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

[Le_Pakistan]

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

@Reha

That’s not an answer to my question which basically looks as if you came up with your own conclusions.

Urdu will not DISadvantage them. But I still haven’t seen a single post proving how crucial it is for 2nd generation American Pakistanis to know Urdu fluently.

Not one.

No I did not come up with my own conclusions. Why would I want to do that? “Hey I am bored, let me twist Reha’s words and spice it up a bit”

But ok then,

** Can you tell me where I stated learning Urdu will disadvantage them? Or prevent them from learning any other skill? I’d like to fix that so other people don’t get the wrong idea either.
**

@Reha

Family and heritage is…some people cling to it desperately but I don’t want to emphasize culture over the things I find more worthy of attention. Its how I think and what I believe. Its being downplayed because I don’t think second generation kids here will have the same connection with Pakistan that I did or the stronger bond my parents did. **I will not force them to pretend to be a part of a culture they have never lived in or know too well. **Why would I do that and have them constantly struggling between two worlds…one they live in and one they’ve only seen vague shadows of?

Their priority is not to learn how to cook handi or how to wear a dupatta, its to learn to be kinder to their neighbors. I don’t care if they don’t know an ounce of Urdu but they better be a part of benefiting the less fortunate. That to me is much more important and yes learning Urdu takes a backseat to that absolutely. 100%. Their religion comes first, their careers second and then their culture. Their religion teaches them to be good human beings, their career ensures their survival in this world as well as their usefulness to others. Their culture can teach them certain things relevant to a region their forefathers belonged to but that’s it.

I live in a practical world…not in ideals. I don’t want to guilt my kids into thinking they need to be a certain way. They are Muslims and in order to identify with another Muslim, that should be more than enough. God did not create people Pakistani or Indian, he created them Muslim. I am not worried about their Urdu skills that can only come in handy when speaking to relatives that all speak perfectly sound English anyway.

Firstly, nowhere did I state that you said that learning urdu will disadvantage them. I said: You make it seem like as if learning them their mother tongue, or anything about their culture will disadvantage them in striving to become a good human being and a good muslim.
Look at the parts that I made bold. That is how you have put it down. Maybe that is not what you meant, but that is how it is written.

And yes, the word I was looking for is ‘effort’. It will take one minimal effort to teach their children about his culture/ language/ family.

Had my parents not taught me anything about my roots, I would have felt like a loner and that would for the very reason that we live in a practical world.
Yes I am muslim first. Deen should always come first and that is what bonds the Ummah . But then we have our own set of families, our own kind of foods, and languages and certain customs which define our identity more (and I am not talking about doodh pilai or any of that sort of noobiness. I couldnt care less of that).
There is nothing wrong with that. It gives us the feeling that we belong to a group. If you put together muslims from different countries together, you will see that they differ in certain habbits and mannerism because of their different backgrounds, despite them all being good muslims.

It will never be either exclusive the one or the other.