for example, living in pakistan, and visiting it, would enlighten you to the fact that not only are we divorced from our past, every decade the powers that be hit the reset button and decide to reform the identity of the nation, which seems to oscillate between temporal nationalism to vapid religious fundamentalism.

coming of age in this latest era, i can tell you that in terms of music and literature, in terms of our thoughts and our ideas, we have come a long way form the generation that just preceded us, primarily because we were finally given a voice to speak with. without a doubt, most of the time that voice was imitated, and copy pasted. but not always.

we are finding our own selves. please give us (this is a plea to the powers that be) the time and tolerance to do so. we are not so adrift from our forefathers as it is believed, mainly because our forefathers were perhaps not who we like to believe they were.

I’m a British national, born and bred, and now residing in my Queen’s colony titled Canada. I don’t watch AAGtv and neither am I concerned with what they put on. I write for a publication that provides me with an outlet to share my abstract view of life, whether its of South East Asia, Europe or the America(s). Most channels in Pakistan are following the same formula that Indians produced well over a decade ago… and though its a brilliant revenue generator, its nothing short of disappointing. Even when its a 24 hour news channel.

I visit Pakistan and India almost in a clockwork every 3 years… and whatever I write about these two countries is what I see with the two eyes I have been provided with. I eat and drink in the poshest restaurants and hangouts, and drink tea from the crummiest “dhabba’s” all across Karachi, Lahore, Bombay and Delhi… and I don’t think that I can be proven wrong when saying that the new generation is nothing but only confused in trying to adopt a culture unknown to them and their forefathers.

What you see on TV is not what you implement in your life. That’s a fact any sensible person would agree with… unless one comes from the masses that have already been trained to not think for themselves, sitting in-front of the TV and swallowing all the horse shit that gets fed to them.

that being said…

Cheers!

i noticed that this article comes from some publication for the AAG channel. correct me if i’m wrong, but the images and style of that channel embody the very things you criticize, in terms of the channel’s westernized clothings, lingos as well as all round confusion.

in fact, through my life the argument against ‘westernized modernity’ has usually been made by those with a salafist/wahabi/general reactionary islamic designs which they can hide behind the general frustration most of us feel about the lack of a contemporary culture in our society that feels organic and intrinsic to us.

i am not accusing you of doing the same, but it is a line of argument i am suspicious of unless you have something different to provide. some definete course of action. otherwise it is far too easy to call the youth of pakistan dhobi ke kuttay and DBCDs.

its foolish to think that people decided one day to wilfully negate their own culture in order to feel westernized. if their own culture remains vibrant and alive, they would continue to drink from its well. a good example is with our music, especially ‘traditional’ styles, which in a bid to remain relevant have become increasingly modern in their usage of western instruments and beats. yet they can’t seem to be classified as anyhting but classical music, hence comdemning them to cultural insignificance.

ps sorry for the rant…