Host Nida Pasha misunderstood some technical vocabulary during her live show which was picked up five years later by people, only to be made into memes. The audience laughed at what could probably be an honest mistake. A few years back, film star Meera’s clip went viral and received satiric reactions where she could be seen singing an English song on national television. Earlier this month, a clip from a Khyber TV programme also went viral where some TikToker made a slip of the tongue and interchanged ‘cross’ with ‘limit,’ making it “limit the cross.”Again, we found nothing wrong with poking fun at the poor person who many of you didn’t even know.

All these instances somewhat take me back to the Cannoli Café incident that happened earlier this year, but a different reaction had come from the netizens back then. What happened at the café was undoubtedly wrong but who’s responsible for it in the first place? Do we really need to blame the two ladies or are we all a part of the problem? Do we all fail to look at the bigger picture and spot where exactly the problem lies?

All the occurrences mentioned above expose our double standards, so to say. This has made it clear that you and I are equally a part of the problem. Let me tell you how and why.

The Islamabad café incident received strong backlash from the public for obvious reasons. Like many of us who have faced such humiliation at the hands of any authority figure first-hand in school, college or at workplace, this video must have brought back a lot of bad memories. Again, it would be useless to go into the very root cause of the problem because everyone knows it already. We love to hold discussions and academic talks on colonial hangover and identity crisis, and that too, in English. Foreign-qualified speakers are invited as guests. The most preferred degrees, for no obvious reason, are those obtained from the English-speaking countries, no matter the university ranking. Brands change their names and logos removing the word ‘fair’ but the fair skin obsession remains.

Spoken English and near-native proficiency in the language appear as job requirements, even at places where there is hardly a possibility of interaction with foreigners. When the café video went viral, everybody on social media was quick to point fingers at the owner and her friend. However, have they, even once, thought about how they themselves are any different? The only difference I see is the two ladies becoming a voice of every Pakistani’s mindset. The set of prejudices and biases that we hold deep down inside were uttered and recorded. Nothing new could be seen in the clip except for the fact that the act of poking fun was way too straightforward, whereas our biases against those with poor spoken English skills are indirect and subtle. We don’t always say it but our feelings are no different from those expressed by the ladies when listening to the manager’s imperfect English. Would it be right to call it hypocrisy on our part?

What happened at the Cannoli Café early this year was undoubtedly wrong, but who’s responsible for it in the first place? Do we really need to blame the two ladies or are we all a part of the problem?

Talking further about double standards, how many times have we forwarded numerous jokes about Meera’s spoken English? Linking it back to her trying to sing an English song, I honestly never understood what was funny about that clip. English vloggers utter a sentence in (imperfect) Urdu and we go crazy. Love hearts and thumbs-ups start pouring all over social media. Also, a young lady once got camera-conscious and inadvertently said, “I’m proud of you,” in a wrong context. It was soon made into memes without even thinking how embarrassing it would be for the girl who was surely struggling hard to face the camera.

I have been teaching English at university level but even then I make errors, and that’s totally fine. No one can nor do they ever need to be 100 percent correct all the time when using a formally learnt, second language. If the other person understands you, the grammar and lexis shouldn’t matter that much, but the case is obviously different in our part of the world. Here, communication is the goal but the prestige factor takes over.

Moreover, a cricketer’s gori wife challenged these ladies to an English-speaking contest. Isn’t it ironic, considering the same basis upon which the two were criticised? Isn’t she herself trying to imply that nobody would do it better than her because it’s her native language?

Without any doubt, what the two of them did was wrong, but what led to this? They weren’t born when the British were ruling. It was passed down to them just as it was to us. Also, what led to her paying for the waiter’s classes for more than a year? She has customers like us who share her criteria for judging others on the basis of a foreign language. If it wasn’t for the demand, the language classes would never be needed in the first place. Both the owner and the poor employee would be at ease if we hadn’t looked for the angrezi aspect in a ‘perfect’ manager. So, come on, admit it and let’s collectively take the responsibility for what happened.

Moving on, Nida Pasha’s mistake wasn’t in any way related to her spoken English. Yet again, it’s the result of the viewers’ demand that goes into making the show win more and more views, hence increasing the TRPs. Social media users tried to justify the act of trolling her by stating that prior research comes as a part of an anchor’s job. Her morning show enjoys a large viewership so she needs to be well prepared. I do not completely disagree but such errors have not been a rare occurrence even on top-class international TV channels. So, once again, let’s be prepared to take responsibility for this one too.

Did you ever, before criticising, think why Pasha was not prepared for holding such a scholarly conversation? Let’s not forget that her show is famous because of wedding ceremony reenactments, celebrity lifestyle talks, and anything that is nothing but entertainment. Students and professionals are seldom invited as guests. There are a lot of morning shows, especially on news channels, still maintaining high standards by focusing on infotainment (content serving the purpose of informing along with entertainment). However, a majority of us are quick to lose interest when anything informative appears on the screen. Contrarily, from serving lavish food to a prospective groom’s family, to mastering the art of being an all-time perfect daughter-in-law, the shows enjoying large viewership hardly ever come up with any other theme.

The point remains that it is us who tune into these shows and raise the ratings. Now take some responsibility before pointing fingers at the host who does her preparation according to what needs to be covered more in a show and what’s of secondary importance in the audience’s eyes. This is your feedback which is showing and doing wonders! More than half the listeners of that formula car conversation would not have identified any error back then, hence proved by the fact that the clip caught attention after five odd years.

The author previously taught at NCA, FAST and PU, and presently teaching writing, communication and linguistics courses at FCCU. Can be reached at maheenzia03@gmail.com