POET, dramatist and writer William Butler Yeats famously said that one should “think like a wise man, but communicate in the language of the people”. Unfortunately, today the saying is apparently not famous enough to attract the attention of our learned scholars, talk show hosts and masters of ceremonies (MCs).

All the talk shows are conducted in our national language, which is widely spoken and understood all over the country, but the participants in these shows very frequently, intentionally or unintentionally, mix Urdu with English words and phrases as if to prove to the viewers that they are educated.

Besides, the use of Punjabi is also getting increasingly common in Urdu talk shows. I am really not sure what this is about. Probably those uttering complete Punjabi sentences, phrases, verses and jokes forget that Punjabi is spoken and understood only in the province of Punjab.

In one of the talk shows recently, when a panellist said something in Punjabi, another panellist immediately started speaking in Pashto in order to establish the point that everybody needed to speak in Urdu on national television. That was a correct point to establish on air.

Apart from this, the use of English language in awards ceremonies is also beyond comprehension. All such awards are always given on the basis of perfor- mances delivered in the Urdu language, but from the MCs to the performers, and from the guests handing over the award to those receiving it, everyone tries to be seen as English-speaking. It is really time we shed such psychological baggage.

Other than the spoken language, there is also the element of body language that one has to be careful about.

To my utter surprise and shock, in an awards ceremony that was shown during the recent Eid holidays, one of the male hosts kissed on the cheeks of a male actor on stage. The latter clearly looked awkward by the gesture of the former. What was that about? I am at a loss.

Aamir Aqil
Lahore

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2024