You will always be ‘home’, Pakistan

[Cheetah786]

Sir you are more than welcome....Jab bhe program banay let me know...

i still remember chappli kabob i used to get in school plus the famous murgi position

 

[Argus Panoptes]

what would she feel towards canada or newyork if she had to go through the same in those places?

That is exactly the question I posed Sir.

it has nothing to do with getting mugged or not, it is in human nature. whenever one visit a country, we well in love with it. just like how happy we feeli when we visit UK, US, Dubai. But once you move therd and live their for long enough to settle in you get to face the harsh realities. Once you get to see the system, you feel like suffocating, tax, insurance, rent, fee, bills, all of these have a role to play. you are asking a wrong question dear

Taxes, insurance, fees and bills are a fact of life in all civilized societies that provide social services under rule of law. The harsh reality is not that system, but the fact that we get so used to cheating on our taxes, driving without insurance and trying to avoid bills that we regard anything else as an imposition. This is mere lack of civil behavior trying to hide as love of country.

 

[Amaa'n]

That is exactly the question I posed Sir.
Taxes, insurance, fees and bills are a fact of life in all civilized societies that provide social services under rule of law. The harsh reality is not that system, but the fact that we get so used to cheating on our taxes, driving without insurance and trying to avoid bills that we regard anything else as an imposition. This is mere lack of civil behavior trying to hide as love of country.

i thought you smelled the same in author's words, he merely pointing towards the same. his suffocating life in that civil society had a role to play in creating a vacuum for love for his country. you are right when you said we romanticized over our short trips to a country

 

[Argus Panoptes]

i thought you smelled the same in author's words, he merely pointing towards the same. his suffocating life in that civil society had a role to play in creating a vacuum for love for his country. you are right when you said we romanticized over our short trips to a country

The real question to ask is why should we find civil societies with rule of law "suffocating" as you describe it. Do we not want the same for our own society? Or does this mean that we are happy with the lawlessness that prevails in our cities and our towns and our villages right now? Is that what love of country means?

 

[Humble Pakistani]

Sentiments of most people who have left their homes and live in a new country. I have lived in the States for over 28 years now and that is much more than half my life. I still long for home. I don't know if this is better life? Or Not! But when I go to Karachi - I feel like a visitor for a moment but then become the part of chaos that exists everywhere... Well written, you evoked the pain that I hide away... I feel your Pain. Home will always mean "Pakistan".

 

[Argus Panoptes]

Sentiments of most people who have left their homes and live in a new country. I have lived in the States for over 28 years now and that is much more than half my life. I still long for home. I don't know if this is better life? Or Not! But when I go to Karachi - I feel like a visitor for a moment but then become the part of chaos that exists everywhere... Well written, you evoked the pain that I hide away... I feel your Pain. Home will always mean "Pakistan".

So Sir, just curious, what is stopping you from moving back home? After all, as you say, it should relieve the pain that you feel living in Seattle. What makes you endure such pain?

 

[Marshmallow]

Sentiments of most people who have left their homes and live in a new country. I have lived in the States for over 28 years now and that is much more than half my life. I still long for home. I don't know if this is better life? Or Not! But when I go to Karachi - I feel like a visitor for a moment but then become the part of chaos that exists everywhere... Well written, you evoked the pain that I hide away... I feel your Pain. Home will always mean "Pakistan".

so wht do u do when u miss Pakistan?

 

[VelocuR]

Good Old day- Pakistan is great home but I will not return to the country as long as the poor government, no healthy economy, environments, and weak socials issues. I expect Pakistan should update status to the high standard country from low.

 

[Argus Panoptes]

Good Old day- Pakistan is great home but I will not return to the country as long as the poor government, no healthy economy, environments, and weak socials issues. I expect Pakistan should update status to the high standard country from low.

How can a home be "great" when it has "poor government, no healthy economy, environments, and weak socials issues"? There is an inherent contradiction in what you say, Sir.

 

[Haseebullah]

Karachi ko culture ki zaroorat nahi. Karachi kai paas samandar hai.

Now beat that.

Sir Kchi ka samadar will never be as Legendary as Lahore ki Nehar.

 

[Argus Panoptes]

Sir Kchi ka samadar will never be as Legendary as Lahore ki Nehar.

No Sir, please don't worry. Both are equally contaminated.

 

[krash]

There are mainly four types of expats, in my view.

1) The first are the one's who as soon as they cross through those glass doors for the first time suddenly realize that they have been Canadians/Americans/English all along. Suddenly everything Pakistani (as an example) becomes disgusting, inferior and not up to their standards or their liking. These are the ones who try desperately to assimilate into their adopted homeland and ironically seldom succeed. When someone tells them that he/she would rather go back they try to convince them otherwise and when failing, term the said person naive, thankless and at times 'someone who loves his own shackles', because after all Canada (for example) is the epitome of free and joyous living. They even lash out at you when you say Canada (example) isn't that great. These people I usually love poking at.

2) Then there is the type who miss their home but would still rather stay in their new adopted land. These are the ones who think things more tangibly and in a sense more monetarily. "Heart and love is in Pakistan but our kids have better futures in Canada", sort of people. Another common statement of their's is "We will go back as soon as Pakistan is fixed". I understand these people, it is their life and their choice, nothing wrong about it.

3) Then there is this third kind who'd want nothing more than to go back. In this catagory I also include the people who are waiting for their permanent residencies, passports and savings to swell up a little before going back (backup plans, so to speak). These people I respect for they are trying balance the tangible and the intangible. Note: Many people get stuck in this phase for so long that they never make it back.

4) These are the lunatics. They'd rather not do anything else but go back, some because they miss their families, some because they miss their friends, some because they miss their country and some because they want to go back and work against all the bad that they see. They usually succeed in just dropping everything and returning. These people I love. At first they seem naive and stupid but have a little chat with them and you realize that this decision of their's is anything but whimsical or emotional. Most of them have thorough plans and reasons (although most of them intangible) for going back and they are usually very adept at defending them.

All is fine and dandy until the first group comes in contact with the fourth. Here, suddenly, the first group seeks and later demands acknowledgment of their choice being the correct one. They've molded their thought and behavior, through pretense or otherwise, towards a certain agenda and when they come in contact with someone who stands on the opposite end of the spectrum they feel threatened and negated. Of course the fourth group also loves to 'debate' with them.

@Argus Panoptes:

You think she hasn't seen the darker side? To me it was pretty obvious that she grew up in Pakistan and hinted towards "despite all that is wrong".

 

[Argus Panoptes]

..................
@Argus Panoptes:

You think she hasn't seen the darker side? To me it was pretty obvious that she grew up in Pakistan and hinted towards "despite all that is wrong".

You are right that she probably has seen the "darker side" but my point was to highlight the near-total one-sidedness of her piece. The lack of balance renders her points less believable in my view. Remember, two sides to every story. Two. Not one.

 

[krash]

You are right that she probably has seen the "darker side" but my point was to highlight the near-total one-sidedness of her piece. The lack of balance renders her points less believable in my view. Remember, two sides to every story. Two. Not one.

The two sides are never stated together when it comes to one's country. Forget stating, you don't even think about it yourself, doesn't mean that you don't know it or that you haven't thought about it. Do you think about both the sides when professing your love for your parents? Your kids? Your siblings? The love for one's country also holds the same effect, you just can't be objective about it. Why? Because you love it despite all that which is bad, you love it unconditionally and that is how love works. It isn't a balance sheet of pros and cons. How you fiercely you feel it and choose to act upon it is another matter.

 

[Argus Panoptes]

The two sides are never stated together when it comes to one's country. Forget stating, you don't even think about it yourself, doesn't mean that you don't know it or that you haven't thought about it. Do you think about both the sides when professing your love for your parents? Your kids? Your siblings? The love for one's country also holds the same effect, you just can't be objective about it. Why? Because you love it despite all that which is bad, you love it unconditionally and that is how love works. It isn't a balance sheet of pros and cons. How you choose to act upon it is another matter.

Yes Sir I agree. Which is why I clearly admitted "love is blind" in one of my posts above.