Sunday spoiler

Sunday spoiler

By Mazhar Khan Jadoon

It was a relaxing Sunday morning coupled with budding trees and mellow spring breeze that soothes one’s nerves enough to forget, though for some moments, the agitating urban business. Sipping from my large mug of tea with all the daily newspapers spread in front me, I was planning for the day ‑ after all it was a Sunday morning and the mere thought that I am not going to office made me feel great. Suddenly the door bell started shrieking, interrupting my thoughts and creating ripples in the cosy environ I was trying to create for myself.
“Hello you moron journalist,” said my friend as he entered my room pushing aside all the newspapers I was preparing myself to read. My visiting friend was one of the worst things I was expecting on that morning as I could not fit him anywhere in my scheme of things for the day. “You never miss a chance to spoil my Sunday,” I retorted ignoring his greetings.
“Bear with me for spoiling your Sunday just like I am bearing with you for spoiling the lives of millions of Pakistanis like me,” now was his turn to hit back.
“How the hell do you think I am spoiling your life,” I enquired.
Adjusting himself into the couch in front of me, he settled for a debate that he imposed on me, ignoring all my gestures that meant for him to buzz off. “The media, both print and electronic, has made our lives bitter. They are bombarding us with all the detesting information and torturing reports with harrowing visuals that we don’t need at all. We are exposed to too much information that has injected our lives with uncalled for depression and gloom,” my friend started with a charge-sheet against the media, bugging me for being a part of the media.
“It is right of the people to know. Knowledge gives you powers, and the human beings of this information-technology era are more informed and better placed. You must thank media and the latest technology for that,” I explained boastfully.
“That is why I call you moron because you think an over-informed being is more comfortable and happy. You see, the report of a bomb blast in a remote town of Iraq thousands of kilometres away from Lahore plunges me into despair. That report with visuals of bodies drenched in blood turn my life into hell. Why am I tortured with what is happening there? Why are you tormenting my family and kids with all kinds of horrible news and pictures on TV channels and newspapers? You have desensitized us to human feelings and sufferings,” an upset friend of mine kept charging.
As I picked up a newspaper to avoid his ire, he started looking out of the window silently. His silent proved a respite for me ‑ but for a while. Pointing to people working across the street, he broke his silence and peace in the room. “The poor labourer working outside your house fails to invoke any feeling of compassion in my heart. Only the pieces of his body will make me feel sad for him. We are no more humans. We are callous, desensitized beings just like other animals. We fall into boredom when we don’t hear of blasts, bodies and destructions for a few days. And everything bad makes a news for you to sell. It is your business to trap gullible public into the information web, telling them everything that makes them unhappy,” now he was in pensive depression.
He waited in silence for me to say something, but I pretended reading a newspaper to wind up the debate, ignoring his brainteasers.
“A blast in Iraq, civilians’ killings in Afghanistan, floods in China and India, earthquake in Haiti, protests and bloody clashes in Kashmir, people dying of hunger is Africa – all contribute to poisoning our lives. I carry the burden of all this information day and night – depression all day and nightmares all night.”
“What kind of knowledge and how much information do we need to live a happy life,” he questioned. “I don’t know,” I replied knowing the fact he always has answers for his questions.
“I tell you. We need the right and authentic knowledge to make this life happy and comfortable for us and those living around us by finding solutions. Stop blowing issues out of proportion, start finding solutions. Our Prophet (PBUH) had sought Allah’s refuge against knowledge that is not useful,” he informed me getting up to leave as he concluded his debate on yet another Sunday morning.
Now I am alone in my room with a pile of newspapers offering all kinds of reports. Though I could not agree with my friend’s narrative, I dumped all the newspapers in the store without reading as I did not want my Sunday to be spoiled.