@CM - Am I Pakistani?

Muzna · March 4, 2011, 4:11pm

Re: @CM - Am I Pakistani?

To be honest in all likelihood my kids will not be Pakistani because of my work. I won’t be living in Pakistan neither shall my future family. So you are very right they will not be Pakistani. But then again I grew up wearing jeans and shirts, shorts and t-shirts. I wore S&K but only for eid and to sleep. As i grew older I decided to be more in touch with my homeland because that is how others perceived me. I grew up in 7 countries until I was 20. So in all those countries I was Pakistani, World day and stuff I was the Pakistani guy in the school etc.

My children will be of Pakistani origin. I will not tell them they are Pakistani or Swiss or French or from Zimbabwe. They will grow up as I did. Having a mixture of all the world has to offer. I am a product of an international environment. I enjoy a a hamburger as much as I enjoy nihari. My favorite desert is Tiramisu but when my mom makes gajar ka halwa I eat half of what is made. My kids would inshallah have a very similar environment to grow up in. However I have a different issue of identity because I am a diplobrat. I am Pakistani because it was who my parents were and what they did. And i represented the nation and embassy when i was in school or what not even if i did not know it.

If I grown up solely in the US or Angola it would have been very different for me.

This is why the terms ABCD/BBCD/CCCD exist. Because parents force on their kids an identity that is alien to them and refuse to allow them to explore life as they wish. As an example my mom would let me go to the American school in S&K when I wanted too. I have no problem at all with my kids going to school at any level and wearing S&K or jeans or a skirt.

Kids who grow up in the west need to decide for themselves how they wish to balance their different environments. They are not 100% Pakistan and they are not 100% American, British or whatever. They are a mixture of the two and they should be allowed to identify with which culture they wish.

wipes away a tear*