“Charactor”, sayth Victor Hugo, “is destiny”. And a greater than Hugo hath said: “It is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are thus and thus”.

By the shear energy of his character, Mr Barack Obama is the President (elect) of the United States of America. What a theme and what a team, he had put together, for his election. It is unprecedented in history. His agenda: Collective wisdom, not just conventional wisdom. He was just two years, three weeks and four days old when Rev. Martin Luther King had declared his dream. The dream, which foresaw the apparition of the brotherhood possibility of American peoples – across the skin color divide.

Although Mr. Barack Obama was, at that time, in Hawaii, thousands of miles away, but it seems, he heard the message, loud and clear. His family did not have the choice or tradition of any astrologer, much less a royal one. So his grandmother resolved to be his guardian angel. She committed herself to groom Obama, to perfection – bound only by the human limitations.

As an exceptional mentor to her favorite ward, she ingrained into his character, a magical element: To convert the very basic but base trait of anger into intellectual energy – as his first nature. Just two days before the elections she felt relieved of her anguish and anxiety and flew back to high heavens, to report: “Mission Accomplished as ordained and destined”. For as long as human race habitats this planet hereinafter, it would resound her legacy: Yes! We can!

Her ward aimed at the Moon, and has landed far beyond at the rainbow of hope. The White House, during the forthcoming days, is going to be quite harsh and hostile though. The rainbow shall have to wait for the fair weather. Bill Maher, the great American satirist, recently exhibited quite a restraint regarding the mentally challenged persons while describing political elite. He however, did not make any reference to the former US Secretary of Defense. That gentleman was “stabbed” in an in-house shootout!

The fact is this whole globe is financially challenged. President Obama and his teams, shall be facing formidable challenges, and expectations to set the global fiscal house in order. And that too, on-the-double. He would need the lot of willing and able collaborators from all corners of this globe. Please don’t say: Globes do not have corners. This one does have, quite a few, at this point of time.

Lord Weinstock of United Kingdom had once demonstrated yet another example for the upwards mobile personalities. “Marry the boss’s daughter, if you can, as a first step to ascendance”. He himself did marry his would be boss’s daughter. Barack Obama had gone a leap forward. He married the boss herself. The married man and woman usually strive to become one. The problem starts when the choice is to be made: Which one? In case of President Obama, this is not the issue. He can be at two places, at the same time. First Lady Michelle Obama is the flip side of the same coin and mettle.

I whish Ephraim Kishon was alive. He would have truly appreciated the career sacrifice Rahm Emanuel has made, by accepting a silhouette position in the White House. Even he would have prayed: “Baruch   Hu   u’varuch   shmo” and his lot would have said Amen.

Ground realities in Afghanistan have been mentioned in the dispatches by several allied commanders. New CENTCOM Commander, General David H. Patraeus does have the benefit of empirically evolved “New Approach”, as in Iraq. And that could also be adopted in Afghanistan, with a few adjustments. He also has a translucent concept of the situation in the tribal territory of Pakistan.

It is stated Afghanistan and its complex affairs in Pakistani border territory, shall warrant anew vigorous engagement of Obama administration. A single crucial factor merits in-depth scouting. Let us explore, if it is the topography of the regional terrain? Afghanistan, Fata and Kashmir seem to have almost identical contours. The mountainous ranges and vales. Kashmir happens to a be the replica of perceived heaven on earth, while Afghanistan and Fata are desolate wilderness. The respective cultures, too, are as diverse as their landscapes, although all three have foreign occupation in common. Ferociously guarded tribal turfs, tongues and traditions are defined by geographical features. Several invaders of the past, did pass through Afghanistan to plunder the fabled prosperity of India. Most of them did have a base camp in Kabul. They came, they saw (the ground realities) and they did not choose to conquer!

>All the above could be summed up by a single natural element: the scarcity of surface and groundwater resource. The abundance of which created Kashmir.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden alongwith Senator Lugar has already moved a bipartisan $ 7.5 b package for Pakistan. President-elect Obama is one of the sponsors of this incentive. That is microscopic amount compared to American corporate stimulus or recurring defense budget allocations. If disbursed with due diligence, it shall accrue the highest cost / benefit ratio, here, by any standards.

This scribe has no idea about the money matters. Being a semi-literate and semi-skilled technologist, I do have a wish list for sustainable & visible transformation of the landscape in Pakistan. It does not involve hard-pressed American tax payers’ precious dollars. It is just the gratuity of elementary knowledge. It could all be dispensed just by a single DVD supported by dedicated virtual superintendence.

My wish list is almost thirteen to a dozen. I would present the details, on these pages, if solicited. Even otherwise, I’ll submit them on January 20, 2009.