Life is enjoyable even without a TV or a computer. It may sound ridiculous for those who have to cross the 50-year mark, but the fact is life can be gloriously peaceful and wonderful. No glaring headlines, no viruses, no idiotic commercials pushing things down my throat, which I do not need which they, claim will make my life better. Life is so much simpler and enjoyable.
Evenings spent in the garden tending to nature or meeting people you wish to, mornings without the jarring news of the day made more urgently disastrous by the TV. The radio is more sedate and less flashy in its coverage, without all those visual distractions and then one has the newspaper to mull over at leisure. Who says one has to be clued into what is happening all the time? Life is hectic, complicated, with much to deal with to allow even these few moments of reflective introspection to be polluted.
Rather than be critical of the world or clutter one's mind with more useless information provided by the TV, more demands, desires and distractions these rare spare moments allow us to dwell over our acts, good or bad, take an account or reflect on more ethereal matters. It's easy to pass judgement about how things should be, more education, more facilities etc, but what is more important which we all tend to miss in our arm chair commentary on the world is how we can contribute to change things around us for the better.
Rather be a passive spectator and commentator be more proactive and do things, such as old- fashioned good old deeds which will restore people's faith in humanity, visit the sick, help someone out, try and do some social work. Just bringing a smile on someone's face will do more for you than any feel good movie or programme
To be constantly surrounded by the idiot box dehumanises you in a way. You forget that others are also humans like you with the same sense of self-respect. Witness the degenerating behaviour in traffic, the frequent traffic brawls over a minor scrape.
I actually witnessed an educated muscled gentleman, whose wife and kids were in the car, beat up two frail-looking boys in a battered Suzuki pick up. And beat them up he did single-handedly, putting any Hollywood Bollywood and Lollywood hero to shame. Till they begged for mercy.
Fine it was their mistake but did it have to be that violent and did we have to be silent spectators of that violence. None dared to come forth and lift a finger. A radio DJ sensibly related another incident where a group of boys collided with a family with young girls whose father was driving their old car.
He expressed his shock at how soon, without considering his dignity or their own dignity, they flew into a rage. Was it worth it? Accidents are a part of life, does it matter that much? Yet in the frenzied and stressful pace of existence it is so easy to lose one's cool. And it's only in silent moments that this in-built stress can be released or we can think of how to rectify ourselves to not burst out the next time.
I mean come home from work after the gruelling drive, switch on the TV and what do you get? More disturbing news. Or irritating commercial of people enjoying the good life, living in luxuriant environs with air conditioners and the usual girl- boy romantic stuff which is so far removed from reality.
I mean what are we selling ? Such false dreams to the average Pakistani who can barely afford to maintain a roof over his head. God knows what he'd think. About how people have nothing better to do than drink tea or look for the next fair slim girl (imagine how many dark heavy girls are being given a complex and is beauty only skin deep?) while his kids starve.
Wherein lies contentment if happiness is to be found in material goods? These commercials will then be making 98 percent of the population unhappy who can't afford these things.
Then we complain of the rising crime rates, suicide rates, drugs etc. So is the case of these huge billboards, how many people can afford all these items that gobble up the sky? For a small percentage so much money and space is being wasted which they could put to better use by donating to the poor.
If the TV's purpose is to provide entertainment then crappy slapstick humour and inanity lacking in any depth and content is what is available. Weren't the best plays, books, literature and drama those that addressed basic human truths, which had moral weight and dealt with grander universal themes such as dealing with loss, despair, the values of contentment, happiness, sacrifice, valour, patience etc.
No one talks about such things or mentions how to behave anymore, how to deport oneself with dignity etc. Every thing seems justifiable in the race to get ahead -if it is not a question of my or your mistake. Those were books such as War and Peace, Crime and Punishment besides the treasure trove of Islamic literature teeming with guidance from Hazrat Rumi, Saadi to name a few.
Programmes, which leave you with something to mull on and hence refresh you by jolting you out of your sense of monotony and discontented frustration, are few and far between. But just by looking at the wind- tossed sky amidst wind- tossed trees and a cooing lark can give you the peace and happiness, which they can never provide you. Or just the warmth of humanity can do the trick, reminding you that goodness still exists.
A nice lady smiles and the girl in the next car hooting madly to tell you with a friendly smile that your Dupatta is sticking out makes the rest of the day worth it. Glad that humanity still exists, that people still exist untrammelled by the frenetic pace of life who aren't that bogged down by the cares of the world to take the time to reach out.
Someone said that in Lahore it is considered a matter of pride not to lose one's cool in an accident and that the loser is the one who loses his cool first. Try smiling rather than getting cross and see the results. (I know its hard but if you don't succeed try again!)
I guess the radio is better in that way. Every morning the FM tells us to wake up with a smile, to spread happiness, to not be late at work etc.
Not that we must have fancy cars clothes etc - the message of the image-conscious TV. What else does the TV have to offer besides your usual brew of sex violence and action.
As for getting information. There is just a surfeit of information, much of which is misleading. Take the programmes on Islam. Every Tom, Dick and Harry, who does not even pray, seems to be behind the production of a programme on Islam.
And then anyone and everyone seems to be qualified to say anything on these programmes so you have a cacophony of half-baked truths which the lazy public digests faithfully as the cardinal truth without bothering to checking out its veracity for themselves. Come on the onus of discovering the truth lies on our shoulders not on others.
Similarly on the net you do get information but one has to be knowledgeable enough to know what is true and false. For example search for information on Islam and find out what you'd get. 60% of the sites would give you nonsense so that if you were a non-Muslim or the average ignorant Muslim you'd get totally messed up.
That is not to mention the headache of viruses, the break in connections and the countless number of hours involved in dredging through the slew of matter. I'm not totally writing off the net, it has its uses but in a limited capacity. But my premise was and is life can be much more peaceful and fulfilling without being wasted in empty hours in front of the idiot boxes.
HIGHLIGHTS:
It's easy to pass judgement about how things should be, more education, more facilities etc, but what is more important which we all tend to miss in our arm chair commentary on the world is how we can contribute to change things around us for the better.
. Just bringing a smile on someone's face will do more for you than any feel good movie or programme
I actually witnessed an educated muscled gentleman, whose wife and kids were in the car, beat up two frail-looking boys in a battered Suzuki pick up. And beat them up he did single-handedly, putting any Hollywood Bollywood and Lollywood hero to shame. Till they begged for mercy.
To be constantly surrounded by the idiot box dehumanises you in a way. You forget that others are also humans like you with the same sense of self-respect. Witness the degenerating behaviour in traffic, the frequent traffic brawls over a minor scrape.
So is the case of these huge billboards, how many people can afford all these items that gobble up the sky? For a small percentage so much money and space is being wasted which they could put to better use by donating to the poor.
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