A Day Without the Newspaper

Yesterday it was one of those days I wished I had learnt to read Urdu. Every year I experience this regret on a few occasions especially on days of major festivals. Yesterday it was a holiday for the newspapers on account of Sankranti and consequently not a single paper was to be found on the newsstands except those in Urdu

There wasn’t a single newspaper available anywhere because all newspapers had declared a holiday. Earlier, a few newspapers would declare a holiday either a day earlier or a day after the festival day so as to take advantage of the demand for newspapers from those cannot survive the day without a glance at the headlines. But this year it seems all of them chose to be on a holiday yesterday except the Urdu papers.

I can read Telugu and also Hindi but not one newspaper in these two languages was to be seen yesterday except those in Urdu. It was hell. All day I felt the withdrawal symptoms of newspaper addiction and I guess millions others too might have felt the same. Life isn’t simply the same on days I cannot get to read the newspaper.Of course there was the television and the internet to satiate the need for the news. Somehow the feeling of holding a newspaper and reading it leisurely is something the television or the net cannot give. Apart from that, I also happen to be the sort to read the newspaper from top to bottom. I read every thing, not missing a single item and hence it was more difficult for me.

Later in the year there will be several festivals bringing with them days without the newspaper. Maybe I should begin learning Urdu soon.