Call from Germany
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Anam Narjis
“Travel is considered to be fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” as Mark twain said. Since my childhood, everything I learned about Germany was through textbooks. I was always keen in knowing how this country has managed to rise from the ruins of the WWII turning it into one of the world’s biggest economy. Someone asked me before leaving for Germany, what shall you gain with this visit? Well my witty reply was ‘weight’. Indeed the journey from Frankfurt to Berlin, the breathtaking sceneries of Mainz and Hamburg were far better than my prior imagination. For the seven participants of Kinnaird College for Women, the Media trip to Germany proved to be extremely riveting, captivating and astounding. The trip was sponsored by the DPV German Press Federation and Pakistan Embassy in Berlin. We received a considerable amount of appreciation by the senior journalists and media giants who had immensely contributed in thriving German Media, bringing it to prosperity.
One thing which came to my surprise was when a man asked me “Pakistan… is it a part of India? Is it a country? Where is it on the map? I calmly replied ’never mind’. Others associated Pakistan with terrorism only. Still we received warm hospitality, mutual forbearance and eagerness to know about Pakistani culture, history, media system, media practices and everyday life. Our two weeks of expedition consisting of visits encompassed the prospects of exploring German culture, meetings at German press federation, meetings with German senior journalists, media houses and agencies. While we gained insights into economic, political and culture of Germany, helped me in building an overall perspective about this country. We also found a strong desire among the journalists to know about media practices, role of women journalists in media and many other good things that are often unheard. Often in my discussions with them, I found that Germans nearly knew nothing about the Pakistan.
Next fabulous part of the excursion was the meeting with Pakistani Ambassador to Germany ‘Mr. Basit’ and members of the German parliament in Berlin. It was the first ever young journalist delegation to Germany. His Excellency emphasized on the need of increasing the efficient education system and literacy rate in Pakistan. He assured for his efforts in coming up with more scholarships for Pakistani young journalists. Another tremendous experience was a visit to Deutsche Welle. We also visited Deutsche Welle’s Urdu broadcast section. Senior Journalist mentioned that his channel aims to promote the exchange and understanding between the world's cultures, especially with Pakistani citizens.
As Media students, our excursion to Germany was honorable and a valuable experience, helping us to understand the diverse ethnic backgrounds of Pakistan and Germany and how can we improve the process of interaction between both by all means.
Anam Narjis is a Media Student at Kinnaird College for Women
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9:58 AM,
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