“The deal…”
“Stop right there. The Khan is standing tall behind the deal.”
“The Khan is a tall man – you can do what you will but he cannot ever be labeled as a small man. Your heroes – the Sharifs are all small men…”
“The opposite of tall is short not small! The opposite of small is…”
“Hey this is The Khan era and there is focused engagement on redefining a few critical words…”
“Which are?”
“Mafia, thief, blackmail, NRO…”
“Stop, anyway The Khan was standing tall during the previous two deals made with the TLP and…”
“A German proverb comes to mind: never to forsake your ideals is better than dreaming of great things.”
“That’s Western decadent thought totally inapplicable to our character. Let me quote a Chinese proverb: When the deal is done, discuss it no more; it is difficult to collect dispersed water.”
“Hmmm…”
“What about an Arabic proverb? Would that do?”
“Yes of course that would do in our new Pakistan.”
“OK, so here goes: know each other as if you were brothers.”
“There you go, that’s the right one - we are all Muslims, brothers – it may take us a while to get to know our limits and that of our brothers.”
“Six times…”
“Hush.”
“Anyway you didn’t let me quote the entire proverb: know each other as if you were brothers; negotiate deals as if you were strangers to each other…hello? Hello you still there?”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021