“Water, water everywhere and ne’er a drop to drink.”

“Coleridge right?”

“Right.”

“And who do you think is the ancient mariner who committed a heinous crime of killing the innocent albatross after which the wind died, no water was left on board triggering the death of all other sailors and as penance the mariner is destined to repeat his story again and again and again…”

“I ain’t thinking the ancient mariner! I was thinking more in terms of Karachi, I mean there is water all over the city but drinking water remains scarce and there is the water mafia and the…”

“But surely there is someone who can be held responsible for Karachi’s woes, the ancient mariner took the blame…”

“Silly, there is a difference between the ancient mariner and our politicians.”

“One is that while the ancient mariner thinks it’s a penance to repeat his narrative again and again all political parties, barring none, repeat their narratives again and again ad nauseum because the more they repeat a narrative the more, we, the public, can be effectively brain washed and they all want a repeat of their rule again and again and again……”

“Any views on the second difference?”

“Well the ancient mariner took responsibility for killing the albatross but in the Land of the Pure no one is willing to take responsibility. The Sharifs blame The Khan and The Khan blames the Sharifs and let’s call a spade a spade neither’s performance merits a repeat as the heavy cost of their flawed policies is paid for by us the public and…”

“Or blame is laid at the doorstep of external factors. In the case of Karachi being inundated the fault is the unprecedentedly early heavy monsoon rains, the rupee is falling because of Russia-Ukraine war, the budget deficit is rising because as per The Khan of the flawed policies of the Sharif/Zardaris while as per the latter it’s all because of The Khan…”

“I am just so tired of all this bickering.”

“Trump’s legacy to the world is divisive politics…”

“And Sharif/Zardari? And The Khan?”

“I am neutral.”

“And I hereby anoint you as the…the…”

“Well yes its tough cause in Russia hare is considered the most cowardly animal, in others it’s a mouse, in still others…”

“I reckon you are kinda cute so let it be a fox.”

“But a fox isn’t…”

“I say it is.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022