I started watching soap operas in the early 80s while studying in the US. There were some that were running for decades on a daily basis. It was so intoxicating that all seem real. Simultaneously I got hooked up to WWF and that was more intoxicating. The “noora kushti” was exposed very soon but I continued to be an ardent fan despite being fully aware that it was all a hoax.
After returning to Pakistan in the late 80s, I didn’t miss at all both the soap operas and the WWF matches as they were replaced by first the political soap operas that started in 1988 and then later complemented by the TV talk shows 24/7. The latest episodes of political soap operas have really been scintillating for the last three years, especially the episodes of the last six months when the key characters even being accused and jailed have played as victims to the viewers that is Awam. In the latest episodes, one of the key characters is claiming to be extremely sick and needs to be permitted to get treatment from abroad. His sickness is splashed as being dangerously ill.
What the viewer’s mind is unable to comprehend is that if poorest of the poor is so sick his household will sell everything to ensure that the patient is provided with immediate treatment. In the case of Nawaz why there is a fuss over giving a guarantee when a normal family will rather sell and mortgage all its possessions to get medical aid. The Sharif family continues to play politics than take care of Nawaz.
SOHAIL MAQBOOL GALLIAN,
South Korea.