Long hauls often necessitate one to walk around inside the aircraft. I often stand peering through the tiny window on the emergency door, looking down at the passing ‘Lilliputian’ landscape of mountains and cities. It is a strange feeling to know that you are cruising at 35000 to 40000 feet with only one force holding you aloft – that being the equilibrium.

Equilibrium, as an instrument of resilience in Islamic philosophy, forms the basis for the integrated approach of Islamic ethos. It is this equilibrium that enables the orators to persuade thousands with the sincerity of their truth. This perfect harmony in words and tonality transforms a statement into a timeless and significant expression. Phrases like ’To be or not to be“, ’‘What’s in a name“, ’‘The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing,’“ and “Change is the only constant in life” ingrained in our neural pathways, are great examples, ready to be invoked at the slightest opportunity for us to appear noteworthy.

What we hear today is garish, offensive if not downright humiliating. Name-calling and aggression coded in terms like Youthias, Jiyalas, or Patwaris, resound on social and electronic media. The diminishing capacity to argue intellectually has brought the participants down to physical skirmishes on live shows. Print media, which still carries germs of intelligent perspectives, is subject to ‘shrinkflation’ - that is visibly losing volume and visibility, while electronic thrives on shallow, irrelevant, and often provocative content for the essential TRP. There is a noticeable disregard for the dignity of individuals or institutions, and a complete absence of the science of interweaving dialogues for effective outcomes, or for an equitable platform, to ensure that every perspective is distinctly audible.

PTV, with its array of past shows, captivated audiences with content adorned with punch lines and intellectually profound discussions. Personalities like that of Ashfaque Ahmed, Mushtaq Yousafi, and Pitras Bukhari dominated the screens. Anchors followed Zia Mohiuddin’s finesse of delivery, with regular references to the........

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