A week ago, a short-sighted man exchanged blows in the form of words with a person who told him, you would have future problems if you do this and that. How fighting erupted and the wrong occasion on which they fought tells people that these people have been in a quarrel with one another for a long, but nothing has ever brought them to one table.
On the wrong occasion at the wrong time, a farsighted person stood up to remind and enlighten the public on a project that carries future harm. He said the project was widely protested against and the authority jumped in to solve it. But unfortunately, the authority solved it with another problem, making people think that the authority must be behind the project.
As we speak, the project is ongoing and the tragic part of it is that the same equipment brought for the rejected project is the same equipment in use for the accepted project, the farsighted man added. Who knows what is going on may be a rejected project, asked the farsighted man.
As if something pinched the testes of a short-sighted man, he stood up with an angry face, a swollen neck and an expanded chest, and grasped the microphone. He started explaining himself, but anger could not allow him to talk well. He shot his head by pointing his blaming finger at the farsighted man, accusing him of insulting the host communities, which boiled the farsighted man to an extent he stood up uninvited and threw his stone at the short-sighted man.
It was an interesting interlude. People started dancing to their tune of words, with some laughing and others recording the video for future reference. But a few people intervened, and calm returned from where it hid itself behind the hall.
Because of his short-sightedness, the short-sighted man looks at what he is doing as the concrete solution though it carries a future harm. He does not care about the lives of his children. He promises to complete the project whatever the case, making people surprised that he released such a threatening statement as if the government is standing with him.
Because of his farsightedness, the farsighted man sees what he is doing as a lifesaving move for the blind man himself and his children. He does not protest against the project and keeps quiet, but he suggests other possible ways flooding can be put to an end. Whether the short-sighted man receives other benefits from the project apart from the flood control, that is not the concern of the farsighted man.
Having applied his farsightedness even to the problem at hand, the farsighted man calmed down and swallowed his anger because the thing was getting out from being a misunderstanding to being a physical assailment. Of course, when it comes to physical boxing, the farsighted man could not afford it, but when it comes to mental boxing, the farsighted man wins it unbeaten.
Since then, the public has been judging who is wrong and who is right. As one of the judges myself, I judge the short-sighted man wrong because flood specialists (in case there are flood specialists) have not been consulted and they came out with that project as the only last thing to put flooding to an end. There are alternatives and such alternatives can yield well. The hidden intention of those assigned to do the project is another thing to take into account.
A possible solution is that which does not favour a jealous brother. This project favours our downstream brother who has been trying his best to take control of more water. When the two men were fighting, our jealous brother was wishing the short-sighted man to win the fight. However, the short-sighted man was kicking and blowing the air, his short-sightedness could not allow him to hit the target. I tell you; the fight was interesting. I almost laughed to death.
The author is a medical student, University of Juba.