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Existentialism & Life

No Hats on Sunday

Akif Rashid asks Albert Camus why so many people around him are unhappy and confused, and what to do about it.

I tend not to live by very many adages, but I am inclined to a witticism once in a while. One of the lines close to my heart is by Henry James: “I’ve always been interested in people, but I’ve never liked them.” And to be foolishly honest, few people are as interesting and unlikeable as my fellow citizens of Pakistan. Because of this, I’ve developed quite the habit of people watching (it’s okay as long as you don’t use binoculars; that is frowned upon). In fact, just the other day, I was roaming around a shopping mall in my monopoly man top hat, pretending to be richer than I am, when I saw one common feature amongst the madding masses: No one really seemed to be happy.

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