What should have been a trip to watch the much-hyped movie ”Bol”, turned out to be an afternoon where I learned much about the Pakistan’s “educated “middle class.
The queue at the local “middle-class cinema” was long in the sweltering July sun. Having spent 15 minutes standing in the line, I was miserable to see a Madam, dressed up in some designer lawn suit holding an expensive phone, walking in her labeled shoes with her labeled glasses right up to the ticket window and demanding that her request be urgently met. Looking at her one would assume her to be a woman of some reasonable education, with a decent family background. But see, she was not in Europe where she should be observing a queue; she was in good old fashioned Pakistan. Here if you are wearing heels high enough and can flaunt your accent at the poor teller he is bound to take notice.
Inside the situation was worst. The Movie contained some very sensitive dialogues and scenes; to all of which our home crowd (most of it) happily cheered. Apparently everything from infanticide to sexual harassment was funny to our educated middle class boys and girls. It would not have been a shocker if I were watching this movie in some other cinema catering to a different tier audience. I can understand if the rickshaw-wala or the local thelay- wala cannot grasp or respond to the call of such serious topics but such a reaction from the so called educated and “urbanely” dressed up youth is a very serious question on our ethical education.
Apparently all education is supposed to do for us is get us jobs. We have stopped placing any importance to the ethical education of our young. Whose duty is it to teach the young about respect, about ethical norms and civic sense? Are these doomed to live in text books, for we feel that these lofty qualities certainly do not require to be exhibited in everyday life? Do we feel that observing these mannerisms make us look quaint and weak? Is laughing on the harassment of a weaker and different gender part of our cultural mindset? Kids from elite schools throwing rubbish out of there elite cars and eve teasing, simply goes to show that we may be producing kids who can get A’s but something very vital in their overall grooming has gone missing.
Where we have kept up with the latest fashion trends abroad, we certainly forgot to adopt their manners in most cases. We forgot to teach our boys to stand up for the weak instead of laugh at them, we forgot to educate our girls that they have rights and it is not their fault that they are teased when they step out of the house. It is not just our ethics but our general civic sense which is in tatters. We generally never say hello, we are hardly ever polite to the person standing next to us and we never ever smile. We do not offer seats to the elderly or women and we simply have to honk at all times. I can imagine what Ramadan will be like this year. Thirsty and short tempered our holy fasters will be at each other’s throat as the time of iftar draws near. The number of accidents on the road will rise alongside the number of brawls, all in the spirit of the Holy month.
Pakistan is facing a political dilemma because we face a moral and ethical one. Educate our youth in all aspects of life, upholding the real values that govern our life; it is only then that Pakistan may emerge from this quagmire.
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