"We are experiencing rationing."
"Experiencing or being subjected to?"
"What is the difference?"
"Experiencing has an element of complicity while being subjected to rationing takes away that element."
"Ah yes and from that I can tell you are anti-PPP, anti-President Zardari and wait a minute, anti-democracy."
"I am tired of you Zardis equating democracy with the continuation of the government."
"Bring a vote of no confidence and..."
"Why can't the government dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections given that there is a consensus that rationing, if you will, coupled with poor governance would account for a massive decline in the PPP vote bank, and lets not forget the sympathy vote subsequent to Benazir Bhutto's assassination is unlikely to be relevant this time around and..."
"I disagree. Two things: first the PPP won about as many seats as when Ms Bhutto was alive in the previous elections so the PPP vote bank was not contingent on sympathy and second the recent bye elections have shown that it is the PPP candidates who win and you can take that as to mean that our people will vote on the basis of tribal/baradari affiliations."
"But what about Imran's statement that Zardari is a suicide attacker on the PPP."
"Grapes are sour...anyway going back to rationing what did you mean?"
"Electricity is being rationed since this government came to power and I disagree with the priority sectors/subsectors subjected to rationing, then there is gas rationing and then there is also automatic rationing which to me implies that rising food prices means you and me are compelled to ration our food intake and..."
"That's good - we will ensure that obesity doesn't become our problem like in the US where the first lady has taken obesity as her pet charity and...'
"Don't be facetious. And there is only one subject that is not being rationed and I wish it were."
"What?"
"Politicking."
"That does keep our hungry masses living in darkness with no gas and little food engaged."
"I give up."