Two huge thunderstorms, preceded by the winds howling like banshees, signaled as it were the last gasp, the flicker before the flame, of the great south Asian monsoon. In Islamabad and Lahore the damage to the power lines by the falling trees was substantial enough to cut the power for about 3 hours. I had a deadline report to complete so I counted the early hours last week on September 23. The monsoons have been great this time and the basmati rice fields look a brilliant emerald green; else where in the Salt range hills, the rains have given the farmers a bumper crop of corn. Early mornings bring a mist in the Margalla hills around Islamabad; the slight nip in the air brings out the crowds in the small markets in the cities of Lahore and Karachi. Autumn is in the air. Autumn leaves are falling ……… The birds are no longer fly straight to avoid the heat ; they make great arcs in the sky and sit perched in the sun chattering away.

If you are ever in south Asia and rained in by the classical sub-continental monsoon, the best way to relax is to pick up a copy of the most delightful travel book by Alexander Frater "Chasing The Monsoon" by Penguin Books 1990. The monsoon was recorded as early as 100 B.C in a classic epic work called "Meghaduta" by Kalidasa in the court of Vikramaditya . In Assam there is a town called Cherrapunji, which holds the world record for most rain [average 30 feet, maximum was 70 feet in 1876] , whilst nearby Shillong gets only five feet. Near-by is a state called "Meghalaya" meaning the abode of the clouds, also home to the matriarchal Khasi tribe. In south India in Kerala, the monsoon is the time when the Ayurvedic physicians start their famous Oil massage cures, which are known to cure every ailment of stress related diseases.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s writings of human tragedies in South America [ The General in his Labyrinth ] are full of tyrants, old men , who never step down, who rule behind a double [ Saddam Hussein], and their corruption of absolute power resonates with similar parallels of the khaki military dictators of south Asia notably Pakistan and Bangla Desh. The color Khaki means dust-colored [note the origin of the word from "Khak" meaning the dust /earth]. In 1847 after defeating Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Sikh armies, the troops of the British East India Company’s [Company Bahadur] Infantry and Cavalry moved to establish their control over the Pathan tribes. It became apparent (thanks to the marksmanship of the Pathan tribesmen), that it was necessary to adopt a color other than scarlet/red coats and blue hats of the British East India Company Bahadur fighting men. So Sir Henry Lawrence wanted a color that would make the "Guides" Cavalry and Infantry " invisible in the land of dust". Thus a dye made from the local dwarf palm was used to treat the pale, drab, yellow green military uniform, which has since become the staple of the Indian and Pakistan Armies.

Ironically the khaki color was supposed to make the British and subsequently the Indian and Pakistani army soldiers invisible. The army dictators continue to eat up about 60% of the total budget, another 30 % goes to paying the international debt, and the last 10 % is spent on the [ under ?] development projects .

In south Asian countries, the people have been turned into willing accomplices [ Huge dams, railways that do not run, roads that in the words of the Indian Prime Minister, when on a visit to Bihar, remarked to the Chief Minister – " Hum ne to sunna tha key sarkon mein khadey hotey hain , aap ney to khuday mein say sarak nikal di hai—" we had heard that roads had pot holes , but you have shown us that a road can be laid in a pot hole. Bihar state is perhaps a Guiness Book of World record holder where roads actually disappear in the night – i.e. the bitumen road surface is stolen]. Defense contracts exposed by the Telhelka.com video tapes again show the dark side of a ruling class only interested in lining their own pockets.

According to the "weekly Independent" about US $ 1 billion are involved in Corporate Pakistan military loss running operations. These range from nepotism in Banking [Askari Bank ], land grabbing in the Defence Housing schemes in all major cities, duty free goods in CSD stores, PAFWA - air-force womens association, Navy’s Bahria housing schemes in Islamabad, - Fauji Foundation, Fauji Cereals, etc. Our Khaki Patriarch’s mother ironically is a real liberal, an ex-Communist Party follower and lives quietly in Islamabad.

The latest Khaki mis-adventures are the "Okara" military farms near Sahiwal, a tale of peasant cultivator oppression by the Khakis. The Kalabagh Dam and the Thal canal are planned future misadventures that appear on the horizon and threaten the vary existence of the entire people in the Sind province . The lack of Indus water will mean that the Arabian Sea will enter and destroy agriculture in the Sind province coastal regions . The dam also affects areas of the NWFP province. It is surprising that given the large investments involved in the big dams [ 1-3 billion US $] , the government and the farmers still have not looked into drip irrigation or sprinkler irrigation as an alternative to conserving water and reclaiming the saline lands.

Garcia Marquez’s Autumn of the Patriarch is a tale common to all Dictators . Recently a day of mourning for General Zia reminded one of a tale similar to Garcia’s book where