COMING upon one of those billboards that blight the skyline of the Capital of this blessed land, one learnt to one’s horror that a certain bottled brand had the distinction of being “Pakistan’s favorite water”. This was news indeed, since local lore one had grown up with always had it that any locality’s favorite water was the one that came out of the deep well adjacent to the mosque. At least this was the case, a few decades ago, which was presumably the last time ‘elders’ gathered around to consider the issue. Maybe, unbeknown to one, the situation had radically changed after the onset of the Pandemic, just as everything else has. But, then, why announce it on billboards?
The one reason that one can think of for this haste to announce it from the housetops (read, billboards) is that our economy whiz kids may have all of a sudden realized that there is big money to be made from water. This commodity, that was once not only freely available but was also considered nature’s gift to humankind, has now – thanks to the mixed priorities of our merry band of planners – become a saleable commodity and one out of which millions can be earned without much effort. The only hurdle in the way of the cut-throat brigade aforementioned was the way this precious commodity was available in plenty in this Land of the Pure (read Poor). So, what better way to vault this hurdle than to contaminate........