As we complete 61 years of our independence, we recall our days back home. For today, let’s observe the TV viewing patterns of non-resident Pakistanis on foreign lands. Three Cs - cricket, cultural dramas/events and current affairs programs - manifest the television viewing experience for non-resident Pakistanis.
Cricket has long been followed with passion and fervor. An important cricket match meant a lull day at work because the workers would be either cheering for their heroes in the stadium or rooting for them at home, watching TV. TV screens are a common sight even at educational institutes as well, especially during the Sharjah Cup and the World Cup.
Cricket to Pakistanis is like football (soccer) to the Americans. This fondness for cricket does not fritter away when Pakistanis leave their country. Their love for Pakistan and everything Pakistani accompanies them. In fact, there is a common sentiment amongst non-resident Pakistanis that echoes in their conversations, “Don’t think we are not Pakistani because we don’t live there. We are Pakistanis because we carry
Pakistanis celebrate this Pakistaniness on foreign soil in full swing with distinct cultural events, such as the Pakistan Independence Day parade and Pakistan Independence Day Concert.
In addition to fun and frolic the Pakistani Diaspora enjoy as part of their cultural experience in countries they are based in, hard-core serious news about and from their motherland add richness to the information they absorb from mainstream media. Given Pakistan’s newsworthiness now, the true picture of the situation in Pakistan comes from local news sources.
For Pakistanis, fascination for news is not a recent phenomenon though. Back home, even when news outlets were primitive, 30-minute long Khabarnama (News Bulletin) everyday at 9:00 p.m. on the government-owned Pakistan Television (PTV) had astounding viewership. Today, news sources are liberalized in the country, but Pakistanis’ love for current affairs programs remains unaltered, within and beyond Pakistani borders.
In addition to news and cultural events, non-resident Pakistanis are huge fans of plays (dramas). The high-quality dramas of PTV earned Pakistan great reputation in the genre even in neighboring country, India. Some of PTV’s popular TV dramas, such as Dhoop Kinarey and Tanhaiyaan, are still in the memory folder of fellow Indians also who recall watching the plays on VHS.
These plays that Pakistanis now watch on DVDs are window panes to Pakistan they belong to. Along with these plays; cricket, cultural events and current affairs programs, form an integral part of TV viewing experience of Pakistanis – for whom cricket is culture, culture is identity and identity is current affairs.
What do you think?
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