Arshid Malik
This era is like an era of personal and interpersonal crisis with the greatest hit taken by the most essential resource that is time.
Generally you would come to hear people out on how little time they have to themselves. While almost in every corner of the world there is a conflict smouldering on the pretext of denial of freedom, the freedom that we have – the freedom that is our individual and personal bit is painted into the corner due to our own mismanagement. A clue, rather a very weighty clue to this mismanagement is found in our homes where we (most of us) are to be found sitting in front of the idiot box – the most “catastrophic” invention of all times, the television. People are glued to television screens as soon as they are done with their chores. Children to a surprising and unprecedented extent are dumbfounded by the idiot box.
Sitting in front of the phosphorescent screen which blasts our minds away with all kinds of colourful and images, there is almost no time or space left for relationships to blossom. We share very little with each other now as our primary engagement is watching television.
Especially for us, being and under educated and under informed audience, the impact of the television is multicast and multilayered. All we stand informed about is what the programme listings bring us, and the rest, the actual heat of the beat is not known to us. It is but an idiosyncratic eccentricity that vastly disturbs the fabric of our otherwise beautiful lives.
In the post modern world people are actually increasingly becoming aware of the effects (negative mostly) of watching television for it is not interactive and when you are watching television you are actually falling silent preys to the commercial predators who frequent the screen more than often in the shape of commercials and the latest infomercials. Certain groups and sects have come about which mediate the hiatus between the idiot box and real life for the common people elsewhere in the world. These groups and sects have taken upon themselves to declare the television as a medium of benign suppression and make more and more people aware about this factoid. But we are at a very safe distance from all that. We do not worry at all when we switch on the television as to what effect it might have on our daily life bearings. Our soaps and reality shows, which have come to haunt the national television and cable services is a menace which is absolutely and resolutely changing the mindsets and perceptions of people towards life in general and attitudes in particular.
Back home there is little scope to talk with the family members as they do not want to be disturbed while they are watching their favourite soap. I prefer to walk off and hit a bunk somewhere else. I guess this is the story with most households. This auspicious and holy month of Ramazan has made me realize how hurtful the television is for our family life. These days we people sit gather as a flock and talk – no TV at all. I see this trend in the whole community. Households where you would only hear the blaring trumpets of the idiot box during the rest of the year, during Ramazan there is plentiful and hearty talk going on – no TV. I wish that we would take lessons from this holy month which is in actuality supposed to serve as a measure, a guide book for the rest of our days that we spend worthlessly.
