“Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone is an English proverb…” “Stop right there. The Khan is not weeping yet, the battle maybe lost but the war…”

“I have two observations.”

“What are you? An Azam or Swati?”

“Excuse me?”

“Aren’t they the ones with the observations.”

“Their observations get reported however these days the implementation of their orders…”

“Hush, know your limitations: you don’t have the clout to either stay the observation, or the verdict or indeed the implementation.”

“Right, so zero out of three but what if someone scores one out of three?”

“It would depend on which one is the operative one! The last one you mentioned is the only operative one.”

“Right, anyway I will tell you my two observations because you don’t fall in any of the three categories. OK so here goes observation one, why did you not use the capital K when referring to the Khan….”

“Because he has been cut to size - I reckon the lesson learned for all potential prime ministers is to accurately gauge how far to go. Zardari sahib after completing his tenure as the country’s president used the brick proverb and viola he stayed out of the country for two years was it? Nawaz Sharif relies on the declared favorite to become the bete noir…”

“Bete noir?! What’s with the French?”

“It means the black beast literally but I used the French word because I reckon the English proverb of weeping alone is not appropriate in this case – a better one is the French proverb which is that marriage teaches you to live alone.”

“The Third Wife is very much there.”

“Indeed and as Special, some say, the Dominant Advisor to the Former Prime Minister perhaps he should consider getting a second opinion from those who have more experience in politics.”

“Spiritual guidance transcends temporal guidance and…”

“Even when it is temporal guidance that is required at this stage?”

“Even if.”

“So the limit will be further crossed you reckon?”

“Let’s see.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023