“You know there is one thing that every institution engages in except the judiciary and perhaps it is time that it too begins.”

“Hush, there is an element of contempt of court there somewhere I am sure, and you could face some jail time.”

“I am not saying anything negative. I mean chief justice of the Islamabad high court recently observed that the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf has indicated a lack of trust in the courts…”

“Stop right there. Didn’t the PML-N actually attack the Supreme Court premises some time ago? And one of the leaders of the light brigade was Mushahid Hussain though I haven’t seen him for some time.”

“Not sure where he is…he wasn’t in evidence when the chips were down for the PML-N which is at par for the course but now the chips are kinda up so he should have surfaced by now.”

“Perhaps he doesn’t want to bring notice to himself — I mean the PML-N may associate him with the Pervez Elahi-Q league and you know that is a no-no these days…”

“Nah, I don’t think so, besides Zardari sahib did the negotiating with the Brothers Chaudhrys — one side agreed, and one side didn’t…”

“That is balance in our politics or as the nursery rhyme says it so well - Jack Spratt could eat no fat and his wife could eat no lean…”

“Hmmm, doesn’t apply to the Chaudhrys — I mean they are both super slender. But there is one unifying activity that has continued to make money notwithstanding the economic impasse that the rest of us are facing.”

“Cricket?”

“No, cricket is only unifying when our team is playing another but its management continues to be subject to politics. I actually was referring to the music industry – The Khan wants new songs to entertain in his jalsas, the PML-N has songs as does the PPPP and…”

“The Maulana?”

“The Maulana has pledged that he will commission a song only when he is made chairman of the Kashmir Standing Committee and the first refrain will be nah nah nah pooh pooh Khan…”

“Don’t be facetious. Besides you need to be a member of parliament for that, hey you eleven plus party government if you really want to bug The Khan make the Maulana the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa…”

“Governors are not easy to appoint in today’s Pakistan.”

“Ha, ha, yes indeed, but anyway the judiciary is the only institution that has not commissioned any songs — perhaps…”

“Contempt — off with your head.”

“I apologise and withdraw my submission.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022