From theYear of the Tiger to the Year of the Rabbit!

In East Asia, when people want to know about your age they ask you what animal sign you were born in?(Actually, the first question you will get in Korea is about your age, whether you know a person or not!) This gives them a very clear answer to guess your birth year. If somebody is born in the Year of the Tiger then the only choices are: 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950, 1938, 1926, 1914, and 1902. We had a whole chapter in our Korean language book about its origin (a legend), the way it works and what it symbolizes. It was my first time to learn about the Lunar Calender and the Zodiac signs in so much detail.

I am not interested in astrology nevertheless, it is intriguing and when growing up, I saw all my friends glued to various newspapers at the library in early morning hours and discussing how their day would be like...after reading the predictions.

Now back to the two years - 2010(Tiger) and 2011(Rabbit)-a brief overview of them and lets' see what it meant or will mean for Pakistan?

Year of the Tiger (Feb.14, 2010-Feb.3, 2011) symbolizes aggressiveness.

Tiger Years are third in the cycle of Chinese Zodiac and recur every twelfth year. The Lunar New Year does not fall on a specific date, so it is essential to check the calendar to find the exact date on which the year actually begins.

Tiger is a sign of courage and is one of the most dynamic signs . Tiger as a fearless and fiery fighter is revered by the ancient Chinese as the sign that wards off the three main disasters of a household: fire, thieves and ghosts. On New Year's day itself, it is beneficial to celebrate, to be happy, to have smiling faces, and to refrain from scowling, quarreling, or criticizing anyone.

Aggressiveness can be positive and negative; I would rather touch upon the positive aggressiveness. 2010 turned out to be a great year for Pakistani women in sports. They were indeed fearless, courageous and agressive and brought medals from international arenas as cricket, squash, track and field, mountaineering, karate, taekwondo, international cricket umpiring and I’m surly missing out a lot!

Year of the Rabbit(Feb 3, 2011-Jan.22, 2012)symbolizes talent.

During this year, good taste and refinement will shine on everything and people will acknowledge that persuasion is better than force, its a sign that is discreet and accomodating.It seldom confronts and seeks peace. The influence of the Rabbit tends to spoil those who like too much comfort and thus impair their effectiveness and sense of duty.

Law and order will be lax; rules and regulations will not be rigidly enforced. No one seems very inclined to bother with these unpleasant realities and would take everything easy(this reminds me of the fact that we have been having the Year of the Rabbit for a couple of years in Pakistan.).

On a postive note, I would love to see how Pakistan will strike a balance this year?

I hope for a tolerant, calm, composed and a more stable 2011 for Pakistan.