Saad Chupte Bhi Nahi Saamne Aate Bhi Nahi
Narrative of the Modern Jungle
Describe it, create a narrative, and promote it beautifully. Call it tradition, consider it innovation, or perhaps a sense of timeliness. But in this age, the only thing selling like hotcakes is the narrative itself—a narrative that spreads like fire. Social media had now infiltrated the jungle to such an extent that even the lion would first trace the location of its prey and then use Google Maps to find a shortcut. The hyena watched beauty tutorials to strengthen its thorns. The fox was buying filters to portray its cunning as innocence. The owl had sacrificed three close relatives to pay for an advertisement highlighting the benefits of its eyesight.
The snake was gathering its beads, and the jackal had rented a cave to store its jackal horns. Seeing its antlers caught in a tree, the deer would regularly get its antlers trimmed on the third of every month. Weak animals mixed sterilized food into their daily meals or took it through injections. To avoid any misfortune, all the animals had safely stored their ears at home. Now, they only roared and made various sounds to express their anger or joy, just like people leaning over a bridge to record videos. Since their ears were safely tucked away, no one could hear the sounds.
The truth is, no animal in the jungle had any interest or curiosity left to listen. Everyone’s roar seemed similar to the lion’s, and they could jump higher with filters applied. Everything had changed. The concept of zero remained, while the actual figures had completely transformed. The conspiratorial app had placed such filters on every narrative that even two plus two could equal hundreds of billions, and even a million plus a million could yield zero.
This app was present in every corner of the jungle and had begun operating automatically. The use of ears was prohibited within it. This conspiracy was an ancient and intricate part of human history, bubbling in the jungle like a yeast that spread unrest, chaos, and rebellion. The method of sound propagation and its effects were highly complex, limited only to sound itself. However, its outcome always manifested in countless forms of destruction. Even if someone inadvertently brought an ear along, they would only hear the sounds swaying in the air.
Many animals had even lost their ears, yet they still heard the narratives loud and clear. “That thief,” “that bandit,” “that blasphemer,” “that polytheist,” “you blasphemer,” “you who commit insult,” and the voices of the exiled were broadcast through speakers, and the indoctrinated animals would leap upon their prey. The atmosphere of the jungle was filled with rumors. Even fossil fuels were bent on destruction. The fertilizer was so toxic and foul that every crop was contaminated. The fabrication of sounds had now taken the form of an industry in the jungle. A twenty-minute demonstration had caused utter chaos. Animals began to see watching prey for twenty minutes as a form of worship.
The most effective medium for the propagation of silent sounds was media and social media, where false news and misleading information were used to herd the animals. Even the dinosaurs were eager to join this sectarian war, along with their skeletons. They saw the conspiracy of rumor-mongering as an effective weapon to ignite the jungle, capable of paralyzing every herd from individual to collective levels. The peacock’s dance blended with the peahen’s tears, and the sound was eager for victory. From the fox to the monkey, the conspiratorial app had intertwined threads of class and sectarianism. These threads of desire had become so tangled that they couldn’t be unraveled even with teeth. After so many experiments and amendments, lives had become chaotic. Wildlife was in peril.
According to conspiracy theorists, all major events in world history occurred as a result of some covert effort or conspiracy, and the jungle too was under the shadow of such conspiracies. The jungle, along with society, was rife with plots. We all had become unskilled in our listening abilities while being adept in sounds. From teachers to students, we would band together under this conspiracy theory and rush forth.
Indeed, the water of the river is murky, but our minds are also deprived of the filter of awareness. Somewhere, Maryam Nawaz is being taught to apologize to a police officer, while elsewhere, the police officer tries to incite violence instead of restoring peace to control a crowd. Who is robbing the youth of their consciousness through these false incidents? What are the underlying motives? Has the jungle’s air reached this far? Why are we being stripped of the understanding of day and night, good and bad, black and white? Why is the judge within us being deprived of the awareness of waking and sleeping?
Whether political or religious, ideologies are long-lasting. From declarations to proclamations, beliefs are nurtured and developed. We do not create rules; we enforce them. How long will you keep checking and balancing? Thought develops over years, and its implementation occurs in moments. Now, the only thing left to see is what scene you witnessed and what that scene showed you.
The stone of time grows heavier,
We continue to give it the form of clay.
(Baqi Siddiqui)
