sey nah ghabra, Aye Auqab!
Yeh toh chalti heyn tujhey ucha uraney kay liye!
Translated that means, “O’ Hawk, Fear not the winds which billow towards you.
They blow to make you fly higher!”
Ladies and gentlemen, Pakistan is on the road to its recovery. The crescent of Pakistan will rise higher than it has ever risen before. That is inevitable. It will happen. Now that we are family, I urge you to become a part of its success. For those who support it today, will be proud of Pakistan tomorrow.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Pakistan Zindabad.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Representing Pakistan
XA-I American Friends Program
at
School of Foreign Service in DC
Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia
United States of America
.
.
.
.
.
Ysa Chandna