Given the moon’s metaphorical standing in poetry, Pakistanis may not be interested in degrading the moon’s respectful position by landing on it. However, other nations have no respect for such metaphorical standing, for India has enrolled itself in that list by landing on the moon recently.

Come to think of it, one wonders if landing on the moon is really a great achievement. Will it improve the lives of the common man in that country? Many countries wealthier than India have no interest in such publicity stunts. Personally, I think a country’s success can be gauged not by landing on the moon, or by the number of its citizens leading multinational companies, but by the improvement in overall living standards a country has ensured for its people. India is still far behind on that index.

Indians are still migrating to other countries for a better life, right? When a country’s citizens prefer to live somewhere else for a better life, it makes the propagated story of success doubtful. This is not to slight their successes on some fronts, but to point out that India is still far behind many on the social front. Its citizens are still desperate to leave India; maybe not as desperate as Pakistanis are, but still, they prefer to leave their country. Sometime ago, Canadian authorities found the bodies of an Indian family who were trying to enter the United States from Canada in temperatures that were 30 degrees below Celsius.

This is not a one-off story. Many Indian students have entered Canada through fake admission letters. Such incidents show that Indian society is still not liveable for many. Moon landing will not change these basic and undeniable facts.

Shakeel Nizamani

Calgary, Canada