Brain, not brawn

To opt between brain and brawn has always been a litmus test to establish the nature of a government's priorities in policymaking.

To promote sports among the youth, particularly students, the Punjab Government marked Independence Day by arranging various sports activities in all its districts. Commendable, indeed. In a district, a one-off cycle race was the talk of the town. The cyclists were given T-shirts and caps bearing the pictures of the ruling party stalwarts.

Before that, the contests for Urdu and English speech, milli naghma singing and the quiz programme related to the Pakistan Movement for Independence were also held among schools – first at the tehsil level and then at the district level. A prize distribution ceremony was held at the district level on the penultimate day.

The intriguing part of the whole exercise is that whereas the winners of the cycle race walked away with cash, those in the speech, milli naghma and quiz contests were given only consolation prizes. This caused a slight disappointment among the young winners of the literary contests, who had spent hours preparing their respective content. Particularly, the English speech contestants had to work exceptionally hard, given the generally low standard of English in public schools. Because of the dearth of opportunities and training, they had to memorise the lengthy speeches, learn the exact pronunciation and align the body language with the elocution. But in the end, they were marginalised.

Some of us might know about the Spartans of the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. Thanks to the Hollywood movie 300 starring Gerard Butler. Spartans were a people known for body might and military readiness. However, none of us knows the exact name of any Spartan. They are not part of any of our textbooks. History doesn't remember them as vividly as it does the polymaths of Athens, another ancient city-state of Greece. But even a school student must have heard or read about Socrates, Plato or Aristotle. They are known for their polymathy. The likes of Spartans, Odysseus and Achilles owe their presence in the annals of history to the learned and literary writers like Homer, Aristotle and Sophocles. The brawn owes the brain.

The elite private schools and colleges hold music concerts, sports galas, bonfires, recreational trips and fashion shows, but never any literary programmes or sittings with the literati and academics. They invite showbiz celebrities to their campuses to popularise their elitist image. Also, these are their financial baits. As education has become a commercial commodity because of the privatisation of education, private educational institutions do whatever fills their coffers. Then why do we question why the likes of Patras Bukhari, Faiz, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Ghazi Salahuddin, Mushtaq Yusufi, Dr Mubarik Ali are not being produced now by our educational institutions? A vast majority of students don't even know their names, let alone read any of them. The produce is always inspired by the inspiration.

Another platform where talent is discordantly exhibited and promoted is the Got Talent reality show on the mainstream media. Intriguingly, the raw talent at these shows is displayed by rappers, dancers, acrobats, jugglers and vocal percussionists. Though there are occasional broadcasts highlighting students and academics, they are not hosted by celebrities as we see in reality shows. Also, the reality shows are accorded prime time on screen to enhance TRPs, while those involving students or academics are relegated to fringe time. Quite understandably, they win few sponsors.

In the bygone golden era of PTV, Naeem Bukhari interviews, Kasoti featuring the intellectuals Ghazi Salahuddin and Ubaidullah Baig, Zia Mohayyudin-hosted shows, Pervez Hoodbhoi's science show, and Neelam Ghar by Tariq Aziz were all literary and informative programmes aired in prime time. Optics have devoured everything.

Adieu with a question: Why does the type of talent displayed at the Got Talent shows come from the lower social classes?