SNAFU, writes Sajid Khan

Quality of life today…better? Not really. It was definitely better, thirty years ago. Of course the devices to convenient living weren’t there, but somehow quality of life was better. Today more is less. But at that time, less was sufficient. Politicians were less corrupt or at least lots of misdeeds didn’t come to light. Smokers didn’t feel embarrassed, in fact there was no place where you couldn’t smoke. Relationships were less complicated, matlab pakde jaane par men maafi maang ke, gift buy karke, picture dikha ke, sab theek kar dete the. Names of newborns were simpler, i.e Raju, Mohan, Sameer, Abdul, Jerry, Sarabjit to name a few. Today for some strange reason parents want to keep exotic designer Sanskrit- meets-Greek-meets-Arabic-meets-Translyvanian names for newborns i.e, Riyaansh, Prisha, Prioska, Digangana, Kaninika, Ishtahaar (yes it’s true, my friend Zafar, who works in an ad agency named his son that). Popularity was divided amongst film-stars, cricketers and politicians. Today, you don’t need to be either of those to be popular nor do you have to be correct. Sheer nuisance value can make you popular. Watching movies then was a family outing, watching movies today makes you do family planning. People by and large weren’t as meddlesome (for the lack of a better word) or judgemental as they are today. There is a saying opinions are like a**holes, everybody’s got one, the problem is the most opinions today are by a**holes. Innocent, until proven guilty did exist then. Now it’s guilty even after proven innocent. After all, it’s the media that conducts the trial first, then the courts. Humour was pure now it’s adulterated (read that word any which way you want). Ignorance was bliss. What we didn’t know didn’t hurt us. Today the number one commodity in the world is information. It is also the deadliest weapon. Elders then commanded respect. Today they have to demand it. Sad, but true.

Of course, the means to living today are far more sophisticated and convenient, for eg, one can’t imagine life without a mobile phone. Medical science has evolved so much that there is a cure for everything if you can afford it. Women today are far more stronger, educated and aware than before. But are they safer? So, my friends let’s all pretend that the situations in our lives today are absolutely normal, but the truth is that it’s all f**ked up. Hence, SNAFU is the word. ….situation normal, all f**ked up.

(Since yesterday was a no-edition day, this column is appearing in today’s edition)