What exactly is Pakistani culture?

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
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Everytime I shed some light over the culture that I have been made to practice, I come to realize that it’s not even genuinely Pakistani.

It is the Indian culture that our ancestors brought along with them when they immigrated to Pakistan.

I thought we got a separate nation in the name of Islam, to practice and follow the religion to the best of our ability, yet I feel we never really left the Indian culture and always have been clinging on it a little too much.

Can someone please differentiate between Pakistani and Indian culture?

I believe with the arrival of satellite and the Internet, whatever differences we had have been totally diminished and we seem to have totally integrated in their culture.

I no longer see any originality or anything that can differentiate Pakistanis from Indians.

As for the religion, unfortunately, most of us have let go of it or hold the view that it’s merely offering salah and fasting in Ramadan (this also applies to me to a certain degree).

Then to make matters worse, often I feel kids who are raised abroad are constantly drilled in by their parents to maintain their Pakistani culture.

Honestly, I don’t even feel like following Pakistani culture much, because it’s not even purely Pakistani to begin with.

So what exactly is our culture? How do we differentiate between Indian and Pakistani culture?

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why do you want it to be different when it is not? The difference is at the lower level,pakistan and india both have regional cultures which are different from one state to another with in the country.
But the people who live outside cannot differentiate between them. Ask any pakistani from pakistan or indian from india, they can even tell by talking to a person which state he/she is from let aside the country difference.
Plus you cannot sterotype india with any perticular culture, almost every state has different lifestyle, culture etc. I guess you mean bollywood culture when you compare it with india.
In general both the cultures are similar (remember pakistan was part of india "just" 50 years ago) and i dont think anything is wrong about it. Truth is the truth, just for the sake of being known as different you cannot pretend to be something else.

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Re: What exactly is Pakistani culture?

Great topic. Its true there is no such thing as Pakistani culture. What exists in Pakistan is basically Indian (hindu) culture. We managed to break away from them 57 years ago....but, till date, we hold their values and culture close to our heart.

Our true culture is Islamic culture. We have this huge misconcept amongst muslims and mostly desis, that Islam and Islamic culture is only for the Arabs. Islam did'nt come for one race or people, its for everyone. We need to revive the Islamic culture in Pakistan.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by kaka_in_usa: *
why do you want it to be different when it is not? The difference is at the lower level,pakistan and india both have regional cultures which are different from one state to another with in the country.
But the people who live outside cannot differentiate between them. Ask any pakistani from pakistan or indian from india, they can even tell by talking to a person which state he/she is from let aside the country difference.
Plus you cannot sterotype india with any perticular culture, almost every state has different lifestyle, culture etc. I guess you mean bollywood culture when you compare it with india.
In general both the cultures are similar (remember pakistan was part of india "just" 50 years ago) and i dont think anything is wrong about it. Truth is the truth, just for the sake of being known as different you cannot pretend to be something else.
[/QUOTE]

I want to ask you...what is different? We celebrate their festivals, we get married according to their customs. We listen to their music, adopt their way of dressing. I dont see how are cultures are different.

The only differnce that arises is because some of their rituals are abolutely unislamic.

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kaka_in_usa, why did our ancetors waste their lives and energy getting a separate nation?

There are Muslims living in India and to a certain degree they have the freedom to practice Islam.

I'm not really talking about bollywood culture.

I guess I'm somewhat focusing on the wedding rituals.

Islam says to be simple. Have a simple yet elegant wedding. Parents can give their daughters presents if they like, but husband has to be the one to arrange for dowry.

I also know that dowry from the bride's side comes from Hindu/Indian culture/beliefs.

Then we have mehndi, mayoon, and God knows what else, which to a degree have religious significance in India. However, it has got nothing to do with Islam.

If someone tries to follow the Islamic tradition of simplicity, they are labelled as being outcasts, cheap, uncultural, etc.

If there is no difference, then why take pride in being Pakistani? I know not everyone does, but there are many who totally follow Indian culture, yet they proudly proclaim to being partiotic Pakistanis.

Sharaabi, I'm sure there are different cultures that Muslims practice, but why practice a culture that has it's roots in Hinduism?

Why practice their ways when we can have our own?

Yes, there's nothing with having similar food, language, etc., but following their rituals that are contradictory to Islam is worrysome.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Sharaabi: *

The only differnce that arises is because some of their rituals are abolutely unislamic.
[/QUOTE]

Right on!

Now if we try telling explaining it to our parents, they would think we are being uncultural and letting go of the Pakistani culture, which isn't ours to begin with.

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sharaabi miya, i personally think that the biggest reason for similarities between two cultures is the language. We speak same language have so many ways of communication (tv,internet etc) and thats how the changes in cultures propogate from one side to another.
I mean 58years ago indian and pakistani culture were way different then now but after all the changes over the years the cultures have changed but still similar to each other.

and regarding the difference i was talking about, i said their is difference in regional culture (eg, sindh is different than punjab) but on national level the culture is similar.

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Sadiyah,since your inquiry is sincere, I will help you see the differences. Culture is confined to a region, place, etc. In Pakistan, there are millions of cultures and sub-cultures and many of them are unique only to regions in Pakistan, but there are many idiosyncrasies that are common between India and Pakistan. For example, putting hina (mehndi) on one’s hand is common throughout the region, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, India, and even in the Middle East. But how many Holi Parties do you see in Queeta or Karachi? How many people sniff Naswar in Banglore? How many people in Rawalpindi cook with coconut milk?

One first must define what the term culture means before making analogies. “Culture” means how we interact (communicate) with one another and with our environment. It is not a product of Religion, but outwith. It encompasses language, cuisine, festivals, etc. Only about 8% of the current Pakistani population has roots in India or migrated from India. The remaining 90 % are indigenous people with indigenous cultures. The reason one sees so many similarities is because so many different conquerors and invaders ruled the whole Indian sub-continent, and one notices the similarities (in terms of influences) that they left behind.

:jhanda:

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^^ I cannot believe it. A stright forward reply from Madhanee. Hell must have frozen over ....after all Bo Sox won the series and now Madhanee is helping folsk sort things out on GS.

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Madhnee :k:

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Madhanee, thanks for the clarification. I get what you're saying.

Henna, food, languages, dresses, etc. are common between the two nations and I have no problem with it.

What I fail to comprehend quite often are the wedding rituals, such as mayoon, mehndi and the like. Not to forget there are rituals like throwing rice over the bride's head, or washing her feet when she first enters, etc.

I'm sure there has to be a reason why people perform such rituals and it could be very likely that they have some sort of religious signifiance attached to it. At least from the little that I have heard it seems to me that many are the religious practices.

Although I don't watch bollywood movies often, but many that I've seen dealing with marriage rituals often do explain why such rituals are carried out, as well as the bitter consequences that the couple/family might have to face if they fail to perform such rituals (throwing rice over brides head, washing feet when first entering, etc.).

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Sadiah ,
Pakistani culture has lots of things in common with Indians ., because 99.9 % of Pakistanis have Hindu/Buddhist blood in their veins. It is very unique and distinct from those of Arabs/Persians . I know you guys have been taught in school to spite Hindus - and how evil they are - for obvious political reasons .
So what I will request you is that don't become the cultural slaves of Arabs/Persians and reject the culture of your ancesters .

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If in your eyes rejecting Hindu culture means being the cultural slaves of Arabs/Persians then so be it. :rolleyes:

We can follow some aspects of our culture but those things which have their basis in Hinduism need to go, language, dress and cuisine are fine but wedding rituals and festivals with basis in Hinduism or other things which contradict Islam need to go, some things more urgently than others.

I don’t know what there is to be proud of about Hindu culture, I’m all for accepting our roots and being Desi, I hate people who claim false foreign descent but we don’t need Hindu culture, Islam is graceful and cool, Muslims are dignified, chilled out and down to earth type people, we don’t need gay saffron culture, basically we’re Muslim now and we need to work towards creating our own Pakistani identity.

Religion whether it be Hinduism or Islam is never seperate from culture, it influences our thinking and lifestyle to a very large extent so it’s only natural that we Muslims will be very different from people across the border.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Sadiyah: *
Madhanee, thanks for the clarification. I get what you're saying.

Henna, food, languages, dresses, etc. are common between the two nations and I have no problem with it.

What I fail to comprehend quite often are the wedding rituals, such as mayoon, mehndi and the like. Not to forget there are rituals like throwing rice over the bride's head, or washing her feet when she first enters, etc.

I'm sure there has to be a reason why people perform such rituals and it could be very likely that they have some sort of religious signifiance attached to it. At least from the little that I have heard it seems to me that many are the religious practices.

Although I don't watch bollywood movies often, but many that I've seen dealing with marriage rituals often do explain why such rituals are carried out, as well as the bitter consequences that the couple/family might have to face if they fail to perform such rituals (throwing rice over brides head, washing feet when first entering, etc.).
[/QUOTE]

more often than not - it is people who try to justify traditions using religion because thats the way to uphold them. Now if these were really part of religion how come the hindus of the south have different traditions than the ones in the north?
I dont see any marriages in south where the grooms shoes are stolen..
I dont see any marriages in South where you have to take seven rounds ( saath pheras)

All these are rituals which are specific to a region...not a religion

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^ ^ my point exactly.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by bitter: *
more often than not - it is people who try to justify traditions using religion because thats the way to uphold them. Now if these were really part of religion how come the hindus of the south have different traditions than the ones in the north?
I dont see any marriages in south where the grooms shoes are stolen..
I dont see any marriages in South where you have to take seven rounds ( saath pheras)

All these are rituals which are specific to a region...not a religion
[/QUOTE]

As some brother has already said on this website Hinduism is hogwash that’s why it varies so much from place to place, the empty ceremonies are mere show off, Hindus lack spirituality so they turn to all these useless rituals to try and fill the gap, each has invented their own way that’s why it varies from place to place but it’s still Hinduism, Hinduism is (supposedly) religion(s) as well as culture(s) as is (the one and only) ISLAM so there’s bound to be a clash, to us Islam is before any other identity, it’s our “home”, our shelter, we find solace in it like nothing else and if the need arises we will seize being Desi or Punjabi or even Pakistani (if the reason for Pakistan’s creation is forgotten) if it gets in the way of us being Muslim.

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dark_knite, I was never brain-washed as India or Indians being bad. There is a certain amount of enmity that exists on both sides of the border for each other. Might I point out that often such enmity is openly displayed in Indian movies as well. Hence, stating that it's only Pakistanis who harbour such feelings would be incorrect.

Also, I do not wish to adopt Arab/Persian culture because it's not mine to begin with. I'm fine with the South Asian cultural aspects such as food, language, dress, etc. However, I'm not in support of many wedding rituals that have no roots linking to Islam or a pure Pakistani culture.

I'd like to thank you all for the valuable feedback that I received. Also, I'd like to request you to please not turn it into a religion-bashing thread.

I'm sure there's plenty more we can discuss without stooping low and insulting each others' beliefs.

To an extent, parents should keep in mind that if they're raising kids outside of the sub-continent, they will adopt both the South Asian and the Western culture.

I guess both cultures have its own pros and cons and we somehow gotta adjust to it, while making sure that it is not in violation with Islam, insha'Allah.

What bothers me is the fact that many a times parents fail to respect the choices/decisions made by their children especially when it's clashing with their culture back home.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Ranjhan: *

As some brother has already said on this website Hinduism is hogwash that’s why it varies so much from place to place, the empty ceremonies are mere show off, Hindus lack spirituality so they turn to all these useless rituals to try and fill the gap, each has invented their own way that’s why it varies from place to place but it’s still Hinduism, Hinduism is (supposedly) religion(s) as well as culture(s) as is (the one and only) ISLAM so there’s bound to be a clash, to us Islam is before any other identity, it’s our “home”, our shelter, we find solace in it like nothing else and if the need arises we will seize being Desi or Punjabi or even Pakistani (if the reason for Pakistan’s creation is forgotten) if it gets in the way of us being Muslim.
[/QUOTE]

ranjhan how old are you?

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Ranjhan, this >>>>> . <<<<<<< is a period. iit is used to end a sentence, not only a paragraph. please learn to use it properly. it will make reading ur posts so much more easier. Thank you :)