The cultural values that have for too long been standing firm holding the society together seem to be at a constant pace of declination with the overshadowing foreign influence on the channeling of media content into the minds of the more naïve and younger masses.
In spite of this being a frequently talked-about debate, there is little being done to keep the diminishing culture alive. Having exactly that in mind, a budding startup in Pakistan’s tech panorama, Hahaha Studio is materializing their zest towards the societal issue that has for too long fallen prey to negligence.
Founded by three graduates from Lahore’s National College of Arts, the content creation startup incubated at one of Pakistan's most acclaimed incubation houses -Nest I/O, takes the responsibility of inculcating cultural values in the saplings of our society.
“We are creating culturally relevant content for kids which is based on ethics, morals and values in Urdu,” stated Hamza Lari, CEO and Co-founder of the company in an exclusive chat with The News.
Hareem Shairani, CCO and Co-founder, shed light on how the content generated by them puts special focus on unconventional thinking, empathy and life skills which they showcase through short episodes or programs.
Talking about one of their upcoming episodes around introducing the notion of new and a diverse field of professions, CMO and co-founder, Hira Bawahab stated: “We are introducing these kids to new professions, like what is a YouTuber and how is that a profession. Similarly, we’re calling software architects who are explaining VR and AR technologies, and illustrators and makeup artists and much more to give them an idea of how the world has moved beyond the two chief professions of medicine and engineering.”
While the groundbreaking startup is putting its main focus on creating online content, the three superheroes without capes have also taken it upon themselves to reach children residing in adverse conditions and to carry forward their mission in even the darker corners of society.
“We have a national responsibility of giving back to the underprivileged so we go to government schools and through interactive story-telling sessions, we give them theater workshops, we help them bring out their creativity and their critical thinking through play,” added Shairani.
Rather than taking the traditional and obsolete course of teaching, the startup emphasizes the significance of educating through play.
“Instead of following a robotic curriculum of rote learning, we want them to learn through experience and through playground. When you’re actually there you can see that it’s boosting their confidence, critical thinking and cognitive skills,” stated Bawahab.
Talking about the prevalent culture of bullying in most educational institutes today, Shairani added: “Hate speech and bullying has become such a massive part amongst children these days and nobody is doing anything about it. We’re just teaching them English, Math, Chemistry in school but have completely drifted our focus from the crucial life skills.”
The superhero trio presently has on board numerous of the country’s most prominent names who bear a similar zest and passion for the younger ones in the society including their collaboration across the border with India’s The Little Book, that aims to feature stories written by children around the world.