Page 4 - Pakistan Link - August 13, 2021

P4 – PAKISTAN LINK – AUGUST 13, 2021 OPINION
Pakistan Link n By Mowahid Hussain Shah Reunion

n modern living, transactional
Advisory Board connections often supersede

Dr Sohail Masood Iold school ties. Th ere is a pat-
President tern of meeting people, not be-
Arif Zaffar Mansuri cause you want to

ArifMansuri@PLpublications.org meet, but have to
meet for pragmat-
Editor ic needs. Some-
Akhtar Mahmud Faruqui times, pragmatism
afaruqui@pakistanlink.com is carried too far,
at the expense of
Editor Urdu Link & Bureau Chief (Pakistan) meaningful con-
Shabbir Ghori nections. Its byproduct is being
urdulink@yahoo.com stuck with false friends who, when
Resident Editor Urdu Link the train of life becomes derailed,
& Director Video Operations become unstuck.

Anwar Khawaja The degradation of friendship
akhawaja@pakistanlink.com is one of the blights in the West. It
compelled British Prime Minister

Manager Sales & Advertising Theresa May to set up a Ministry of
sales@pakistanlink.com Loneliness in 2018.
Technological advancement
Regional Offi ces
coexists with spiritual impoverish-
ment.
YKKB During summer 2021, it was
ykkb03@gmail.com refreshing to observe a reunion at
a small private girls’ college in the
Sacramento, CA
Sacramento@plpublications.com American South. It was a rekindling
of old bonds. I saw how it gave a
San Fransisco/Bay Area, CA sense of belonging to those who,
Sanfrancisco@plpublications.com long ago, had shared a small por- ways possible to track them down. It ties in with the other epidemic of social death.

tion of their lives and had not for- Many had become so caught up mass shootings, often by loners, that The smugness and self-conceit

New York, NY
Newyork@plpublications.com gotten about it. Noteworthy was it in their own lives that they had let has been routinized and normalized. of the well-educated is part of the
to see how it triggered fund-giving golden friendships slip by over the problem. Amongst some, there is a

Houston, TX donations from alumnae with no years. There were many deep regrets I saw those who were sense that they are smart, know bet-
Houston@Plpublications.org expectations of any reward or re- about not giving friendships the ter, with the delusional mythology of

turn. Laudable is the spirit of vol- time and effort that they deserved. not rich but were being exceptional and indispensable.
Phoenix, AZ unteerism that permeates American Everyone misses their friends when One can be educated to become bad
Phoenix@Plpublications.org enriched with friends
civic life. they are dying.” and remain deficient in decency.

Ontario, Canada I saw those who were not rich, Instructive was a visit to an on- and a treasured history Exceptional has been the dam-

Ontario@Plpublications.org but were enriched with friends and campus health clinic. What struck of shared space. That age done by the hubris of the educat-
a treasured history of shared space. me was that its primary thrust was commonality, continuity, ed elite. 50 years ago, David Halber-

Letters to the Editor That commonality, continuity, and not to cater to physical injuries/ stam alluded to it in his book, “The

commitment was visible. There ailments; rather, it was to students and commitment was Best and the Brightest.” Predict-
Readers are welcome to express their opinion

in these columns. Please keep your letters were reminiscences of an important grappling with mental health prob- visible. There were able, then, is repetition of the same
brief and to the point. Letters without full chapter in their history along with lems. I talked to one of the health mistakes and the persistent pattern
name, complete address, and a daytime

phone number will not be published. gratitude of having made it thus far directors. He told me that depres- reminiscences of an of sameness, without the lifting of
Also, copies of letters sent to other news- while marking the loss of those who sion veering on suicidal thoughts sights and the vision of excellence.
papers are not encouraged. Letters can be important chapter in

mailed, faxed or e-mailed to the Editor at didn’t. Reunions are an occasion to was sufficiently prevalent to cause A recurring criticism heard of
the Pakistan Link Headquarters address laugh a little and cry a little. concern. Suicidal depression is one their history along with American Muslim elites is that, for
listed below.

Pakistan Link (ISSN 1074-0406) is pub- The existing trajectory is of of the unspoken issues amongst the gratitude of having made a large part, it is all mouth. Its great
lished weekly for $85 a year by JAZ LLC, loosening and fraying of ties. Redis- young in America. The National peril is from within. It is not hate,

DBA PL Publications, LLC. covery often comes too late. Bronnie Institute of Mental Health estimates it thus far while marking prejudice, or bigotry from outside.

Periodical postage paid at Anaheim, CA Ware, an Australian palliative nurse that 29 percent of young adults be- It is the indifference within, which

and additional mailing offices. the loss of those who

POST MASTER: Send address changes to who tended terminal patients and tween 18 and 25 suffer with mental fails to bring people together. There
Pakistan Link, P O Box 1238, Anaheim, CA didn’t. Reunions are an

92815 often conversed with them, wrote a illness. It does represent a sociologi- is so much human potential being
The management has the right to refuse 2012 book about it, “The Top 5 Re- cal failure. occasion to laugh a little buried without it being harnessed

to print any advertisement, news, article,
letter or any other material. In case of grets of the Dying.” She concluded Reunions are a good refresher for a common purpose.
any errors in advertisement the manage- that a top regret of dying patients course for rejuvenating the human and cry a little Camaraderie is therapeutic. It
ment will not be liable for more than the
amount paid for the advertisement to the was in not maintaining friendships: spirit. Loneliness and social isola- is to love where you live, along with
Link. “Often they would not truly realize tion are an epidemic in the West. It calls for a brutal scrutiny of the the commitment to make it better. It

Advertisements in Pakistan Link are

placed in good faith. The newspaper is not the full benefits of old friends until One is connected by technology yet dark side of modernity where one is often made better by giving prior-
responsible nor endorses the contents of their dying weeks and it was not al- still disconnected from each other. can be physically alive but still die a ity to human connections.
any advertisement. In case of a frivolous

lawsuit, the plaintiff will bear the total cost
of the suit, including but not limited to the Digital Transformation: Pakistan is Now Online!
Link’s costs and the attorney’s fees.
n By Riaz Haq nearly 90% of all internet users in
Information for CA Pakistan for streaming music and
watching video/TV, and 38% of
Subscribers akistan’s digital transforma- Pakistan’s internet users go to You-
The printing of Pakistan Link is unfail- tion is in full swing. Over Tube in the research phase of their
ingly completed by Wednesday every
week and its copies are handed over to Pthree-quarters of Pakistanis shopping journey.
the mailing house for prompt dispatch living in the top three metros of Pakistan has also experienced
to the subscribers. The Link should Karachi, Lahore an e-commerce boom in the midst
reach its destination on time if there is
no delay at the post office. If a delay is and Islamabad are of the COVID pandemic. 71% of

occasioned it is in no way attributable connected to the
to the performance of Link’s manage- TRANSFORMATION, P7
ment. In case of delayed receipt of Pak- Internet, accord-
istan Link or missing issues, please con- ing to a report Views and

tact your local Post Office and submit a
“Publication Watch” form. titled “Journey to opinions ex-
Digital” produced pressed by
by global tech giant Google and authors and
PAKISTAN LINK Kantara consultants. contributors
in
articles,
Researchers found that two-
Headquarters thirds of urban and nearly half of letters, opin-
P O Box 1238, Anaheim, CA 92815 rural Pakistanis regularly use the ion pieces,
Tel: 714-400-3400
Fax: 714-400-3404 Internet in the South Asian coun- reports, advertisements, etc

E-Mail: Editor@PakistanLink.com try of 220 million, the fifth most Pakistan has seen a phenome- Head, Performance, South Asia appearing in Pakistan Link
populous nation in the world. It nal growth of 3,500% in broadband Frontier Markets, Google said: and Urdu Link are their own.

has a young population with the subscriptions over the last eight “With half of its population on the The paper neither shares
Pakistan Offi ce median age of 22.8 years. 46% of years. Pakistanis now own more internet - Pakistan is now online!” nor endorses them and thus
42 Rehman Court Pakistanis access the Internet every than 103 million smartphones Google Search and YouTube should not be held responsi-
Plaza Square, Off M. A. Jinnah Road day. They use the Internet for edu- with mobile broadband subscrip- are the most popular Internet ap- ble for the views/opinions of

Karachi-74400, Pakistan
cation, entertainment, shopping tions. In a Youtube presentation of plications in Pakistan, according the writers & advertisers.
and to search for information. the report, Faraz Azhar, Industry to the study. YouTube is used by
www.PakistanLink.com