For the Want of Intellectual Stimuli

I was flipping channels on television when I tuned into a children's quiz show on one of our local channels. Seeing Aamir Saleem the singer sit as one of the guests amongst the audience of children made me suddenly wonder the last time I saw someone other than a singer or a musician as a guest for a children's show.

I don't see any authors, I don't even see any actors. I don't see any soldiers, policemen, pilots or any other role models except for singers in childrens' shows.

Talking to Halima about the same, she pointed out that a possible reason why could be that children do not think much about the kinds of people I just mentioned, which brings the argument round to the starting point: children don't think of such people as interesting because such people are not introduced to children with the same razzle dazzle as musicians are.

I want to hear about Ibn-e-Insha from people other than my father. If the actual authors are not available, I'd love to hear people talk about their youth that was spent on such authors like Shafeeq-ur-Rehman, Bano Qudsia and even Ghulam Abbas. Or poets like Ahmed Faraz who are given air-time on Begum Nawazish Ali but not asked how the picture of their country has changed over the span of their lifetime.

Personally I know people who belong to the police and armed forces who have extremely interesting thoughts to share and inspire people with. Why limit such occassions to September 6, and even then to remember older patriots and not celebrate the prospect of newer ones, insha Allah. I know for a fact that many young mindsets will be changed if the army and police were represented by those who feel the same glory behind serving their country as myself, you or any other common man would.

I wouldn't even object half as much to musicians being guests at a show (maybe I would, actually) if they presented even a flicker of inspiration through means of dialogue and reflection shared with the children. Instead, all they do is lip-sync or hand out gifts wrapped in shiny green paper.

Children look extremely cute masha Allah, waving our Pakistani flags in glee while hearing their favorite singer singing a well-known national song, but then they might come out associating August 14 with only the song-and-dance routine. Hearing the people who make Pakistan each day the rest of the year is bound to be an inspiration and a less mindless experience.

I love my country, and I am proud to celebrate its existence. I just don't want the idealogy of Pakistan to be reduced to a mere Chinese whisper that loses its weight by the time it has reached the last ear.