A Way of Life

Every morning I follow a ritual, get up, brush, make myself a cup of coffee and read the newspaper. The newspaper is an integral part of my daily routine. I see the paper, mentally mark the articles I find interesting and then come back and read them again. Some articles merit only the cursory reading of the headline. The rest is to be savored. The whole ritual lasts about 15-20 minutes (reduced
unfortunately) because of lack of time. The only time I get to read the whole newspaper is the weekend. I especially love Sunday supplements. With the book reviews, the pictures and the general information. I remember Sunday was the only day when newspapers were printed in colour. We used to get about three different newspapers on Sunday. The whole family used to sit down after breakfast and read the
newspapers in turn. It used to be good.

The newspapers are not the same quality anymore. With the advent of sensationalism and yellow journalism, good old reporting often takes a backseat. The headlines are in a huge font with limited or repeated information in the body. Well, this can also be blamed on the internet and a vast amount of information available online almost immediately. People tend to log in and read as the event is happening so when the newspapers come in the next morning, we already know half of it. If we've missed the internet news, we have roughly 4584 news channels running news 24X7. That's a lot of news. So by the time the newspaper comes in the morning, we know most it. But why do we still get newspapers. I believe that somewhere I am attuned to trust only the newspaper. Even when the channels announce a school holiday the next day, I will believe it completely only if I read it in the newspapers. It's wired into our systems, I think we inherently do not trust the media which gives us a minute by minute update. It feels like one is just assuming a lot of things and jumping to conclusions. On a newspaper, it is somehow, final and sure. The written word is very powerful. It implores us to think, to react and to act. People still believe in the newspaper. They still want to hold the paper in their hands and get black print on their fingers to believe what they heard on the TV last night is true. Newspaper's word is law.

It will be a long time for the newspapers to go out of the reckoning. By the time they do, I hope that I will be too old to read one anyway. Because newspapers are a way of life. Because that one rare day they
do not print them, I feel like I have been cheated and will never know what's happening with the rest of the world. I feel that my day is incomplete without it. Another day, another newspaper, another cup of
coffee. Life's good. Because newspapers for me is more than just news, they are a way of life.