Daily Times

Writing in newspapers is both good and bad. Good, because the stuff printed in them pertains to the day-to-day events and gives people knowledge. Bad, because newspapers are a perishable commodity and have an average age of no more than 24 hours.

Nobody wishes to read old newspapers. They are sold as trash.

As Khalid Hasan pointed out, they are “only good for wrapping of fried fish or pakoras.”

To prevent his columns from meeting that fate, he selected some and got them published in the form of books; hoping someone might one day read or re-read them for pleasure.

The authenticity of his writings and the respect they earned him when first appearing in newspapers was never in doubt.

Newspapers have always played a significant role in exploring and projecting the image of people who use the medium to reach the readers.

In recent times, a book has come to be valued more as an embellishment for the shelves and the almirahs with transparent glasses to serve as symbols of civility.

Books, specially imported ones, are indeed very expensive these days.

I have seen some people buying wallpapers depicting very life-like images of books of various sizes and colours that artfully line huge bookshelves, from the floor to the edge of the ceiling, lending the building the dignity of a cultured and scholarly household.

Access to information and knowledge was never so easy as it is nowadays

Seldom are their visitors tempted to pick up one from the shelf to see what those books scontain.

The habit of reading printed books has been declining since the advent of the Internet and computers since now many electronic devices can deliver you on-line information. If you are unable or disinclined to read any text, even audio books or e-books are also available on amny web sites, which you can tune into while driving cars or during leisurely walks through parks or market places.

Access to information and knowledge was never so easy as it is nowadays. Even brief summaries of popular books, along with reviews and commentaries, are available in audible editions or i-books for those readers who have little time to read.

One of my friends, who is a doctor and lives in a faraway locality of Lahore (about 27 km from his hospital), regularly listens to his favourite audio books when driving to and from his workplace. He is very knowledgeable, and talking to him is always a pleasure.

I wonder how greatly the world has changed during the last 50 years. The world of our childhood looks more like the medieval age compared to the present electronic age. When Alvin Toffler attributed this enormous structural change from an industrial society to super-industrial society in 1970, he left people in shattering stress and disorientation, which he himself called “future shock.”

The unremitting change still envelops our entire lives by leaps and bounds, nearly four decades after Alvin Toffler first recognized it.

We live in a world vastly different even from the 1970s. The enormous change, in too small a span of time, has affected even our patterns of love and friendship.

Many people find it hard to keep pace with the change, emotionally and spiritually, and still do not know how to cope with it.

A streak of nostalgia runs through all our conversations. This was not the case about a century ago. It appears that although technology has helped mankind gain more choices and freedom, the pace of change is more than our minds can tolerate.

The nature of this dilemma has been explained by the prescient mind of Ghalib in one of his finest verses where he creates a metaphor of a horseman who has lost control over the stirrups, the reins and the horse and yet, by a cosmic harmony, goes on with his hectic ride through time.

The fragility of the rider is brought out in sharp contrast to the forces of nature.

So does our own age as it averts a losing battle in its journey through the relentless forces of time. Our survival, through these hectic changes in life, is only possible if we gracefully accept their challenges and cope with its spirit for our own survival. Any attempt to slide back in time will be violently crushed by time’s juggernaut, which will throw us into oblivion.

We are often scared of change because we are afraid of the unknown.

Before taking action, we must decide what the best and worst scenarios can be. Secondly, we must have the ability to fathom our own potential to do a thing properly.

We must accept the given situation objectively.

The change should be thought of as an opportunity to learn and grow. Unfortunately, our brain is wired to do the same thing over and over again, regardless of whether it is good or bad.

In a rapidly changing landscape of life, change is the only constant. Why not embrace it forthwith?

Books invariably give us new vistas of life and help us grow out of our monotony to embrace change when imperative and desirable.

Reading printed books has its own unique charm, which will subsist new electronic devices because of the exquisite beauty and abiding nature of the written word. This charm can conveniently travel down generations.

All great literature and special genres, like poetry, where words assume primary significance can only survive in the printed form; not otherwise..

The writer is a former member of the Provincial Civil Service, and an author of Moments in Silence