Partly Facetious : PM doesn't read papers

"So the needle remains stuck at the same point, precisely..."

"I don't understand."

"You are too young to know what I am referring to, but I bet you The Khan would know."

"The Khan doesn't read papers, he sees some of the television programmes and mind you they are all unfair, and probably on the payroll of the opposition parties and..."

"Excuse me, but can we take one topic at a time, instead of jumping all over the place."

"You oldies have a habit of belabouring one point whose relevance is extremely suspect."

"OK, but let me begin by explaining what a needle being stuck means. In the days of yore, when The Khan was playing cricket, records were large round flat objects and the player would have a needle which when placed on the record would begin playing the song. Sometimes the needle would get stuck and..."

"Hey you are so not with it. The comparable situation in today's technologically efficient world is when a computer is held, the PIA, the banks when you go to get money out, tell you to wait as their computer system has either not been booted yet or is down..."

"OK, so The Khan's computer is held - does that make sense?"

"That's like the Maulana thinking he can do a Khan, and yes I am referring to the 2014 dharna and yes the government did not change then but one thing changed: the perception was firmly established that The Khan has considerable and sustained public support, 126 odd days of a dharna set a new record, and therefore could be a likely candidate for the position of the chief executive as and when elections are held and....wait, listen, that he..."

"Oh, so the long-term will make a difference, this appears to be the mantra of the present economic team - that in the long term all will be well..."

"One difference though: the economic team reckons things would get better by the end of the IMF programme which is September 2022 and that too if the people face all the hardships, read increasing inability to feed their families and to get jobs, and the external environment remains supportive and..."

"I get it, but elections cannot be postponed beyond 2023."

"Right, but the way to power is not always through the ballot box in this country so put that in your pipe and smoke it."

"Smoking causes cancer."

"True."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019