Echo in the Steam Room

Frankly, My heart skipped a beat when I found out in the news room that many densely populated areas in Lahore were going to be without electricity for 22 hours on Tuesday. Thankfully that was just a crank.

But you find people talking about power cuts and protests almost all the time. Much of that is understandably derived from the dread of the heat to come in months like June and July. So, when I bumped into my watchman as I reached back from work the same day, I asked him if there was any electricity and his answer didnt let me ask him another question. "They sold the entire country to the US!" Being critical of elected governments is a practice all over the world and though I have no clue about the political affiliations of my watch man yet its in a way disturbing to see that people who have voted in the previous election are not happy with people who they themselves brought into power. It is probably for these common men that Government big wigs often are found saying ;" A bad democracy is better than dictatorship".

So, then there is always talk of India. And the recently US returned Foreign Minister has been heard saying that all concerns reagrding India's mischiefs in Baluchistan and FATA have been conveyed to the US. So, US could use its clout and ask India to behave. And within a day , television news headlines are all about Pakistan India ties improving.

No, not because of resumption of composite dialogue between the two countries but because Shoaib Malik, the cricketer and Sania Mirza ,the tennis ace are set to exchange wedding rings next month. It is a big deal for everyone. People are having a hard time figuring out , how to react. Some are amused while others irritated or may be plain jealous. Whatever the case, its quite childish to look for more in this case than just a marriage of two individuals from different countries, who have decided to live in another country after wedding than in their own.

We need to learn to take things in their stride. Its just Love going beyond borders.