Sorry, I am born to a Pakistani but cannot read Urdu

[Reha]

Re: Sorry, I am born to a Pakistani but cannot read Urdu

@redvelvet

Who is struggling, Reha? Are you? Cuz I’m not. I am able to be a part of both cultures without getting confused. I’ve seen several examples of parents who have taught their kids Urdu and there’s no confusion. They don’t jumble the languages while speaking…do you? They can adjust their interactions and thought processes according to the environment that they are in. It’s not hard. Have more faith in the capabilities of children. You see it pressuring, but it can also be seen as underestimation.

RV -

I have no issue with the language being taught as a side project…sure. But it is not a priority. It just isn’t and it never will be. I don’t underestimate my kids…I want something else for them. If I choose not to teach them Japanese its not because I don’t think they can do it. Its because I find other subjects more important and prefer devoting my time to those matters. I don’t want them to be immersed in desi culture…I want them to understand their faith first and foremost and I need for that to be their identity.

I want them to be global citizens…with ehsaas for their fellow Muslims. With NO regard for race or ethnicity.

Pakistan is a country. A nation. A part of the world…it isn’t the entire world and the world doesn’t begin and end there. There are all kinds of Muslims out there and they all pray in the same language: Arabic.

I am 1st generation American Pakistani in the US. My kids will be 2nd generation American Pakistanis in the US. Slowly with time, this connection will diminish. The language will get diluted and eventually we may or may not really even speak it because of our relationship becoming weaker and weaker with the actual country of Pakistan where Urdu is predominant (which I have not set foot in for over 20 years). This is inevitable and I’d rather not dwell on it.

My Urdu is pretty damn good…no one can tell I was born here when I talk. I usually get asked “aap Pakistan se kab ayeen” and when I tell them I didn’t the next sentence is “aray apki Urdu to bari saaf hai”. Even so, I have come across people who don’t accept you as a Pakistani because they feel you didn’t live in Pak, weren’t born there, you have no ties to it so you’re not really Pakistani. So WHYYYY should I try to be accepted and push my kids into that same rut? WHY? Who says I have to? There are posts on this very forum by our own members that say people like me have no right to talk about Pakistani affairs because my birth certificate is blue. Those same people will be the ones criticizing my kids for not speaking the language of a land they have no right to comment on?

No thank you.

My mission is for my kids to learn who they are through the eyes of the only one that matters: their Allah.

And Allah does not recognize any country, race or ethnicity.