"Hope is a dangerous thing; Hope can drive a man insane," Morgan Freeman muttered heavily in his 1994 Hollywood epic The Shawshank Redemption as he expressed his resignation over fate.
More than fifteen years later, and several thousand miles away, Freemans sighs are heard in the voices of millions of Pakistanis.
And the reasons are obvious: weak institutions, soaring consumer prices, faltering real incomes, increasing burden of debt, political uncertainty, rampant corruption and widespread socio-economic disparity in a country marred by the war against terror.
The Global Barometer on Net Hope released by Gallup Pakistan this week also unveils this gloomy picture. According to the survey, in which participants were asked about their view of economic situation in 2011, only 13 percent of Pakistanis polled said they were optimistic, while 34 percent said they expected much worse.
While the measurement of hope may remain a debatable subject, the fact that citizens of other war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Iraq are much more hopeful than Pakistan, reflects that the menace of pessimism is more pervasive in Pakistan.
And knowing that hope has been the single most influential driver of positive change ever since humanity dawned upon this world, one can expect these fears to materialise inevitably.
Those holding a limited view of life might be quick to retort that this despair mainly comes from low income levels. But data from the survey smack this view.
Globally, hope is highly concentrated among the rising economic powers, the BRIC economies. "In sharp contrast the Hope Score for the Rich countries of the world, known as the G7 (USA, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, and Japan) is in the negative: minus 19 percent. Among them, the Pessimists outscore the Hopefuls by 19 percentage points," the report said.
This clearly shows that hope and income are not directly proportional. In fact if there is anything that parents hope it is desire - the desire to achieve, to excel, to change, to overcome the boundaries and to realise the full potential of oneself.
Call it actualising Iqbals Khudi, or becoming Nietzsches Ubermensch (superman), the idea is to achieve - the seeds of which lie in desire.
If your heart is not deceived by the mirage of the desert, be not proud of the sharpness of your understanding; for your freedom from this optical illusion is due to your imperfect thirst.
This implies that if "you had a vehement desire for drink, the sands of the desert would have given you the impression of a lake. Your freedom from the illusion is due to the absence of a keen desire for water," elaborates Iqbal in one Persian couplet. For dejected Pakistanis - whatever walk of life they walk - this could be the panacea of sorts.
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