Musician Bilal Maqsood has come up with Urdu digital content for children. Titled Pakkay Dost, the YouTube channel has interactive videos, alphabet songs, and conversations in Urdu that focus on accent and diction.

“I dreamed of this 25 years ago,” Bilal told reporters after the launch of the channel in Karachi’s Arts Council of Pakistan on Friday. “When my son Mikael was born I realised that we don’t have Urdu poems. Even we don’t have any tune for Huroof-e-Tahajji [Urdu alphabets].”

Bilal’s venture comes at a time when the likes of Cocomelon, Bebefinn, and Pinkfong are on the screens of mobile and tablets of children around the world. Many would try to compare it with such platforms, but it is different.

The content also has a character named after famous writer Fatima Surayya Bajia, who presents various skits for the nourishment of children.

The Mera Bichraa Yaar crooner is a former member of the famous Pakistani band Strings, which ended in 2021. The band also produced the four seasons of Coke Studio.

He shared that while working with Strings he did not get a chance to work on songs for children. But he was thinking about children when he was backstage for the last performance of the band. “After this, I started working on children’s songs as it was not possible while being associated with the band.”

The Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar singer lamented that children were learning English poems instead of Urdu, however, he expressed hope that Pakkay Dost would fill that gap with puppet shows, poems, and songs.

He revealed that it took him two years to make the tune of Huroof-e-Tahajji. When Bilal started working on his idea, he thought it was very easy but soon he realised it was a different science.

Famous writer Anwar Maqsood, who also attended the launching ceremony, made a witty remark when Aaj News asked him about the dearth of content for children.

“There is no programme for children in Pakistan. Pakistan mei bas bachhay hotey hain inkey lye kuch kaam nahi hota [Nothing is being done for children],” he said.

The veteran writer highlighted the importance of the first school of a child: home. But he lamented that now parents don’t have time.

“We are doing injustice to our children. When programmes for children end on TV, our children started watching Cocomelon instead of [learning] Urdu,” social media influencer Junaid Akram told Aaj News.

While highlighting the dearth of such content in Pakistan, he said that it seemed that either children were not born here or they don’t have a relation with science.

He stressed that parents have an equal role like a school to nurture children and churning out geniuses of the world.

“I am really happy that Bilal Bhai took such a big initiative and the children’s programme is not that easy. It is very difficult to understand child psychology and from which colour they are attracted. Behavioral sciences are behind this. So it is a big initiative,” said YouTuber Akram, who is famous for his digital content by name ganjiswag.