Karachi: During the Karachi Literary Festival (KLF) at the Beach Luxury Hotel, the renowned biscuit brand Peek Frean Gluco came up with a one of its kind initiative to safeguard the national heritage of the Urdu language. Last year, the brand launched nine rhymes under the umbrella of Gluco Kahani, and this year they have converted those rhymes into a book version. With regard to education, the step is praiseworthy as our generation has a weak connection with the Urdu language.
What Role can Gluco Kahani Rhyme Book play?
The nine rhymes by Gluco Kahani were vibrant, amusing, and had a fun element that would connect the nursery students. They had easy to remember and catchy names like Ek Do Teen Hathi, Kuchu Kuchu Kachwa, Mein to Ek Khargosh Hoon, Qadam Barhaye Hum and others. They had a message of empathy, love, bravery, and persistence. Strings band fans loved them as Iconic singer Bilal Maqsood wrote and sang the rhymes.
The newly launched book at KLF had all these elements. The book had a colourful theme which would attract the children. All the rhymes showed the central characters in a 2-D version that will help children to connect with the book. The book-version of rhymes provides fun and engagement, but most importantly, it will create a habit of reading books among the children. The new generation is spending more time on digital devices and hardly anyone adopts the habit of book reading. But the Gluco Kahani rhyme book will connect with children at the grass root level, hence bringing back the old tradition of book reading.
Protection and Promotion of Our National Language
The Urdu language always had a tough battle to fight against the English language. As time passed, the foreign language got stronger and the national language kept losing its essence. However, with the Gluco Kahan rhyme book, there is a ray of hope that our future generation will adore the Urdu language.
The rhymes have very simple wording and easy to understand concepts. Children won’t face difficulty in reading. The rhythm in each line will allow the reader to quickly grasp the concept. The book has the potential to bring back the culture of parents & children singing Urdu rhymes together.
While talking to the attendees of the event, Bilal Maqsood said that Gluco Kahani was the first project that approached him after he ended the journey of Strings. The singer added that the project was a gift from God as he always wanted to do something for kids. He shared an interesting insight that while researching he came across multiple rhymes that had animal characters but had violent racist, and demeaning content. Bilal said that in Gluco Kahani every child would find education, entertainment, and necessary life lessons.
Text Book for Nursery Children
During the event, English Biscuit Manufacturers, the makers of Peek Freans Gluco, also showed the intention of making the book an integral part of Pakistan’s educational system. The step may take some time but has a lot of opportunities if executed in the right manner. Students nowadays do not have access to new Urdu rhymes. Most of the rhymes they sing in school events are either in English or are very old Urdu nazams. Gluco Kahani rhymes will bring diversification to the ongoing education curriculum.
Asad Saeed, Deputy General Manager of Marketing for English Biscuit Manufacturers, briefed that the positive response to Gluco Kahani rhymes inspired them to take up the endeavour of the Gluco Kahani rhyme book. She added that EBM’s next objective is to incorporate the Gluco Kahani book into the curriculum so parents and children can benefit from the quality educational material.
The campaign by Peek Freans Gluco is a wake-up call for many brands and the corporate sector that should gear up to foster the national heritage. Singer and composer of rhyme Bilal Maqsood also expressed similar views. Bilal said that the community needs projects that teach kids the importance of their native language. The popular singer added that as a parent, he knows this book will be a valuable resource for teaching.
Children’s education should be a priority for every group. Pakistan needs more projects like Gluco Kahani that are targeted for the betterment of future generations, their education, and their national language.
