A small town girl with big dreams
I am a small town girl from Balochistan, Pakistan. Six years ago, I moved to Karachi in order to achieve a better education, and a year ago I got a scholarship as an exchange student to represent Pakistan in the US. I was obviously ecstatic when I got selected. I know that everyone feels happy when they get a scholarship, but for me it was a little different. I was not just an ordinary teenager living in the big city; my life was more of a continuous battle. Against whom, you might ask? It was against my own family. So, here is my story: My arrival in the ...
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My dream for Pakistan
A couple of months ago I witnessed an elderly man, approximately 70 years old, being violently shoved off the side of the road by a policeman who was clearing the way for a 10-car protocol of a federal minister. Incidents like these are not rare and it seems as though we have grown accustomed to them. But that doesn’t mean we don’t think they are wrong. You often hear people arguing about ‘which hidden arm’ is behind specific problems in our country; whether it’s the politicians, RAW, or the army - it’s an endless debate. But in truth, the average Pakistani just wants to ...
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A few American brats you know
Alarmingly large numbers of Pakistanis are heading to colleges abroad. It’s become a status symbol. Parents dole out ridiculous amounts of money to make sure their kids – especially their sons – get a degree from a foreign college, however bad, or expensive. Experiencing life at a college in the US makes it easy for me to see what becomes of most of them. Forgive me; I’m going to take the liberty to generalise. The way I look at, if you place the typical Pakistani male at an American college then he’ll be sure to fall into one or more ...
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Returning to Pakistan
If you’re a Pakistani student studying abroad (US, UK, Europe, Canada, Australia wherever) pursuing whatever degree, people will automatically assume you’re staying there for good. And by people here I’m referring to our fellow countrymen. When you meet them at a gathering or a get-together, such topics are often the subject of discussion. Telling them that you have plans of returning home will earn you looks of utter bewilderment, as if you’ve said something embarrassing. You go back to Pakistan to visit family and friends, and everyone invariably asks you how you are doing abroad, so you tell them you’re getting by ...
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