The daring, silent terrorism

Television has changed a lot in the past few years. Gone are the days when it was a privilege to have one at home. I remember when my parents bought one exclusively for our room, we would brag about it all day in school and look down upon other kids who had only one television. Now however, it is a necessity - just like every other material need in life which starts as a luxury but ends as a need.

In its quest to rule human hearts and provide entertainment, it started ruling human minds. But I digress - I will leave that topic for another post. This post is about the direction which was (perhaps) envisaged for television and the various 90 degree angles it took to never be able to come back on the path, which ideally should have been a fulfilling journey to some sort of a destination; this is about the destruction of a completely sane society with the introduction of 'Reality TV'; this is about a promise to never watch Jerry Springer ever again and yet - unintentionally - ending up watching "Living on the Edge" hosted by Waqar Zaka.

For years we've been told that one should not judge others for anything - no contest there. However, that in turn - over a period of time - has led us to accept more wrongs because "we are no one to judge" and should just “shut the fuck up” and live our lives as mules or worse, as slaves. How can we just accept Reality TV shows like "L O T E" as a form of entertainment when all it really provides is a medium to destruct innocent minds that do not understand the consequences it can have on their lives?

The despicable behavior of the host (who is also the executive producer) and an equally appalling conduct of the contestants - usually lasts a few minutes before they accept the dare - has baffled my imagination beyond proportion. It’s disgusting to say the least.

If this is what modernism brings to a society, I’d rather be a conservative camel that cannot survive outside the desert and is happy living with the minimum water it gets. This is not reality TV, this is silent terrorism that breeds in the minds for a period of time before unleashing itself and destroying the society as a whole.

The Local Teller

Lately, I have not been going to the same branch. Time has not really been my best friend. Last time I met her, she was really busy and pretended I did not exist. No, I did not make a move or even try to behave in a certain way - of course I remembered the chivalry points I had earned last time. This time however - like every guy out there - I was pleasantly surprised.

Most offices are closed on Saturdays except banks and certain companies that believe people who work for them are workers and not employees. I walked into the branch and was happy to see there was no other customer waiting. Realized my good luck, I moved forward quickly. As I got the cash out I heard someone call out my name prefixed with the traditional Arabic welcome "Ahlan!". I looked up and realized she remembered my name.

In normal circumstances I would not be bothered. Not because there are lots of other women who remember my name and another one would just be like a drop in the ocean, but because I know its part of their job to be courteous to customers. But this was a local Emirati woman who wouldn't bother remembering her closest friends name let alone a customer.

The conversation as I remember it:

She: "How are you? How can I help you?"

Me: "I'm good, how are you? Just wanted to make a payment."

She": Sure sure" She took the account number and the money.

Me: "You are working on a Saturday?"

She: "Yes, what can I do, lot of work"

Me: "Yeah I can imagine. Things are not that good nowadays anyway"

She: "Where are you from?"

I started turning red (more like pink but that's a girly color so I will live in denial) which was something I felt that she noticed. Got a hold of myself and thought of my response. In a flash, I thought of all the past responses that I got when I've answered in complete truth: "ohh, I thought you were South African", "You're travelling to the UK, I thought you were English", "Are you Lebanese", and the worst "you don't look Pakistani". So I had a few choices.

Me: "I'm from Pakistan but I was born in Dubai". I had to create some connection and even though I knew where she was from I still asked: "where are you from?".

She": I'm from here. Why, I don't look like from here?"

Me: "No, no, of course you do". I realized if there were points for asking dumb, irrelevant questions, I'd have the highest points, hands down. Recovering from the fall my next question had AWESOMENESS written all over

Me: "There is no name tag, what is your name?"

She: Looked at me with the look that said - at least to me - 'it took you so long to ask?' "ABC"

I heard the name and thought of one person who has the same name: my mother. I thought of telling her that, but realized that might just murder all my chances (even though I am very sure there aren't any). Instead, I gave her the most traditional desi response taken from a typical Bollywood movie: "thats a nice name". She looked at me with the look that said 'cant you do any better than that?'.

I left the branch with a big "L for Loser" written all over my forehead. It took me minutes to forget about the incident. I still feel however that the movie is not over yet. I plan to visit the branch again for another payment at the end of the month.

Traditional boredom

There is so much that I want to do but that is not what this is about. This is about the so much that I can do and yet I prefer living in a comatose shell not wanting to get out. Take for instance this very webpage. I've not written anything for ages. Not because I've not had the time, but because I've just not really taken a step towards really doing it.

That is a classic case of boredom. But I - as instilled in my nature - take it to a whole new level. How? I'm not really sure if it's something I would want to explain in too much detail. The idea is simple: I want to get out and let myself believe that there is a lot that I can do primarily because I have the time, the energy and above all the need.