The last few weeks have vacillated between boring and being somewhat amusing. First, of course, Mian Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan travelled all over central Asia and then went off to Oslo where he met Malala Yousafzai and then to somewhere in Russia where he met the Indian PM. On the way back to the land of the pure, Mian sahib stopped over in the land of the two mosques for his yearly perambulation around the holy stone. I hope he completed his mini pilgrimage before the ‘deal’ between Iran and everybody else was announced or else some important member of his entourage might have suffered the fate of the red-capped Pakistani troublemaker. Just to make a point of course. I am sure that our PM probably does not even remember the names of the central Asian countries he visited or the names of their leaders. As far as his trip further north and west is concerned, he probably knew Putin, Malala, Xi of China and Modi. About the rest, who cares anyway? However, I have one beef with the PM. On his way to Norway he should have taken his talented brother, the Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab, along. The CM could have stopped off in Denmark and practiced his Danish. After building all those Danish schools, I am sure the CM must also be pretty good at speaking that language. The other important thing the PM should have done was case the state of the Greek Islands. I am sure these must be going cheap these days. Perhaps the PM and Zardari could together buy a few islands, declare them an independent state and apply for United Nations (UN) membership. Once they have done that, they can live there in peace never having to worry about any prying eyes and probing spies from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The major land developer of Pakistan should definitely facilitate the transfer of the Raiwind estates as well as all the Bilawal houses to the aforementioned Greek islands once they have been acquired. If in time all the financial assets of these two families are utilised appropriately in this new political entity, they could soon become rich enough to buy Greece, all of it!We all know that the Mian sahiban have a very soft corner for President Erdogan of Turkey. Everybody knows that Erdogan is going to rule Turkey forever. So, once the Mian sahiban-Zardari conglomerate has bought Greece, they can then sell it to Turkey. President Erdogan would only be too happy to reverse the results of the Greek War of Independence that happened just a couple of centuries ago. Though, come to think of it, that might be a way out for the Greeks in the first place. As I said a few weeks ago in my article titled ‘Ramazan is here’, (Daily Times, June 20, 2015), everybody worth any mention is going to be abroad until after the festival of the consumption of sweats is over. As it is, the government has announced holidays starting from Friday to next Tuesday. That, of course, means that for all practical purposes Pakistan will be closed down until the end of the next weekend. And since nothing important is expected to happen, especially since (most fortunately) the carnage in Karachi from the excess of heat, humidity and religious piety has abated, the best I can do is confabulate about possibilities. Here, it is important to point out that some of the best and most vivid confabulations occur during the time between severe low blood sugar and the impending loss of consciousness. Fortunately, that undesirable end is prevented by the evening call to prayer. That, for most devout Muslims, of course means about the time I am writing this. Now the one ‘important’ person who is still in Pakistan, the weather notwithstanding, and is probably going to work along with his men throughout the upcoming holidays is our favourite general. There are some mentions of General Sharif being the latest Pakistani version of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. Maybe he is. However, I feel that much of the speculations about such stuff are due to the above-mentioned low blood sugar induced confabulation. However, as far as the anti-establishment ‘brigade’ is concerned, I would indeed like to point out that the army, from the generals all the way down to the foot soldiers, are from us. They are as much a part of this country as the bureaucrats, the tradespeople, the businessmen and the politicians. And that, of course, includes the literati, the glitterati and the talking heads. However, are the members of the armed forces any better than the rest of us? Some might say that they are better because they are giving their lives for the safety and security of the people. I salute them for that but then that is what they signed up for and that is their job. Thanks for a job being done well. And yes, I do wish that I could say the same about members of other branches of our government. That, of course, does not mean that nobody else in this country is doing their job. Having worked for many years in the largest public hospital in Lahore, I can say that I was always impressed by the nurses, the cleaning personnel, the lower staff and the junior doctors who always turned up on time and without whom these great hospitals would not function at all. The problem was always with the people higher up. It is almost sad that the country finds it so extraordinary that the chief of the army is one of the few people in positions of authority who is doing what is expected of him. But does that mean we should ask him to run the entire country? There are many in all segments of society that might welcome such a ‘promotion’. They should not forget the management concept called the Peter Principle. Look it up. The author is a former editor of the Journal of Association of Pakistani descent Physicians of North America (APPNA)