Your writings are always enjoyable.Regarding the Pakistan Cricket team,I am optimist that it will come out of isolation with ease by showing their dominance in the ICC Championship in S.Africa.

Hi Osman!
Welcome to South Africa. I've lived here for `50 years and am third generation Indian and never been stressed with "crime" in this marvellous country . Enjoy our 1 st/ 3rd world country by taking normal precautions that u'd observe any where in the world. Give me a shout and I'd sponsor a shared drink with u anytime in Jo'burg/ Durban.
Rajen:0766581221
0766581221

Welcome to Jozi I hope you enjoy your stay, it's not anywhere near as bad as people make out. You will also find amazing hospitality and friendliness in Jozi, the doomsdayers won't tell you about that one.

Go out and enjoy our unique cultural experience.

"Globalisation hasn't yet fully come to Pakistan".... be thankful, trust me, we'll be living in a post-globalist world in a short while and beautiful it will be.

Hence why we as citizens of the world, need to step outside of our comfort zone/bubble. There is a need in modern times to be globally aware. Ironically its not just us Pakistani's in our own little worlds; ever since I've moved to Chicago, i bump into others who ask where i'm from and my response is well I'm from Karachi but grew up in Dubai. Karachi has apparently made a name for itself, however people ask Dubai? where is that? Montana? I guess the Sheikhs of UAE still need to spend a bit more dough on *ahem* advertising. Globalization FTW.

I loved your article.

Stepping out of isolation- Osman Samiuddin

Osman writes with great humour and wit. His comments about muggings, vampires, world hobo summits etc, are really funny! Wodehouse funny!Irony to the front!
He writes knowingly about the game and the players too ( I have read his many previous articles) Another thing about just this article was his comments about Karachi - the suicide bombings and urban crime. He writes without fuss,simply- yet we all know how chilling it can be. Wish other cricket columnists take a leaf from his 'book'...

C'mon Osman, I normally like your articles, but this one is too far fetched... it feels like reading about an alien country. I live in Pakistan and get to travel abroad frequently (including global business hubs like Dubai, Paris, London, NYC etc.) and I think Pakistan is fast catching up on many fronts. Impressive diffusion of Mobile technology is one recent example. Pakistani kids (if it is an indicator of progress at all) are adept to all kinds of gadgets, latest mobile phones, laptops, video games, digital cameras, etc. Brands like Nokias, X-boxes, and Sonys etc. are always in high demand as gifts among my young cousins and their skill at these always amazes me. I guess you experienced a bit of cultural shock visiting SA for the first time... I hope you soon start noticing the simlarities between Karachi and Johannesburg and not just the differences...!!!

Mr Samiuddin,

Quite an interesting piece..I must say. The world is passing Pakistan by, but as an x-patriate Pakistani, I do hope that we will ultmately catch up, or at least be within sight of it. Your penultimate paragraph is correct, we do "seek comfort of our own and what we know...it may not be the way ahead". We will have to be more tolerant and accepting of others' - opinions and feelings towards us. That is the first step ahead.

Hi Osman,anything +ive u can quote for Pakistan?

Usually Mr. Samiuddin is a very capable writer and does a good job but as a Pakistani I feel that this article is very unfair. Now you will say "I'm just stating the facts and their is pollution and high crime and security risks in Pakistan". But Mr. Samiuddin, here is where u're missing the point. There are tons of reporters inside and outside of Pakistan that already report this. What we need are capable people like you to report what is good with this country. Please understand that currently there is a huge smear campaign running against Pakistan in the world media and it is up to every Pakistani to change that. I'm not saying that we need to distort the facts or for God's sake not state them. All I am saying is please show other side of this country too that is good and is often overlooked.
If u and me are not going to do it then no one will. And that will indeed be a sad day in this beautiful country's reporting history.

Wow. Nice heart felt writing. I can relate to the feelings of the author. Osman, very nice Article. Keep up the good work.

Thanks Osman
It is great to read your experience and perspective, i hope South Africa (and the world) make Pakistan feel welcome and enable them to play their best cricket.
At the same time, i hope the Pakistani players step up and seize the opportunity to impress with skill and tenacity, i hope we dont see argued decisions, walk off's, drug scandals or bad sportmanship. The youth of Pakistan need good role models and to enjoy success.
Go Pakistan !
Paul

Osman

Your piece has that rarest quality in any writing, let alone that of the cricet variety - emotional honesty. Managing to tie in your personal experiences with the recent societal shifts in South Africa and Pakistan was a tour de force, and all in a few paragraphs. Thank you.

David

http://thesillymidoff.blogspot.com/

nice and honest

What you write about traveling while south asian (TWSA?) strikes a chord. I am originally from Sri Lanka and having a Sri Lankan passport is a passport to all sorts of indignities none which I deserve as an individual but am deemed to deserve as an identity.

The narratives of terrorism written outside our shores have included us as characters without our permission all the while we are subjected to violence from within our nations often orchestrated by those narrators outside our nations.

Perhaps we just need to get our act together, open our own borders in South Asia so we can be something like a European Union, promote growth, investment, human rights, rule of law, culture and freedom all of which we don't have to mimic the west to find. Then it will be others who are seeking to get into our borders and not us being told to stay within our own.

The article is welcome. Let Osman simply be the recorder of the times. There is only so far one can go and port the "good"/"other" side. When there none of that to be found let nobody say "But, nobody told us! All was simply fine, wasn't it?". When honest reporting does start reporting the good around us, we will know we all have turned for the better. It is up to all of us to hope and work for us a thing to pass. We really, really need a dose of reality from time to time; however bitter it may be. It does not really matter where it comes from ... "Truth alone wins."

Good job. I appreciate your sensitive piece. To likes of Mr Hassan Khan, I ask for a re-read and understand what Mr Samiuddin is saying. He is neither trying to show the bad side or the good side here. Besides, the world has better things to do then to singularly indulge in a "smear campaign" against Pakistan.

Salam Readers,
I am hard core pak cricket fan, and osman is my fav reporter,I like this article but i have to agree with hassan khan here that we need to bring positive things from pakistan to the public knowlledge,I am in canada but my heart lives in karachi,cricket runs in my blood,but to see bad media for pak team is disheartening.security is bad in india as well but its pakistan who suffers most,so plz be postive about writing anything about pakistan.
I hope pak will do well in this tournament.
Regards
Asim Canada

Dear Osman,

Good Article. It really touched my heart. Being an Indian i also understand how security in such a misapprehended word. Can any country really make full proof security arrangements? No i guess. But sports should never stop in the name of security.And no country should be isolated in the name of security. I look forward to see cricket back in action in Pakistan

Keep the good work!

Excellent post Mr. Samiuddin, I understand the way you feel as I myself felt something similar whilst travelling abroad recently. I especially love the way you start off on a lighter note before coming to the heart of the matter, hope you regularly updae this diary.

On a side note: Please try and increase the frequency of your editorials, there hardly seem to be any these days!

Salam to All,

Dear Paul, it is good that you mentioned Pakistan cricket team should "step up and seize the opportunity to impress with skill and tenacity". World knows of Pakistan Skills and Pakistan just won T20 worldcup if you can remember, and also you mentioned following,
1) Argued decisions (Check the history of Australians for arguments with Umpires specially in India, there are lots of videos of Micheal Slater)
2) Walk off's (Everybody know what was cooking)
3) Drug scandals (At least they went through some trials, unlike many Cricketing giants who never answered for mach fixing)
4) Bad sportmanship (How do you define bad sportsmanship)

Welcome to South Africa and Johannesburg.

I hope you have an enjoyable stay in my country and best of luck to the Pakistan cricket team.

Dont be too scared about crime in Johannesburg. People are very friendly and very helpful and warm.

Have fun in SA!

Part 1: Last year i also went to South Africa for my thesis research and i got similar advice from friends (mostly South Africans). I remember we had to pass through Jo'burg on our way to Kruger park. We were told the central part of the city is a no go zone. Somehow we managed to screw up with the map and lost our way to end up in the Central part. It was after the sunset and at that moment all the scary stories that people had told us about Jo'burg or even the damned tora bora started popping up in the head like over heated pop corns. We were three people in the car; The Bengali Girl was on verge to crying and repeating after every 5 sec "get me out of here", me being the driver was shouting at the Dutch fellow for screwing up with the navigation, and he in return was cursing me for taking a wrong turn somewhere. We were scared to stop the car anywhere and ask for directions. After an hour of circling around in that area we managed to get back on the right track. Later on we were

Part 2: Later on, back in Port Elizabeth, we discussed this incident with out African friends and they all were like "you guys are so lucky". Everyone had a story to tell about their friends uncle, or a friend to their friends aunt, who got mugged in jo'burg, or got shot, or Osman puts it 'got attacked by a vampire'. We three were of the opinion that we didn't see anything different about that place. There were plenty of traffic, plenty of lights, plenty of people having drinks with friends, and all sorts of activities going on. We didn't hear a single gun shot, didn't see someone roaming the streets with a knife in hand, or whatever bad u can think of. To us it seemed like any other place. The scary stories told to us by others had created a sort of ghost town in our heads. No place is crime free, its the image created by others that makes a place feasible and safe. I didn't get a chance to explore and enjoy Jo'burg during that visit, just because of these misconceptions.

When I first read this article, I thought it was written by an indian author! I think we have had enough of such adverse comments about pakistan! Its high time we should talk about more real and practical things like pakistan's development and the better side of this country, yet to be displayed!
Be pakistani.. your name does suggest something to me..

Great word OS, i was debriefed like that as well when i went to SA in 2007 for T20 World Cup from London, honestly i was worried, but the minute you walk out of JBurg airport, everything is fine .... very, very friendly people, Durban is like your in India/Pakistan, JBurg is great for all kind of age group, but my fav. stop was cape town, brilliant city .... Well Done SA, keep up the good work, will come back again for Sure !!!!

An excellent article that describes the authors personal feelings. Of course other in Pakistan and South Africa may have totally different personal feelings. What I hope this article will encourage is to allow everyone to move outside their own comfort zones and explore and understand the variety of people and cultures that exist. There is plenty of good everywhere if only people look.

Great article keep them coming . . .
Always keen to hear about my home country

Osman Samiuddin can WRITE. And that's not something you can say about all (or even most) cricket correspondents. Someone who can situate what they are writing about within the broader context of social intercourse, thereby confirming the verity of CLR James' interrogative aphorism - "What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?"

Osman, pls speak for yourself. The phrases 'coming out of isolation' and 'world is passing Pakistan by' indicate that you are seriously deluded or have never bothered to explore other parts of the world. This is not a nationalist view at all but the result of objective observation - and one that I consider myself qualified to make. I grew up and started my career in Karachi and am currently involved in an expat assignment in one of the major financial capitals. During my travels over the last 10 years, the only continent that I have not visited is probably Antartica. I visit the homeland at least 3/4 times a year and each time am amazed at how fast the country is moving forward despite all the various troubles. Another interesting observation: for some reason, people in Pakistan are way ahead (economically, socially, etc) than the majority of the Pakistani diaspora. We seem to export our mediocrity. Wonder why? And yes, regretably there is currently a major perception war on-accept it.

A very mature article. Great pleasure to read. As an Indian can understand the feelings of many of your Pakistani readers. But if things are to change for the better in Pakistan it has to be through people power.

Excellent writing for Cricinfo, and I believe subjectivity is allowed, despite calls from your fellow countrymen to "state the positives". Forgetting the insecurities (which perhaps reflect a truth known deep down) of a few, I loved your account of the transition from one country to another.

Osman's articles have always been very objective and mature. I really loved the way he described about setting up the in-flight TV!
About fitness, I suppose everyone has to take note of the amazing South Africans!