June 10, 2006

“Wow! What a nice shawl, where’d you get it from?”

“Oh, well from an exhibition.”

“The one where all international goods and clothes were on display?”

“Yups exactly, that one. It was so cool with so many different stalls of international brands.”

This conversation took place between two friends and is also the topic of my debate. I’d like to ask the readers why do we enthusiastically participate and visit international exhibitions and fairs but are reluctant to visit national ones with as much zeal and interest? Why are we quick to grasp and copy other nations’ trends but are forgetting our own traditions in the process?

We have lost our own identity and are treading a path unknown to us. We see so many girls clad in western dresses, people conversing in English all the time forgetting their own language. We also find people celebrating festivals such as Holi and New Year with more zest than Eid. People flee to far away lands to make careers, thus causing a major brain drain in our own country. These are things that compel us to ask why? Why are we forsaking our own culture and identity?

Our cricketers when speaking in Urdu while representing our country abroad are laughed at and we see many people imitating them and making fun of them. Why?

It is, after all, our mother tongue and our national language and we should converse in our own language no matter where we are. The above mentioned are minute things that I have noticed which many others have not even bothered to think about.

Some foreign traditions have also crept into our daily lives and have become part of our culture, such as dowry.

Coming to a brighter aspect we see many countries adopting our styles and traditions too. We see many foreigners greatly impressed by our culture and traditions. We see them wearing our traditional clothes and jewellery. A number of Chinese students study at our universities in the department of Urdu and are trying to learn the language with a lot of enthusiasm and eagerness. We also find people all over the world enjoying our local and traditional dishes.

So why are we ashamed of our identity as Pakistanis? We should promote our own culture and heritage and feel proud of it rather than blindly follow the things that are ‘In’ and belong to an alien culture. We have a rich culture and great traditions. I’m not suggesting that we should close our eyes to the positive changes that are part of society globally, what I’m trying to say is that we must keep our traditions and try and adopt the positive aspects of other cultures too. This will definitely make us proud of ourselves as a nation with an identity of our own.

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)