to know thyself...kee jaana main kaun?

being bilingual in the urban and rapidly modernizing Pakistan is not just fashionable but is a norm now. last week at my daughter's parent-teacher meeting, the topic of Urdu treated as an inferior language in the school was brought up (by me of course). and quickly other parents started bringing in their concerns. ironically most of these parents were like me, who had a good command over English. Those parents who did not say much about the topic were either the ones who were busy texting on their phones OR the ones who secretly want English to be forced upon their kids and regard it as a symbol of success or something. so in my head i had divided the class room of my 1st grader in 3 groups of parents. 1: those who didn't care. 2: those who spoke English well and realized the importance of the mother tongue (or pseudo pretenders and protectors of culture). and 3: those who had a tough time in life because of their lack of command over this other language. my concern of the treatment of Urdu in schools is not just the way they treat the language, or the attitude of  most "madern" people towards it, but its what this attitude and treatment symbolize. i am not a very patriotic, or Urdu speaking, or a purist of any kind. i am perhaps an example of the changing and globalizing world around me. but what i am proud of is the fact that i am who i am . i am proud to be this culturally confused mixture of east and west. my sentences comprise of both English and Urdu ; i am comfortable wearing shalwar kameez dupatta or a swimsuit as required ; i can eat left over paratha and egg in the morning and then go out for Nutella crepes and coffee with my friends; i enjoy the punjabi sleezy comedy stage shows as much as i enjoy How I Met Your Mother or Californication. and i respect each of these beautiful nouns and verbs and various aspects of my life , as much as any other. i dont want my children to associate speaking Urdu with the servants, helpers and uneducated people! i want them to speak, read, write, understand and respect the language as they respect family. in my opinion Urdu, English, pizza, daal roti, and all these miscellaneous multi cultural , bi lingual, co existing elements of this south Asian contemporary urbanized cultural environment , are what shaping us and our children , the way a family shapes a person. you learn your manners from your Dad, the rules from your Mom, the way to secretly get things in the house from your big sister, smoking from your brother, access to porn from cousins and so on and so forth. and all these relations have a special place in your life that is irreplaceable by any other. similarly Urdu symbolizes our heritage, our history and culture. by treating it as just one "subject" in school , and speaking with the staff and maids in this language is the attitude which can bring the value of this beautiful language down . lets not do that . and let this parent of ours live on healthily and with a lot of respect , as it deserves :) .
sochtay raho aur chill kero.

Amber Hammad