Facebook and the books ... of law.

This is a script for a radio show and was written as part of a course called Radio Channel Project. RR and MNF are the two people hosting the show. 

RR: Hello Folks! A very warm welcome from the studios of FM radio 106.6. Me, Riffat Rashid and Mehak Natasha Farooq (Mehak, say hi,! ) will be hosting the very first episode of “K for Karachi!”. Mehak! How’s it going?

MNF: Ah well, since there’s no one in the studio right now I might as well talk to you…

RR: What’s that?

MNF: Nothing, I said it’s going great.

RR: Oh amazing! Amazing..So anyways,

MNF (under her breath): Retard.

RR: Ahm. Seems like somebody didn’t get some alone time on Facebook today. *Cough*

MNF: What’s that?

RR: Nothing, I said it’s amazing.

MNF: What’s amazing?

RR: The ban on Facebook.

MNF: “What!? They are banning Facebook?”

RR: Yeah, not like it’s a big deal. I mean it’s just a website and there are million others like it on the world wide web.

MNF: Not a big deal? Are you crazy! It’s the only place where I have all my friends and relatives in one place!

RR: And you say that like it’s a good thing?

MNF: Ofcourse it’s a good thing man, I don’t have to spend hours in line trying to pay my phone bills when I can only just “poke” people on Facebook to let them know all is well. Also, do you realize the number of painful conversations it saves me from? The kind of conversation that starts from “How old are you beta?” and end on “How many rotis and chappatis do you know how to make!”

RR: Oh c’mon you are exaggerating!

MNF: Seriously? You say that like it has never happened to you.

RR: Ah well, it has… but you know there are things you can do to avoid that?

MNF: “Acha, like what?”

RR: “you know like, pretend you have left the city

MNF: doesn’t work

RR: “act like you are on the verge of making an important discovery, even though your field is commerce

MNF: tried and failed

RR: “pretend that rotis and chappatis are old school and u are into paninis and pita bread now.

MNF “yeah right, so they ask for a dawat!”

RR: “Okay, fine! So facebook saves you from a lot of painful conversations but c’mon its barely more than just a petty reason

MNF: I shall tell you more if you play me a song.

RR: Justin…?

MNF: Don’t you dare!

RR: Okay, Pitbull it is then. The song is Rain Over me sung by Pitbull and Marc Anthony! Be right back after the song.

RR: Welcome back everyone! This is me and Mehak in the studio of FM Radio 106.6 bringing to you the very first episode of K for Karachiii! Mehak, the song is over. Stop stepping on my toes.

MNF: Buzzkill.

RR: You know I can hear you right?

MNF: Right.

RR: The ban on Facebook has you in a really bad mood!

MNF: Ofcourse, and your increasingly happy voice isn’t helping it either.

RR: Sadist.

MNF: What?

RR: Nothing , I mean, what would you miss the most about Facebook once it’s banned?

MNF: If you had accepted the endless invites I sent you on Facebook for my business page, you wouldn’t be asking me that right now!

RR: Oh right, the cupcake business you started right?

MNF: No that’s Niha’s you moron! My business page is about selling footwear. Do you realize the number of young entrepreneurs who were starting to get successful through the business pages of Facebook and now will have no platform to sell their products or show case their talents?

RR: Well, there’s youtube you know!

MNF: Man, you aren’t getting my point! Facebook is about useful things. True it’s called a social networking website but it isn’t just about fun and games.

RR: As far as my homepage is concerned, all I see is gossip!

MNF: It’s just you then! There are countless people who are using Facebook for a number of meaningful things. A number of businesses in our country are afraid of opening up their own outlets because of a number of reasons that range from low availability of capital to high security concerns. Advertising their business on Facebook allows them to only target the relevant people at minimal costs.

RR: I see that but in my opinion, if a young entrepreneur is determined enough he or she should be able to carry out his business anyway he or she wants.

MNF: Yes but don’t you see, by banning websites, we are actually closing down one of the most promising mediums of carrying out a business and networking?

RR: Hmm… Let me think about it…

MNF: Hopeless. I will just play a song. People this is Rolling in the Deep by Adele! Don’t forget to stay tuned.

RR: Okay fine I thought about it a lot but c’mon you have to pay heed to the other side too.?

MNF: “What other side man?

RR: “You know the side, where people are trying to spread messages of hatred and violence. And Pakistan being a struggling country, I think its right that they have taken the step to nip the evil in the bud.

MNF: Yeah? And what about the messages of hatred and violence spread around on TV? Do we ban TV too? Do we ban phone calls, vehicles because they have the ability to carry arms and ammunitions, people because they are capable of violence?

RR: No…

MNF: Then why just Facebook?

RR: But think of it this way, the youth of today like ourselves are better aware of what goes on Facebook then anywhere else in the country… so if we are to be influenced by any messages that carry a special agenda…it is more likely to be through Facebook.

MNF: Oh and what about the fact that the very point of Facebook being an effective tool of educating the urban youth of today can be used for something more productive instead of banning?

RR: More productive like what?

MNF: Like spreading awareness about social causes that we should be spending our time on, about educating people internationally of what kind of people Pakistanis are. Don’t you know think the status updates and pictures that we upload can be used in a way to reflect that there are people in Pakistan that can are both progressive and educated?

RR: Yeah, well I guess some of the people abroad don’t even know that people in pakistan have roads.

MNF: See! What better bridge between the international community and ours than Facebook?

RR: Okay so you’re saying Facebook is important because it allows you to interact with people, open up businesses, and spreads awareness about a certain society?

MNF: Ah! Finally! Yes!

RR: But… oh wait, Maha says we have to submit our Advertising presentations next week.

MNF: Really? I got no text!

RR: Moron! Check your Facebook.

MNF: People, as you can see Riffat has lost it! You guys have fun by listening to Coldplay’s track “Every teardrop is a waterfall” and we will try giving Riffat her proper meds the next time we come on air! Till then, take care! And keep listening!

The independent feeling

I remember a time when the decisions I made were overshadowed by what other people thought of them, when what I believed in was conveniently put away in order to make way for something else, when the things that were in my priority list took a back seat as they definitely weren't an urgent concern for the authority. For me, this was a time when it took much more than confidence to be myself. It required endless hours on my part to seek approval. Even though I was very much an individual with ideas and opinions that were unique to my self but when it came to living the life I wanted I was chained by things that had nothing to do with who I was or what I wanted to be.

When we talk about 14th August, it is just another day for the entire human population existent in the world. But mention it to a Pakistani and he would tell you at great lengths how the importance of the rest of the calendar pales in comparison to this day. For Pakistanis, it is a day when all the divisions and the differences between people are set aside (and that's saying something!) so that all of them can come together to celebrate - independence.

Sure, today is hardly a time when Pakistan can expect to receive a gold star for its performance by the world at large. Everyone continues to regard it as a failing state while magazines upon magazines publish articles talking about how Pakistan is a danger and a parasite. People talk about leaving Pakistan on a daily basis and it is thought that the country has bit on things more than it can chew. It is hurtful to hear such things about your country but that's not enough to stop the practice.

However, Pakistan has given its people the freedom to be - the way they are. The way they probably won't be accepted as openly in other parts of the world. Without succumbing to slavery and mockery. The very being of the country has allowed the people to respect and preserve their culture. It has been a motherland to billions of Pakistanis who would be clueless and without identities if it were not for the existence of Pakistan. The people here don't wake up thinking that they have to be someone they are not in order to progress. They can feel at home while practising their beliefs, cheering for their cricket team, dressing and talking in a way that defines them and doesn't feel foreign to their nature. 

And that feeling is what you get when you know you are independent. For me, it was a matter of giving a few interviews and getting a job. And the days where I had to ask before making decisions about my own life were over. I was free. To do what I wanted and to make the mistakes that I was destined to make. And all that didn't make me less successful a human being. But it made me who I am today. Very much myself in my own right.

However, for Pakistan getting here took a war and then a lot of other ones. It had to constantly remind the world of what it stood for and the reason for its being. It had to repeatedly prove its mettle only to be recognized as a dot on the world map. People on both sides of the border sacrificed more than just money because they believed in the existence of Pakistan. Because they believed in freedom.

If it was an ideal world I would say that today that's all Pakistan needs. A strong belief in the country and what it stands for. But by doing that I will be sugar coating things and grossly misrepresenting the picture that Pakistan presents. Today, it takes more courage to take pride in Pakistan than it takes to fight a war. The failings of the country have been magnified and highlighted and magnified and highlighted for the entire world to see. Even a penguin living in a totally different time zone can tell what's wrong with Pakistan.

But it's only the Pakistanis that can tell the world what is right. Today, Pakistan needs much more than just mere belief and faith. It needs actions and results. It needs a strategy and effective implementation. It needs, nay it deserves nothing less than anything hardcore. We as a nation need to celebrate the independence of Pakistan and not the fact that it continues to survive despite its failings. What we as the youth of Pakistan need to realize is that the party is over and the work has just begun.

So on this indepedence day, ask yourself this: Are you game enough to be a Pakistani?