Travel

Monday, January 14, 2013

Journey to Pakistan - What's Pakistan Like?


For several years as far as I can remember, I have wanted to go to Pakistan. It was the country I was told was supposed to be the enemy, the people untrustworthy, and more recently, a land reaping terrorists. I wanted to see this for myself. It was probably the most anticipated trip of my life, a trip where I had decided beforehand that I would write pages about – a trip, that for some unknown reason, I’m unable to put in words.

You went to Pakistan? How was it?

I don’t know how to answer the question. I thought it would be an exhilarating, mind-blowing, and awe-inspiring experience.

It really wasn’t.

It was the same faces, the same clothes, the same streets, the same houses, the same music, the same wedding celebrations. Granted, the women on the streets were fewer, and the pyjamas of the men roomier, but for the most part it was the same.

It was sort of like visiting home.

I couldn’t help but feel a little cheated. After all the horror stories and warnings and cautionary tales, I think I had expected Pakistan to be different. After all, Pakistan was the enemy. THE ENEMY. Why on earth would our enemy be the same as us??? How could the other side of the border feel like home? How could my friend’s mom and grandmother and cat feel like my own?

It’s easy to write about an experience that stands out – that’s different and exotic. But when something feels so normal that it almost feels like a part of your regular life, how do you write pages about that?

Yet people ask me what Pakistan is like.

It’s a country struggling under terrible governance, antiquated patriarchal laws, and a corrupted system that serves only the elites;
A nation that prides and tries to protect its sovereignty;
A force of people slowly realizing the power of their own voice and their ability to speak out against injustice;
A breed of parents that want to keep their children safe;
A mass of youngsters that want to improve the future of their country, so that they may be able to live peacefully in the place they call home.

What’s Pakistan like?

India. 

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