We are a country of extremes. Be it in matters of politics or religion, or cricket, there is no point in being a moderate if you are a true Pakistani. The result is that we blow hot and cold over all things from mundane to most important.

Road rage is all the rage, and so is everything else. Every battle must be won, through whichever means necessary. Case in point: traffic challans. No Lahori worth his salt has ever handed over his licence to the traffic warden (that is, if he or she has it) without an emotionally charged speech on equality and human rights, to break the law.

Speaking of emotionally charged speeches, a lot has been drummed into our ears lately over the “my body, my choice” slogan. I am not going to judge anyone or take sides, for that matter. Enough has been said on this already. But to many on the frontlines of this most bizarre of our societal battles, “nothing is being done” and “urgent action must be taken to remedy the situation.” These lines are uttered by both camps but the context and intent are 180 degrees apart. The foul-mouthed altercations of our so-called intelligentsia once again proved to be an excellent source of memes and posts. In an already polarised society one more issue was highlighted in a manner that fanned hatred far and wide. For a couple of weeks we discussed in the minutest detail as to what is or is not a woman’s right. Rallies were taken out, columns were written, and sermons were delivered. It was battle royale in every sense. Everything else just faded away into the background.

Polio has been eradicated across the globe, but perhaps we should kill more polio workers. Will we ever be able to get out of the IMF programmes? Do we really care about what we are doing to one another?

And trust me a lot happened in the background while we were drawing lines in this so-called ‘battle of sexes’. The coronavirus outbreak got worse, locust infestation in the country, polio eradication, IMF programme review, inclusion of our cities in the most polluted list were just a few of urgent and important issues that also deserved a serious discussion and well thought out decisions by the society and the state.

And what did we actually do about these issues in the past week — to the best of my knowledge, there was only one operational aircraft to spray pesticide to control locusts. It crashed a couple of months ago. We never bothered to find a replacement. No one wants to talk about that. Our cities consistently rank highest in the worst polluted lists of international bodies. For most people, it’s “mera shehr, meri marzi,” I guess.

Polio has been eradicated across the globe, but perhaps we should kill more polio workers. Will we ever be able to get out of the IMF programmes? Do we really care about what we are doing to one another?

Discuss women rights, be as obnoxious as you can be while doing so, but for God’s sake let’s have candid and open public debates on other issues as well. Let’s have civility, let’s be kind, let’s hear one another out for a change. Life is not just an Urdu drama serial, or a borrowed slogan. Who am I to lecture you? Well!