British, Paki and Proud - Television

I personally believe that the best source of information after the internet are documentaries. Some of the documentaries that have been aired on BBC, National Geographic and various other channels are not only extremely informative, but entertaining as well. A recent documentary was aired on BBC2, titled "British, Paki and Proud", which sought to portray to the rest of the world, the lives of British Pakistanis as they struggle to hold on to their culture, while trying to accept some of the norms and values of the British culture. As second generation nationals, people face a difficult dilemma of whether to associate themselves with people from their native culture, or with people from the country in which they reside, in this case, Britain.

The problem arises when children grow up without much exposure to their own language, culture and social values. When these kids visit their native countries, they feel out of place because they can not completely comprehend their own mother tongue, in addition to being innocuous and vulnerable to lies and deception, which are commonplace in third world countries.

Furthermore, no matter how long one resides in a foreign country, irrespective of whether one was raised in that country or not, the local inhabitants will never accept foreigners as one of their own, simply becuase it is human nature. Skin color is only one factor, which creates divisions and a sense of difference, apart from culture, religion and language.

This documentary seeks to explore the lives of these British born Pakistanis who feel the difficulty of living in a foreign society first hand on a day to day basis. It also touches bases with a more positive and patriotic side of their lives where British Pakistanis admit to being proud of their Pakistani descent, while showing love and pride for their new home, now UK. The documentary was initially titled "Pakistani nights", but the title was later changed, which caused an uproar within the huge Pakistani community residing in UK.

The reason for this commotion was the inclusion of the word 'Paki' in the title of the documentary. The word 'Paki' is considered as a racial slur against people of South Asian descent, or at times, simply brown skinned people. Several Pakistanis were totally against mentioning the word in public due to the nefarious history attached to it; however, some progressive thinking Pakistanis argue it is a good idea to use the word openly, as using it colloquially takes away the negative feeling attached to it and should be used with pride.

You can learn more about this documentary at the BBC website here. Enjoy!