Thursday, December 27, 2012

Party?

I just saw this piece in Dawn. I don't see how one can celebrate when everything around us is falling apart. People are going hungry and shivering in cold nights. Streets are littered. Traffic is rowdy. Just because I have earned some money, or gotten pocket money, I have the right to party? Instead of a few moments of music, laughter and fun, which produces nothing concrete in the end except memories, wouldn't it be much more enriching and useful if we did something creative?

The rich will party for sure, because they don't have a problem. They've created their own Amreeka right here in Pakistan. This local Amreeka is better than the actual one, because this one comes with a "get out of jail free" card so they don't have to follow any rules. That's why you see them still living here with their dual and triple nationalities. They can buy anything here. I'm sorry about this blanket statement here, many rich people are responsible people, too, I'm sure. But this is the overall picture that you get in the society.

So, if you're planning on going to a concert or a not-so-underground-anymore farmhouse dance, drugs,  drinks and sex party ask yourself this question: Do you have a different choice? How about planting some trees in public places? How about talking to your neighborhood marketplace shop owners to coordinate on keeping the area clean and green? How about visiting your neighbor and asking how they're doing? How about sitting with your parents and asking how they are doing? How about collecting sweaters for schools children's uniforms who can't afford them? How about fixing some street lights? If you're so full of energy and you've got so many similar friends, how about taking some cartel-ing traders to task who are charging unreasonable prices for stuff?

Is there something worth your while in that list? If not, I'm sure I've missed quite a few good deeds that you can do and it will be fun in it's own way and much more rewarding. So, what will it be? The red pill or the blue pill? Choose wisely, for your choice will have ramifications not just on a few hours of your life, but on the lifetimes of our generations to come.