IN Pakistan, English-language newspapers are mostly read in the big cities. Even there, many readers skim the headlines. Nowadays, the news is mostly bad and hope is hard to find, so, it is safe to assume, many do not go much further. News about small villages, places where life is not determined by the vagaries of urbanised existence, is often where city dwellers do not look. There are important stories in these places as well.

It is in one of these spots that you would have found a story about a man and a horse published a few days ago. According to the story, a 45-year-old herdsman named Mukhtar used to graze his cattle in fields in the jurisdiction of the Yousufwala police station in Sahiwal. Mukhtar’s life was spent among his animals, including a beloved mare that he had raised with affection. It was probably the sort of life difficult to imagine for those of us who spend our days surrounded by other human beings, traffic, Wi-Fi and all the rest of it.

The simplicity of Mukhtar’s life was interrupted when his relatives insisted that the mare be handed over to them. Despite Mukhtar’s opposition, his parents handed it over. Distraught, Mukhtar climbed an electricity pole and grabbed live wires. He........

© Dawn