PARTLY FACETIOUS: PM’s moustache: is it the Charlie Chaplin moustache?

“What is with the moustache?” “Well let me tell you that in the previous century a moustache was a symbol of masculinity and in the 1900s a symbol of style and sophistication.”

“It is 2023 now.”

“Fashions maybe dated but they do come around don’t they!”

“And fashions differ in different countries.”

“Fashions also differ in different provinces of one country, for example I associate the Baloch moustache with our caretaker prime minister.”

“I am kind of double minded about his moustache – is it the Charlie Chaplin moustache, and need I add the smile and the cat got the canary smugness makes me think Chaplin, or is it the Hitler moustache, not a nice man at all.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Hmmm, anyway I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the preferred moustache should take account of the facial type and the character of the individual, and perhaps the family too…”

“That’s true one can’t simply define the preferred moustache of a province. I mean the caretaker prime minister has one type of moustache, a tame one, while his friend and interior minister has a vastly different kind, untamed and wild reminiscent of the lawless lands and…”

“Really! I always thought that as moustaches go Bugti sahib’s is more flamboyant, perhaps more worthy of a prime minister’s slot.”

“Not when the objective is to appoint a more pliant caretaker prime minister.”

“I forgot that, and you know a son must not think that his dad’s moustache is the way to go. ZiaulHaq’s moustache was kinda like a military moustache right, a man who would fight for what he believes is right, and his son’s imitation, a non-military man, doesn’t sit right on his face.”

“I reckon what Ziaul Haq believed was largely wrong.”

“Yes but you are not the one assessing whether what he believed was right or wrong it is the prerogative of the moustache grower.”

“Right Zardari sahib’s moustache…”

“Has undergone dramatic change after his exposure to politics – from the swirling handlebar moustache of his youth to the….”

“To mirror his changing political fortunes but the other two national leaders are moustache less.”

“Yep I reckon we Punjabis don’t vote for those with a moustache – we are suspicious of facial hair hiding an unsavoury…”

“Sheikh Rashid…”

“One man band that is expected to be dissolved as well.”

“Don’t be facetious.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023