WE recently faced internet interruptions and wondered about the cause. Unsurprisi­ngly, the larger the problem, the harder it is to promptly find the cause here. Eventually, we learned it was a problem in the submarine cable. Could a tiny black fish have sliced it? Oh well! Her cheap thrills, our tangled ills.

What that little fish did sent ripples far and wide. Many businesses took a hit, and productivity plunged. The effect was anything but favourable for those striving to better their family’s livelihood.

I have a dream. I wish we had a little fish that could work with the same precision, but instead of causing trouble, would solve our problems. A dream that stretches too far, I know.

When the news broke about the cause of our internet troubles, another troubling story caught my attention on Dawn TV’s Zara Hut Kay, featuring Nousheen Zaidi’s analysis of water pollution in various parts of the country. The researcher’s water samples from different areas in Lahore revealed poor water quality, harming the health of children, women, and men. When asked if any city in Pakistan could boast clean tap water, the researcher, while acknowledging the absence of large-scale studies, sugges­ted there may be no such place. A nuc­lear arsenal,........

© Dawn