Daily Times

Urdu is a language that exudes with elegance, maturity, romance and style. Those who have heard Anwar Maqsood, Bano Qudsia, Ashfaq Ahmed and Zia Mohyeddin speak know how beautiful the words sound when pronounced in their perfect intonations. The Urdu language once flourished through the mind and the pens of Urdu’s literary greats’, but it is now only correctly known by a select few in society.

Urdu is not endangered, but it is on the brink of being ignored by the masses as no attempts are being made to nurture the essence of the language. The irony of the fact is that the masses want to listen to an Urdu language news television channel but do not want to read Urdu books.

However, even though English has retained its hegemony over our minds and in our daily affairs, the Arts Council of Pakistan has been holding annual Urdu Conferences in Karachi. On December 21, 2017, the 10th edition of the International Urdu Conference was held and was attended by writers, poets, critics and literati from across Pakistan. This was indeed a welcome step and this effort must continue. However, attempts must also be made to organise a children’s festival which launches that promote the Urdu-language by inviting children’s book authors, publishers and magazine editors.

Pakistan did air Sim Sim Humara, a localised adaptation of US-based Sesame Street. The program was a welcome initiative, however, it was still perceived as an adaption of the English version

Learning and absorbing Urdu begins from the home. Even if a child is admitted into an English-medium school, parents must pay attention to how the child speaks and how the words used are appropriate and decent. Unfortunately, parents seldom notice the language their child uses and as the child grows, his or her language develops during their adolescent years and becomes part of the personality that defines the person.

The influence of western culture has also moved us away from Urdu. Business management institutes compel students to speak in English during class and deliver their presentations in the same language. English is a universally accepted language however, Urdu has its own special meaning and significance. Most of the students completing their A/O level studies have problems reading and conversing in Urdu as they have not been given an atmosphere where they can read, write and speak in their mother tongue.

Even toddlers admitted in kindergarten are taught in English. It is important for small children to know how to pronounce people, places and things in English but giving that more importance than Urdu is problematic. Moreover, parents also want to see their children converse in English from an early age because of strict competition in society.

Another reason for children not cultivating an interest in Urdu is because of a lack of storytelling and story reading sessions that were once a part of almost every household in Pakistan. Grandparents would ask their grandchildren to sit with them as they narrated their thought provoking personal experiences and told them fables that had messages of moral values and character building. That tradition has diminished but it has not been forgotten.

The school system in Pakistan at large promotes English language based education and students studying in Urdu-medium schools are regarded as second grade citizens. The electronic media should also play a positive role in promoting Urdu. Pakistan’s state and commercial channels should develop Pakistani-oriented programs that can fill this language gap and make children who belong to both English and Urdu medium school systems learn Urdu and accept it as their own language.

Pakistan did air Sim Sim Humara, a localised adaptation of US-based Sesame Street. The program was a welcome initiative however; it was still perceived as an adaption from the English version.

The government of Pakistan and the ministry of education in this regard must create avenues to develop Pakistani-centric television and radio programs for children that are informative and entertaining and that help them learn Urdu as well as English. Pakistan did produce Ainak Wala Jin during the 1990s, which was an original creation. With an Urdu script and with messages of moral values embedded in the story, the program is a case study of how to create Urdu language content for children.

The writer is a columnist and an author

Published in Daily Times, January 10^th 2018.