The poets and peasants may live in the country, but the business man cannot afford to do so. The modern businessman is a city-dweller. You cannot conduct a big business from the country.
If you have any ambition then, like Dick Whittington, you must come back to the city. Even the poets and men-of-letters, in their rare moments of sanity, when they think of their livelihood, come to the city. Chatterton came to London to win fame and fortune; Dr. Johnson did the same. We should also remember that some of the best poets of England, Keats and other-and some of the famous men-of-letters-Charles Lamb, G.K.Chesterton, and other-were born in the city of London and loved it. Poetry is after all a matter of temperament; Charles Lamb loved the “sweet Security of the streets” and never felt inclined to go to the country. G.K. Chesterton. found good deal of poetry in London.
Think of the thousand amenities of modern life which one may enjoy in the city and cannot find in the country. The latest inventions and discoveries of science can be utilized by city-dwellers, where “the merry country lad” leads a benighted existence. Not only that, the comforts of city life cannot simply be compared with the comforts of country life.
In the city you have the best medical advice, the latest information about any thing you are interested in, large shops, reliable banks, etc. From the cultural standpoint there cannot be any comparison between city life and country life. Higher education is unthinkable in the country. For that you must come to the city.
Country life makes one dull, ignorant rude and rugged, while city life makes one well-informed, alert, cultured and refined. The center of culture is always the city, not the country. Think of the place of Athens in the cultural life of ancient Greece or that of London in the cultural life of England. In the cities we have the larges libraries and other institutions helping the cause of learning.
Which, then, is the better? It is hard to give and define reply. Country life has its advantages, so has the city life. At a certain stage the city life becomes necessary.
In the England more men live in the cities than in the country, because England is an industrial country. But in Pakistan about forty percent people live in cities, because Pakistan is an agricultural country. More than considerations of natural beauty and health, these economic factors count in the life of a people. Idealists like Goldsmith and Cowper have condemned city life mainly on moral grounds. We simply do not want to quarrel with them on that issue.
There need not, however, be a defined choice in this matter. Both city life and country life have their advantages. The city-dweller may, whenever he has opportunities, retire to the country and recoup his used-up in the fresh country air. In England statesmen and big businessman have there country houses where they try, as far as possible, to spend their week-ends and holidays.
The countrymen also come over to the cities not simply to see the sights and amuse themselves but for getting education and employment. They also come to the city to attend courts. Students also go to the country for enjoying picnic parties.
To the comparison we can say that city life as well as country life have their advantages and disadvantages.
Written By: Syed Faiz Mujtaba
