Saib - our very own apple

30th March, I thought, was a fun day for news. My friend @gulmeenay concurred - this was her tweet for the day:

And Indo-Pak love story and an outing. It's been a good day for news :p

What's strange, though, is that most other kids don't feel this way. And what's stranger is that they don't particularly care about Sania and Shoaib. Their problem is (I kid you not) that there are far more relevant issues to be discussed - why must they make headlines? Why must they take away from our precious current affairs time?


I'm a bit confused. Aren't we the kids that have grown up watching the internet revolution thrive - are we not the very by-products of Web 2.0? And while I hate to bring the cliched internet argument in this, I'd like to ask all these people if they weren't a least bit interested in seeing the Rihanna-Chris Brown scandal through, and if they don't consider the goings on of Kobe Bryant or Shaq as real news. Being bombarded with information from so many different cultures, the Iranian Green Movement through twitter, the guys who used Facebook to win against Simon Cowell, The Taqwacores (look em up, they're cool) helping to reinterpret Islam, have we not been able to see that news constitutes more than just political affairs? The world is at our fingertips in terms of news and information available. Are we really going to be finicky about something like two people getting married?


And are Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza really just a celebrity couple getting married? I thought there was greater relevance to their union. An Indian and a Pakistani getting married - big deal, right?  I don't think so. This particular couple are superstars in their own right. Shoaib Malik is a member of the cricket team that won Pakistan its first major title since 1992. Sania Mirza has won twelve doubles titles and is loved by her country (one not particularly concerned about the length of her skirt). Maybe their uniting will open up a new frontier for Indo-Pak relations? Aman Ki Asha is making an effort to do this too, but can they reach the masses at a grassroots level the way these two can? Is their unity not an indicator to the masses that the fear the Indians bombing is is an irrational fear? We lack strategic depth, and that implies that it disadvantages us, but it actually is working for us - were the Indians to decide to blow up Lahore, there would be a considerable fallout back home. There is not going to be a nuclear war anytime soon. I think Saib (as I fondly refer to Shoaib and Sania - I don't like Shoainia, sorry - it sounds too much like a country) may just help to put this idea across.


The issue that is arising now is - why are they taking up HEADLINE space? That's not real news. What is real news? Of course this is real news. Just because it's relatively pleasant doesn't mean it's not news! Besides, the elaborate Veer-Zaara comparisons and music medleys on news channels aren't geared towards you, or me, us elite kids living in Islamabad's little isolated bubble. It's the seventy percent rural population that enjoys melodrama, the people who constitute real, unfiltered Pakistanis. The ones who don't shy away from having a good time on weddings (which incidentally used to have more going on than just the prepared dances that are the norm now) and who are actively scandalised when Meera has a secret husband or when Adnan Sami Khan gives up his Pakistani nationality to live in India. They love drama! We love to put little 'Pakistan Zindabad' notes on our Facebook pages, but what does that mean to us?


Oh, but aren't there much more important issues to be discussed? Electricity, water, et cetera? Of course they're important. But I have two things to say. One, seriously, the ones complaining live in the diplomatic enclave of Islamabad, where the electricity doesn't get cut and there isn't a water problem. So really, what are you complaining about? Of course it's an issue in the rest of Pakistan, nobody's denying it, but I'm sorry if your wish to hear about other people's suffering is delayed by a few minutes.


My second point has been neatly summed up by my friend Naeha:

personally putting happy news on the front page to raise morale = good. we know what the problems are and they ARE discussed. maybe its time to take a step back and stop taking such a negative view about something which isn't offensive or fear inducing.

Basically, complaining about this isn't helping anyone. Just chill out, alright? Let us have our fun. It's rare and lighthearted and really isn't harming anyone. There is no need to be so bitter! Saib is our very own Apple - this is the pop culture that your kids will allude to thirty years down the line and you wouldn't really want to tell them it was a load of crap. Because it's not a load of crap. The world doesn't need more negative vibes!