Your children have the RIGHT to learn Urdu!

Do you think its time to scratch the old tag of “ABCD” for children born and raised in USA? What does it mean to be an American Born Desi these days anyway? Can we now say that our kids are no longer CONFUSED any more? There was a time when children born in USA having Pakistani or Indian parents were automatically tagged as ABCD. But my experience in living here for more than a decade tells me that it was not the kids but the parents who got a little confused along the way. Back than, the cultural and community support system was not as developed (as we see now) and following the ethnic, cultural and social values was a much bigger challenge.

For most parents, it was a big challange to teach their young children Urdu and the good quality resources were also not easily available. But, there were some parents who accepted the challenge; they tried very hard and made sure that their children understand and appreciate their roots and cultural. They took their children to Independence Day celebrations, EID celebrations, weekly Urdu classes etc. They also established rules that when at home speak and answer only in Urdu. It was really tough but they stick with it because they understood the value of what was at stake. Their hard work paid off and when the children grew up they appreciated the sacrifices made by their parents.

The same challenges that parents faced a decade earlier are still there but so are the opportunities to deal with them. With the advent of technology, we have the resources on our finger tips and the old excuses don’t hold any more weight. If we do not provide our children access to the resources that they need to stay connected with their roots we as parents are the ones who will be held responsible. When our children grow up without good understanding of their language and culture they will (rest assured of that) blame their parents and we have seen this happening already. When that time comes, you will not be in no position to tell your children why they couldn’t make an extra effort because it will be too late by than.

We have to constantly remind ourselves, when we loose our culture, we loose our identity. You can never change the color of your skin or your heritage, accept it! So be proud of your roots and make sure you children are well aware of it as well. Don’t treat Urdu language as something they will pick up here and there. It doesn’t work like that and in your heart you know it as well. Give them access to the professional resources and spend time with them. Trust me it’s worth it!

Happy Learning!

I’ll order the Pizza, if you ask me in Urdu!

“Baba can we have a Pizza tonight please, please, please, today is Friday,” pleaded my 8 year old daughter Sofia. Ufff! Here we go again; why Friday doesn’t come only once a month, I thought to myself. “But we had Pizza 3 weeks back, plus it’s not good for your health” I feebly tried to play the health card, but both of knew it’s not going to fly. She knew quite well, I like Pizzas too.

So I started looking for the “buy one get one free” coupon that was supposed to be hiding under all the other coupons on our fridge. But as always, I could never find stuff when I really need it. So I went on the Pizza Hut website and ordered 1 large cheese pizza. “Can we also order bread sticks and coke; it’s cheaper when you order them together you know!” I looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and pride; Smart girl, I thought, must have taken after me. The total came to just over $ 16; add a few bucks more for tips and I had an even $ 20 for a dinner. Even though, I knew in my heart, a home cooked meal is much healthier and a lot cheaper; I still went ahead and ordered the Pizza anyway.

Why did I do that? Very simple! I did a quick calculation in my mind that went something like this; wife don’t have to cook, she is happy (check), Sofia get to eat her pizza, she won’t bother me for another 3 weeks (check) and finally, I also like to eat it (check). So a win win situation for all. It had taken me less than 30 seconds to make that decision. I am positive most of us find ourselves doing something similar in these situations.

When I ordered that Pizza, in my mind, I had seen a picture of a happy family and somehow that image for me was worth far more than $ 20. So my question to all of us today is this; why do we use different standards or even a different thought process, when we are faced with decisions that are actually beneficial to our children. Why some of us talk ourselves out of making important decisions which make perfectly logical sense to so many of us? Based on my own experience, today, two of the most common problems facing the Pakistani expatriate parents are their children’s weak Urdu language skills and lack of cultural awareness. “Why are you not answering to me in Urdu,” and “why are you not saying Asalam -o-Alakum to your Dada and Dadi on the phone” is a scene that is played in almost every other expatriate family household. These are legitimate concerns that are shared by thousands of Pakistani families across the world. But than why we don’t take any serious action to provide the right kind of resources and the tools that our children need is a million dollar question. Why suddenly saving 15 or 20 dollars becomes so important to us that we would rather spend them on buying pizzas or briyanis?

But that’s not even the biggest irony. We (parents) feel perfectly comfortable buying $ 200 game systems and pay additional $40 for each game, but than decide to become Mr/Ms frugal when we have to spend a tiny portion of that on things that actually teach something good to our children. Isn’t it hypocrisy? It’s clearly the responsibility of the parents to provide children access to the critical tools that would allow them to stay connected with their roots. So let’s stop blaming our children for lack of knowledge about their culture or language. A young tree needs strong roots to grow tall and it takes lots of hard work to provide the right kind of nourishment.

The point that I am trying to make here is quite simple; it’s perfectly fine to order Pizzas, watch movies, buy games or drink your beloved $ 4 lattes, but please don’t do it at the expense of your culture and language. When we loose our culture and language, we loose our identity. The pizzas, the briyanis and the lattes are not going to taste nearly as good when our simple question in Urdu is answered by a blank stare by your 8, 10 or 13 year old. Think about it!

 So when next time your child comes and ask you for a Pizza, ask them to tell you the name of the pizza and the various toppings they want in proper Urdu, otherwise they are getting just the cheese pizza.

Have a good one!

Syed.H.Abbas

Founder, Urdu At Home.

Saving Urdu for Urdu's Sake

Saving Urdu for Urdu’s Sake

By Syed H. Abbas (Co-Founder, Urdu At Home)

It is no secret that interest in the Urdu language in both public and private schools has been steadily eroding for the past two decades. But, has anyone lately checked the content of the Urdu books that our children study in schools these days? I am not talking about the public schools or the mom and pop private schools. I am talking about the leading private school systems that are considered to be elite and a status symbol for many across the country.

The Urdu curriculum that is taught in most schools across Pakistan is not only outdated, it borders on the indoctrination of the students towards an ideology which historically has never been a part of the language. Every Urdu course book starting from grade one has religious content injected into it. The amount of content increases with every grade and by the time the child reach fourth grade it looks like an extension of Islamic studies. Each book starts with “Hamd” and “Naat” followed by stories about the holy prophets. The issue is not what’s in the content, which to be fair (in almost all cases) teaches something good. But, the issue is with the placement of this content in a language course.

Some might argue that since Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, it’s appropriate to have some Islamic content in our language books. This argument, at best, is a flimsy one, and it might have had some weight, if there was no other subject where Islamic studies were being taught. But, when there is a separate subject which teaches Islamic injunctions, there is absolutely no need to include any religious text in the Urdu language books that is studied by both Muslims and non Muslim children.

I teach my daughter about Islamic values by buying books on Islam and with the same token expect to buy Urdu books which teach about the language. I am all for teaching the ethical and moral lessons to the kids in the Urdu language books, but it can easily be done outside of the religious themes. In any case, there is a separate course on Islamic Studies where the lessons on ethics and moral values are already given, using examples from our religion.

There is something inherently and fundamentally wrong when we push a particular ideology or agenda on our young kids especially when you are teaching a language. By inserting text about religious themes we are in essence giving Urdu a status of a sacred language. In my view, it’s another way of saying, Urdu is just for the Muslims and non-Muslims are not welcome to study it.

How and when did this encroachment start, and who is responsible for all this? I think most of us all are old enough to remember how, when and why this practice started. It’s not that these books are published by government-run publishing houses or that they are just being taught in public schools in under- privileged neighborhoods. These books are published by the private publishing houses like Oxford University Press and are taught in the so-called elite private schools systems across the country.

The people who are sitting on Urdu text book boards have been there for decades. They have successfully hijacked this beautiful language for their beliefs and ideologies. We need to take notice and should not allow such people to associate Urdu with a religious ideology or philosophy otherwise I fear that there will not be another Prem Chand, Upendra Nath Ashk, Rajinder Singh Bedi and Firaq Gorakhpuri. Unfortunately, it seems that the great publishing houses and the so-called private school systems have also turned a blind eye to this growing tide.

There is a growing need to fundamentally shift away from the way we teach Urdu to our kids. We have to broaden its scope and teach our kids about different cultures, people, their way of life and the similarities and differences between them. We need to use our language to teach about tolerance and understanding, and how we can become better human beings by respecting other viewpoints even when we don’t agree with them. Religious education should only be imparted in the religious courses and the motivation (however noble it might be) to insert religious themes in other subjects should always be kept in check.


The author lives in Silicon Valley, CA, USA and is the co-founder of www.urduathome.com.

Why not make "Urdu" cool again?

“If any child is caught speaking in Urdu, he will be punished”.
When I saw this sign in the middle of the play ground of a boys-branch of a leading private school system, I asked myself “Where Am I? Am I already too late?” Ironically, I had gone back after 6 years in the silicon valley to pitch my idea of improving Urdu language skills by using interactive technology.
When I raised the issue with the school’s administrator, who also happened to be my sister’s friend, she looked puzzled and asked with a gentle smirk - “Hassan, where have you been living? In Pakistan, parents spend huge amount of money to send their kids to private schools. Do you think they want their kids to build Urdu language skills? Don’t you know, it’s Not-Cool”.

She went on to give me a brief lecture on the education system in Pakistan and how the private school system industry had mushroomed in the last 25 years. Apparently, the industry owed its dramatic rise to the increasing lack of trust in the public education system.
I came to know that even the private school system industry is Multi-Tiered. The top tier or the “so called” International School Systems charge fees in excess of thousands of dollars. The middle tier includes big school systems such as City Schools, Grammar schools and Beacon House School systems. Each one of these has hundreds of branches all over Pakistan. The third tier schools are the mom and pop i.e. one or two branches schools which cater to the “Private School Education” obsession of the rest of the population.
"But why is there a sudden lack of interest in learning Urdu?" - I inquired again stubbornly, not really listening to her and thinking about all the nice time I spent growing up in 80’s reading my favorite Urdu novels.She did not have an answer, but apparently, with the sudden growth of private schools and the one dimensional emphasis on learning English, improving Urdu language skills became less of a priority among parents and schools. Schools started introducing watered down versions of Urdu text books just to teach the bare minimum.
After the initial shock of seeing my plans evaporate into thin air, I started looking at the silver lining amongst the gloom. When spoken in its true form, Urdu is one of the most beautiful languages in the world in my opinion. It is not a faith based language and is worth saving for future generations.
It’s been more than three years since I had that conversation with my sister’s friend. A month after that conversation, I left my job as a Business Analyst with a leading payroll firm in the US and embarked upon building a small and a very dedicated team, that shared my vision of making Urdu “Cool” again.


Syed Abbas,
Founder, Urdu At Home.com

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