Masters of Mimicry

I cannot agree more with your ideas regarding colonial type of education that we parents are encouraging our children to take, as well as your other ideas on the whole issue of education. currently i am working on a quantitative research which looks at attitudes of people regarding cambridge education. I started this study with a bias that it is alienating our children from their culture and values. Once this is completed (which wont be before october) I would love to share it with you through Marya.

dear ms thaver,

hi. i just read your `masters on mimicry` article, and i liked it. in a way, i really think that we try to immitate americans andd brithish a lot. now that you brought it up, i feel like an american wanabe who betrayed pakistan.:(

its really stupid, because when your in pakistan, you just try to be some other people, and you worship them. i used to write a lot of `jessica goes to the mall stories my self. my sister is like you, she hated all those stories of mine. they put her to sleep.

i was in houston, texas for 6th grade, and my friends there just thougth it was too cool to be `asian` OR WHATEVER, AND wear shalwar kameez and write from the right hand side.(please excuse spellings, runons and punction as im in a rush). i was like ``ok fine...whatever``.

i also think that its dum that ppl think if you go to america, your life is complete. everyone (even somtimes me)is always saying how america is so perfect and how london is the best place to shop and blah blah. its like pakistan is a nothing place with no culture and stuff.

i think if we stop mimicrizing so much in everything, we could be almost as well off as them.

yur student

sophia :P

p.s please put on the website

Well, first of all, congratulations on a good article.

Ok, well I think that the fact that we are learning more in terms of western life rather than ``fazilat with ami`` is bad if we are stressing on it, but i don`t think it`s a bad idea, because i feel that if we learn all about lifestyles that we already live in, we`ll be totally clueless about the world around us. So in my opinion, we should not just pinpoint on western culture and say that it`s being used too much in our private schools. I know it is, we definitely should include books by south asian writers, but we also should have books in our course not only on these cultures, but different ones from all over the world, so that we can learn not onlyt about the richness of our culture, but also the cultures of for example the carribean islands, or japan, or russia. In school, we should be taught how to respond to writers of different nationalities, i agree.

In my opinion, describing my sister`s mehndi is easier really (what would i write if i were a schoolbag: i was filled then i dragged on the floor and then.....?)

On the whole, this article expresses something which i think should be looked into by the board of education in pakistan. People in pakistan seem to think that everything about the west is ideal. But I would say this: If you look around. there`s your east and your west, but when you turn around, your west becomes your east and vice versa. True, they more advanced in many ways, but in trying to learn from their experiences, we shouldn`t lose our own identities. This sometimes happens, as we are so used to reading books by western authors, our minds begin to work on the system and mode of life that an american/european engages in. So, my whole point in this response is that yes, the curriculum of the schools in pakistan should be changed to offer a variety of different ideas and thoughts by different peoiple from all over the world.

Maybe I might have stretched out of the topic in some places in this response, so please don`t mind, since I`m new to this way of evaluating other people`s articles. I`m glad you have written this article, so that more and more people like me can thinka bout issues like these; issues that we have never even considered, being so used to the way of life we lead. Keep it up.

To Reply #: 51

I think I understand now. We are cool :)

I did read the article and I would like to clarify again that eliminating Sir Walter Raleigh from our curriculums is not what I meant by broadening the canon or including indigenous elements. Its funny that when I say BROADENING it should be confused with RESTRICTING, when I say INCLUSION it is confused with EXCLUSION. I find that this results from a disagreement on the basic idea of the meaning of ``indigenous element`` - to me this means relevant, purposeful, oblique, contextual. To you it means narrow, regimental, rigid, fatalistic. I suppose balances are hard to imagine when they dont seem to exist in our society.

A discussion or assessment of our needs and implementing them on the development of our curriculum was never there. Its always been copy them and we may get where they are or dont do what they`re doing or we`ll become like them. I am repeating again that I am not on either side of this black or white spectrum. I just want an inclusion of our own experiences within the four walls of the classroom.

I dont address how Pakistani Studies and Islamiat because I am a Language and Literature teacher. It is natural for me to be most concerned of that which is relevant to me in the same way that students would understand and be more interested in subject matter that is relevant to their lives. Understand once again that this is not an EXCLUSION like your Maulana article it is an inclusion of something that has always been left out.

What you are essentially saying is already happening and infact desired by the clergy (Islamist Mullahs and conservative feudal lords) kindly look at this short article :

http://rd4.lhric.org/chivalry.html

It describes the banishing of yet another human story but for you perhaps an ``irrelevent`` story because it takes place, ``far away in the evil west``. You say ``Education is already very strictly regulated - I want things to loosen up.`` I am with you on that - but first attack the strongly entrenched brainwashing that is Pak. Studies and Islamiat that is taught in every school. Why dont you attack that first before you go onto denounce something already waning (and desperately needed) in a degenerating third world : western values.

Solitude:

``Do we refute the fact that when we relate concepts to what is around us it is better understood? Do we refute the fact that we are more

interested in something when it is relevant to us? Do we refute the fact that reading and writing are interrelated and what we read ultimately affects what we write?``- Fazilat

Ofcourse we do agree with all you say. These things are OBVIOUS. I have no dispute with that.``

Me: Yes well then I think all this argument is unnecessary.

``We both agree on broadening the canon - lets work with that : *

Me: Yes.

``Which schools FORCE students to read Enid Blyton?``

Me: Many English medium schools force (in the sense that they dont give any other options) students to read the same old Charles and Dianas.

``If you are proposing regulating education``

Me: Education is already very strictly regulated - I want things to loosen up.

``propose regulation of what is already THERE : urdu ki kitaab, Pakistan and Islamic History (more notorious and harmful than any enid blyton book) and that Islamiat period- where all the non muslim kids get have a free period of fun (dam_n it!).``

Me: I was addressing the teaching of language and

literature. Paki and Isl. stdies are in a league of their own. Changes are desperately needed in that area as well.

``Why do we read about Ben despite being in Karachi ablaze (and let me remind you NO SCHOOL, specially in Pakistan would force a kid to read about Ben and his pets)? ``

Me: Many English medium schools force (once again in the sense that they provide no other options) kids to read about Ben and his pets in comprehension exercises.

``Because we want to escape - escape from the misery of our arab/islamic ways that has made a desert out of our lives. Do you want to seal that escape route as well? ``

Me: Not at all, but I want to add a problem-solving, dealing with problems head on route as well. Having only one route is restricting.

``Attacking the British (even when the poor ba_stards are no where near Pakistan anymore) is cliched and expected and a typical excuse for something more sinister (your deliberate or unconscious omission of vicious lies published in the name of history : ``Pakistan studies`` is very disturbing).``

Me: Why is everything sinister? You musn`t be so cynical. I left in class 9 - was never taught Pak studies.

``You sound like you have an strong dislike even hatred of Ben and his pets and blue eyed girls. Which is understandable. . .(they didnt hate dogs because they were haram/ makruh. . .)``

Me: I have a dog and I like him very much.

Fuzair:

I know that Islamiat is compulsory at least up till class 9 in private schools.

In my day the blow-off `O` level used to be Urdu. But I guess I am simply showing my age here.

I failed (D grade) my Urdu B exam even though I had spent days mugging up all sorts of zarabal misal, and the life of Ghalib or Hali or God knows who else and all sorts of other fun things. Looking back at the events of almost twenty years ago, its kind of funny but at the time I was pretty upset. In Urdu B we had an oral (viva) exam in those days. So I walked in to the room and there was a fat woman from God knows where stuffing her face with tea and chicken patties. She muttered something to me, spraying bits of tea and chicken patty all over the place. Considering how full her mouth was, its no wonder that what she said was completely incomprehensible. Being a polite and well brought up young man, I automatically said, ``I beg your pardon. Could you please repeat what you said.`` Being an idiot, I said it in English.

Immediately her face darkened and it was downhill from there on. Ever since that day, I`ve had an irrational dislike of Urdu, especially Urdu teachers.

I`m certainly glad we didn`t have to learn Pakistan Studies as well. Is Islamiat also compulsory now?

Regards.

``Do we refute the fact that when we relate concepts to what is around us it is better understood? Do we refute the fact that we are more

interested in something when it is relevant to us? Do we refute the fact that reading and writing are interrelated and what we read ultimately affects what we write?``- Fazilat

Ofcourse we do agree with all you say. These things are OBVIOUS. I have no dispute with that.

We both agree on broadening the canon - lets work with that : * Which schools FORCE students to read Enid Blyton? You probably read it because your parents wanted you to go to such schools (unlike us who had to sit through Urdu ki Pachaas Hazaarwin Kitaab) If you are proposing regulating education then advocate that parents not brainwash their kids into becoming muslims or kafirs but to let the kids remain human - propose regulation of what is already THERE : urdu ki kitaab, Pakistan and Islamic History (more notorious and harmful than any enid blyton book) and that Islamiat period- where all the non muslim kids get have a free period of fun (dam_n it!).

Why do we read about Ben despite being in Karachi ablaze (and let me remind you NO SCHOOL, specially in Pakistan would force a kid to read about Ben and his pets)? Because we want to escape - escape from the misery of our arab/islamic ways that has made a desert out of our lives. Do you want to seal that escape route as well? Attacking the British (even when the poor ba_stards are no where near Pakistan anymore) is cliched and expected and a typical excuse for something more sinister (your deliberate or unconscious omission of vicious lies published in the name of history : ``Pakistan studies`` is very disturbing). You sound like you have an strong dislike even hatred of Ben and his pets and blue eyed girls. Which is understandable. The world is in their hands today because their ancestors were not pure like ours (they didnt hate dogs because they were haram/ makruh, they didnt prevent their women from looking into men`s eyes which is the reason why we love their eyes which HAPPEN to be blue) . The elders of the west drank, partied, rebelled, blasphemed, f_cked around, had a lot of fun, dared to think different and were generally immoral, dissolute and decadent so today they all headed towards ``hell`` leaving their children with a world that belongs to them.

And you suffer because of our own ways and I do because of my own.

Do we refute the fact that when we relate concepts to what is around us it is better understood? Do we refute the fact that we are more interested in something when it is relevant to us? Do we refute the fact that reading and writing are interrelated and what we read ultimately affects what we write?

Why does any change to the British system give everyone such a heartattack and jump wildly to conclusions picturizing impassioned rallies and frenzied book burnings and assume a fear of educating illiterate masses? An elementary student in North America toiling away on books only about children in South Asia through his or her entire schooling career would seem ridiculous. But here modifying a system where we learn about England England England is seen as malicious - as if we were trying to advocate backwardness, uncivility, religious intolerance and hatred. As I said the basic protest here is over what indigenous has to offer.

Let me clarify again my position here - English medium education stays but curriculum adjusted to include a wider range of writers than is offered now and an integration of the students self in their interpretation of the text. Forget about the fear of the baboo with his shoe polish and his English book - you cant condemn this take on teaching English because it has not been widely practised.

And yes a lot of evils and hypocrisies exist in our society but ignoring them is not going to help any. Yes there is corruption and filth and abuse and exploitation but that doesnt mean we direct our attentions to the West in starry eyed awe and make our only goal in life immigration. It is only through discussion and addressing social issues in our society that action can be taken. Let there be awareness in the classrooms rather than studying Ben`s desire to want a Pet while Karachi is ablaze outside.

Once again before I trigger the book-burning- fear-of-the-literate-masi impression I would like to clarify that this involves integrating the issues around us in the literature that we study and this can be done with Shakespeare and Dickens and many more as well.

You say ``books foreign or native should not be ``controlled``. Dreams and imaginations are not to be crippled or institutionalised.`` Well then by all means let then run free. . .let them talk about what they see and feel not squeeze their vision into a lens that only allows them to see in one direction - far away. This is about broadening the canon not narrowing it down. Give them choices then and not the same texts that have been studied for the past fifty years.

Fazilat,

I really enjoyed reading your article because it mirrored my feelings on this very subject. The idea of reading foreign texts as the basis of one`s education forces a blind acceptance of literature. One is unable to critique the writing because it is out of the realm of one`s own experiences. Additionally, students are unable to relate to the experiences of the characters which limits their ability to embrace the literature completely. This is not to negate the value of texts such as those by Enid Blyton which I realize was not your intent. Instead, it is to assert that Pakistani or South Asian writers must also be included to enhance the experience of students in their appreciation of literature.

Another problem that stems from the current system is the devaluation of anything Pakistani. Students who receive 10 A`s on their O`levels at times get C`s or fail Pak Studies because, as far as O`levels are concerned, Pak Studies have no importance. Pak studies is seen to be the ``blow-off`` O`level by many students. Furthermore, students are more likely to be able to quote Shakespeare than to recognize the great works of the scores of brilliant Pakistani poets.

Recently, for one of my classes, I read Lord Macaulay`s Great Minute on Indian education of 1835 which claimed that native Indian literature was of no worth and that ``a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia.`` It also mentioned the ``intrinsic superiority of the Western literature.`` This minute was given as a recommendation to the English government to encourage the instruction of the ``superior Western literature.`` This had a great impact on the future of education in India. While it is not productive to bitterly blame the English for the problems in Pakistan today, it is also imperative that we improve our current system and abstain from promoting Lord Macaulay`s sentiments. This does not mean a reversion to traditional or Urdu-medium schools. Rather, it means taking the best of the English system and combining it with the best of the Pakistani system. To deny the importance of this would be to deny the worth of any Pakistani writer or person and the Pakistani experience as a whole.

Ref Solitude #38 and #41:

Ms. Thaver`s thesis is well-taken. She raises the idea of inculcating pride in one`s heritage through education that is culturally relevant to the students. Much the same as I feel now that I sit in a comfortable home in the US with no worries about do I have enough money. In that comfortable situation, with the freedom to think that it has brought me, I can scan my high school education and find that most of it was anchored in the style bequeathed us by the British. I even regret not having a better grounding in Indian history, which I have the leisure to read up on now.

But would that have helped me in any way in the attainment of my goals? As I struggled to raise myself to the next higher economic plateau, my English education helped me to interact more easily with the Westerners I met. I didn`t have to overcome great big cultural barriers to understand the social situations I found myself in. A quick hug, a peck on the cheek -- I knew that these were to be interpreted as gestures of friendship, not romance. And I did understand the Western values of hard work, giving value for wages received, the concept of justice, etc. By growing up in India, I imbibed a lot of Indian culture by participating in it.

Having grown up in Canada, Ms. Thaver might feel that she missed a lot of Pakistani culture and might keenly feel that the educational system in Pakistan doesn`t re-inforce it either. But that premise applies only to people in her situation, or as Solitude points out, to those in any colonized country who have deliberately chosen to lead a Westernised lifestyle, either because they can afford it or because it is the fashionable thing to do. To those from lower economic strata, exposure to English literature opens their eyes to Western ideas of civilization. It tells them that people, even poor people, live differently in the West because they have certain inalienable rights and that others recognize these rights. Given the choice of indoctrination in Western culture that asks people to take their destiny into their own hands versus passive, leave-it-to-Allah-or-Bhagwan, pre-ordained destiny crap, I would any day dump my heritage and go for the gold in this lifetime.

Go, Solitude, go!

I would like to apologize to Ms. Thaver and the others. I don`t think that I can apologize on Solitude`s behalf since he is still present and is responsible for his own words, but I do not wish to associate myself with his rants and crudities. Upon rereading some of my earlier posts, I think I was excessively sarcastic and did you all an injustice. For my intemperance, I wish to apologize. I realize that you all mean well and that there is actually a great deal of validity in much of what you say. I just object to some parts of it and I let that feeling colour my perception.

So, in conclusion, I would like to say to Ms. Thaver and her associates, ``Keep up the good work. I think that your students are lucky to have you.``

Best Regards.

What happens to all the people who go to Grammer/ St.FlanaFlana hoping to find themselves sitting in their country house, sipping wine, curled up in a plaid comforter in front of the fire in Martha`s Vineyards? Most importantly what happens to all these people when for some reason or the other, they cannot acheive their dreams and have to come back to Pakistan (inability to get admission, inability to find a job, inability to assimilate)?

Why do they fail ? maybe out of their aristocratic laziness (``Mommy, when is the batsman going to Palish my Bata shoes?``) or proud parents (``my daughter is going to come back to Puck-istan and marry our Muchar (moustacheod) zamindar Polo playing-serf-raping-torturing patriarchal son; and we will have a grand ole ballroom dancing on the roof for her marriage; I will ask minister saab to provide police for the protection of our gulfam Bayti (daughter)``) Imagine the Olevel ppl. who come back and see their batsman reading Angrezi Literature! Imagine the horror. When the downtrodden, the immoral (``hai, when Aya mops floor you can see her entire cleavage- no shame!``), the weak and paleed (``filthy! these people eat from the floor``) and the ``native``-quilt-sewers (``original sindhi karahi, wah wah!) start reading foreign ... How dare the beggar on the street read about the experiences of his counterparts and learn from their experiences? Cry for the poor soul for he is losing his ``identity, his roots, his origins, his race`` he is becoming ``inferiority complex`` and ``confused`` (by all those options that this immoral-skirt-wearing-Jane-Austen woman is putting in his innocent head) He is learning about how the French massacred their oppressors and how they dragged their priests through the streets to rise above the nations and become a power to reckon with. He is learning how bare breasted, rifle brandishing french prostitutes can lead revolutions. What fantasy world do these poor souls live in that has little to do with APPRECIATING the values of living in dung, in Liyari and speaking the divine languages (Arabic, Punjabi, Urdu). What confusion and discontent and restlessness it is driving our people towards? towards dis respecting their elders, towards straining against the leash held by their parents, their policemen, their clergy and their employers and masters.

Information and knowledge should not be regulated. Book foreign or native should not be ``controlled``. Dreams and imaginations are not to be crippled or institutionalised (``children, today we read book written by my nephew- he our countryman, our fellow Muslim not a hindu- beecause we don`t want gora or banya teaching us anything about us- dont forget to buy his book! royalities go to the foundation : The-bas_tards-I-have-spawned``) oh your protectionists ways. Roy (very recent by the way), Tagore (the sincerest), Sidwa, Shakir, Iqbal (the hypocrite) were educated and inspired by the same westerners. Why should we go through a third party when we can learn the human experience first hand? I read them when I feel nostalgic. I would not read them if I wanted to get the fudge away from you people. And why would we want to read apologetic glorifications of an unevolved culture? A culture hijacked and sodomized by the Arab Qasims and missionaries. Why ? so that the rich can have their four+ wives and make us read about it? so that they can rape the ayah (``slaves are persmissible akhi!``) and have us revel in the literary miracle and genius displayed by cambridge-educated-``native``-writer? Why? so that we can read about the ``shame`` of our women who would rather get raped in private by the zamindar(/ uncle/ father/ brother/ Pilot Pen) than openly love us? why? so that we can learn and be forewarned about how our ``honor``able men torture-and-kill the ``syed urdu supeaking nice`` girl who dares to love a ``karanta`` ? I suggest we take our proud heritage ( the genocide of non muslims from meeqat-sharif, the introduction of slave-trade to europe) our proud roots (that emanated from some arab man chasing and raping a shudra woman in a field in India) our proud ways (divorce laws, hudood ordinances, male-female dynamics) our proud cultures (crimes that brought us to our knees) our proud values (deprivations that have resulted in men like me walking strange lands looking for love but only finding families, religions, married couples and ``chaste`` women) and shove it! shove it , shove it!

So much pride! I have seen the richest most priveleged westerners shred their family histories apart in front of strangers (where as we are taught ``beta, never talk about family outside your own house``) - the biggest leaders become human (whereas our presidents get blow jobs from their boy-gaurds [imported from gilgit] and then tell us to lower our gaze in the presance of their daughters) we are still walking around with our chests puffed, belly out and moustache waxed. Here is the news: you might still own the land, but the serfs are leaving to drive cabs in NYC.

All kudos to Solitude #38. I agree with him entirely. The major objection I have to Ms. Thaver`s desire to indigenize (if such a word exists) the teaching of English language and literature in Pakistan is that--given the aims of those who want to do this--it is going to degenerate into ``Look what the cold, Northern, racist, ice-people, did to us! Pity us, pity us. The reason why we are so useless is that the Gora Saab repressed us unmercifully, etc., etc.``

If you read Ms. Thaver`s views on ethnic studies, it is clear that this is exactly what is going to happen. I won`t repeat what I have said in earlier posts but my views on such asinine departments and fields (subaltern studies, ethnic studies and other such wastes of time) are clear. We would be much better off teaching more maths and science and nice Edwardian English than Pity Studies 101.

To Ms. Durdana #28:

I hate to disappoint you but, alas, coming here to the West and getting a Ph.D. was financially one of the worst decisions of my life. Given my family contacts (statement of fact, not a boast) I would have been much, much, much, better off financially if I had stayed on in the glorious Islamic Republic. But all this running-dog, lackey-of-the-West ever got was a graduate student`s stipend for several years and then lots and lots of part-time teaching jobs.

You see, that is what I have always said about Pakistanis: its not that we sell out to the West that I object to, its that we sell out so cheaply!

Ms. Bina Shah (?):

I recently posted a reply to your review of Jinnah. If you have the time, I`d like to hear what you think of it.

Regards to all.

Solitude:

You are associating indigenous with backwardness and fundamentalism. My interpretation of indigenous elements is something completely different. That is the main point of disagreement here.

To clarify however, I did not suggest that we revert to a standardized Urdu-medium education and forget about English. I agree that an English-medium education in Pakistan grants you many more opportunities than an Urdu-medium education would. My article aimed to question our English-medium system and proposed amendments to it.

Also, just because the rich can afford the Cambridge education and it grants better opportunities than any other education system available in Pakistan does not mean it is perfect. Your approach seems to be leaving it as it is because it is better than anything else out there. My suggestion was to broaden the ``canon.`` That does not mean scratching off writers that have blue or green coloured eyes from our English curriculum but to make it more inclusive of the variety of English authors that have cropped up from all parts of the world.

Also, we all learn and understand better when we can relate something to our everyday lives - this is no secret of pedagogy but a commonly known fact. We should then include authors like Parveen Shakir, Bhapsi Sidwa, Andruhti Roy etc etc. That also means relating corruption in our society when studying Julius Caesar or talking about tribal fueds when we study Romeo and Juliet.

We should also take an oblique approach to the study of literature where the student can interact with the text rather than just study it. That would mean rewriting the last chapter of Great Expectations, or penning a dialogue between the mother and daughter of Amy Tan`s Joy Luck Club. These shouldnt be exercises practised by a handful of ``good`` teachers but be as important as teaching Shakespeare in Literature class. I feel that this approach of including the student`s environment in the studied text should be institutionalized by schools rather than being an isolated act of the reader working their way through a text at home.

Yes I admit I did study in the best schools in Karachi, but the sad thing is that even our ``best`` was not too good. Just because only the lucky and rich can afford it doesn`t mean we shouldn`t aspire to better it. As for my argument then applying only to handful of Pakistanis. . .a deviation from the ``chalk and talk`` teaching strategy is important even in the ``peela schools.`` Relating lessons to a student`s environment are important in any classroom. A variety of authors to read is applicable also anywhere.

Like I said, you and I disagree on what it means to incorporate ``indigenous`` elements in English education. I do not see that as your fault but a fault of the system - you think that way because your options were the kaida or Enid Blyton. Naturally, you would opt for the latter. Your point was important because you highlight the fact that British authors were our only option. I feel there are other options and other approaches that can be taken in the study of English Language and Literature beyond religiously following the curriculum set some 50 odd years ago. You seem to feel that native does not go beyond religious intolerance and hatred. I think there is a lot more that can be discussed - and it should be in our classrooms.