The Murder of an Artist

 Have we given up thinking? ______ and become systematic machinery of performance in this ironically dire strait of competition? It was a pretty cold night in November, he was under the weather__chronic with sinusitis. He was retrospecting with great regret and sorrow, not because of his physical condition but his mental inability to think, acquire insight, or being unable to have intuition. Zubair, you are a phenomenal writer I appreciate your work, you are an artist, said Sir Naimat; head of the coaching center, while presenting him the trophy of the best award, he remembered. He wrote several short stories in English and Urdu when he was in high school and now?.____ Tonight, after having a deep conversation and exchange of their work, via text with one of his class fellows, he felt something different. She indeed was very talented, subsequently, inspiring him by her artistry. Simply, she unleashed his dying artist inside, reluctant to die. He felt that newborn enthusiasm but alas!! now those skills of insight have vanished and whatever he remembers was equivocal and vague. He was so stressed about having lost his talent,__ who was to blame?. The real perpetrator of this very ‘crime’ that dragged him in this machinery of competition, technology, and identical environment, was society itself. After much hesitation, he took the pen and penned down the irony of this society. 220 million is the number concluded in the 2017 census. The diversified population of Pakistan, literacy rate about 57% much more in a positive sense. Having said that, when it comes to human resources or the modern cliche “Technocracy” as all of us blatantly argue, we depict a paradox. Recently, this same slogan of technocracy penetrated the most prestigious entrance exam for bureaucracy in Pakistan. As every DNA is different, so the instinct. As per this framework, every child in his class, to some extent, is different from his counterparts. And that difference is what stands him out, makes him a different personality. Not every human being is an engineer or doctor. Every single individual has a unique instinct, perspective, and life approach. Every single teen has idiosyncratic and peculiar interests and talents. Some of them are good at sports while some love reading comics, some take an interest in politics, whereas some are technology freaks, and that’s how the world moves and develops. But the irony of our educational and socio-economic system is that we are trapped in this complex maze of competition where whoever embarks to pursue his career in professional degree with higher grades than others, will be rewarded. On the other hand, if someone chooses to pursue his career in arts and whatever his interest is, he is undermined, neglected, moreover, accused of not being good at studying. That is the reason why the number of aspirants for competitive exams has been dramatically increasing. None of us is happy with our profession, despite, making a good amount of money. However, parents who regardless, of what suits you or not, strive and convince one to opt for the lucrative ones. They are righteous and more than honest to you. They can’t stand their child making his living in very limited bacon, even though he makes his living in his loved field. We were told that one achieves a plethora if his passion and profession become the same. Today, we indeed have given up thinking. No one bothers to contribute his insights more than his related course. We have become the slaves of this indistinguishable environment while losing our inner capabilities. We don’t read books other than our syllabus, so how could we think out of the box. We have become the same, we indeed have become____ these were the last sentences he wrote. He could not express more satire as he was under the weather. 

Zubair Siddiqui.