Several desis who have done MSc’s, MA’s and MBBS’s in Pakistan are driving cabs in western countries as a permanent job to earn livelihood for their families.
I never came across this in Pakistan.
Ofcourse it is their personal decision and as long as what they are doing is halal kee kamai, there is nothing wrong with it. I wonder how such people feel though.
I was speaking to someone whose husband is doing that, he was a top student and topped his department back home whe he did his master’s degree.
She told me that if he was to get a proper job related to his field, he would probably earn less than what he earns from driving a cab. The job is not so safe and its physically taxing too but he is going to do it atleast till their kids are small as when they are older it will be embarrassing for them that their dad is driving a cab she said so he might switch then but he might not.
First of all I have nothing against cab drivers. It is a decent profession and can be dangerous at times.
I think this a result of the failure of Pakistani leadership. When the cream of the country (the educated ones) has to settle for driving cabs in foreign lands so that they can send dollars back to Pakistan. Sad indeed. However, the government gets its hard currency this way.
If the Pakistani leadership had some brains, they would invest in Pakistans infrastructure, instead of their personal infrastructure. Then these Pakistani's wouldn't have to leave Pakistan and can get good paying jobs in Pakistan.
sadly i've come across degree holding cab drivers in pakistan too.
i would not like to be in the boots of those who weild power in Pakistan. unemployment is just too huge a monster for any single government to battle and defeat in the timespan relevant to those impacted by it.
it is just one of the very many sad, sad things about pakistan.
Dad's bringing home money just fine. It doesn't matter what they do. The kids have a roof over their head and go to sleep with a full stomach. There is nothing embarassing about it. Halaal ki kamai hai.
If some think that it is embarassing to hold a mediocre blue collar job, then they need to check themselves before pointing fingers at others.
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*Originally posted by CocoNut: *
Dad's bringing home money just fine. It doesn't matter what they do. The kids have a roof over their head and go to sleep with a full stomach. There is nothing embarassing about it. Halaal ki kamai hai.
If some think that it is embarassing to hold a mediocre blue collar job, then they need to check themselves before pointing fingers at others.
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Tht's right Coco,but then what was the use of all that education if he was gonna drive a cab anyway? Tht's what we are disucussing here.
Just sad really... :(
Hmm, baat yeh hai ke insaan aam tor par achi taaleem haasil karta hai kyonke in asbaab ki dunya main, isay achi naukri haasil karne ka zariya samjha jaata hai. Yeh baat baja hai ke taaleem, awwal awwal insaan ki apni zaat ke liay aur apnay baatin ko pehchaane ke liay hoti hai par mere khayal main agar yeh aap ko acha rozgaar na dila sakay to koi theek baat nahin.
Maqsad yeh hai ke agar cabs he chalaana maqsood hota to phir darmiaane darjay ki taaleem haasil kar ke driving par tawajjeh di ja sakti thi ya yeh kaam androon-e-mulk bhi sar-anjaam dia ja sakta tha. I do not wish to go off on a tangent with the last comment so I am off.
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*Originally posted by Madhanee: *
There are plenty of blue collar jobs in cities like NYC.
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That's what I was told the situation was in DC, so I moved there after getting a 4 yr degree and a CPA, after about 6-8 mths of unemployment I was forced to start delivering pizzas. Since then times have changed for me. But I appreciate that phase too, tought me stuff.
The reason why you don't see that in Pakistan is because over there everything is show and how one can't loose face in front of everyone. Mehnat doesn't mean much, pride in ur profession is just a philosophy. Here being a car mechanic or even a janitor brings in money, plus the fact that nobody at home has to know back home.
Driving a cab after having a degree or while ur at it, is not a degraded thing 2 do. As long as da dude is bringing home money & feeding himself & da kids, then everything is fine. At least he is not begging like some of our relatives back home in pakistan, who dont want 2 stoop low & work, instead they go around asking relatives 4 money.
Coco said da right thing. If being a cabbie is a bad thing or whateva, then I guess piloting an aeroplane is a low down job too. Both perform da same duty - transport ppl from point A 2 point B. The difference is that a pilot wears a cap, whereas a cabbie doesn't.
^ Good point.
What is annoying though is that disenchanted degree holders who think that since they had a PHD back in their pind they are entitled to something here. Everyone works hard...get used to it or go back.
There are countless stories of cabbies paying their way through college or re-educating themselves or getting a US equivalent. Those are the ones to admire.
most qualified cabbies follow the notion of sacrificing their present for their children's better future. while they could have lived a modest life back home, they work hard just in the hope that their children would find better opportunities in life. and not many of them find the chance to upgrade themselves while they drive a cab. as long as the person works hard and there is no degrading profession.
I wish you luck. If you are still unemployed, and are not too far from NYC, send me an IM. I can help you hook up with people with similar background as yours.
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Madhanee, thanks a lot for your offer. But as I'd mentioned above times have changed for me. Currently I manage the IT dept for an investment management firm in mid-town Manhattan. Maybe we can hook up sometime.
Another thought occured to me about those "cabbies". I know atleast one who has a wife and 3 kids back home, he "works hard" in NYC driving or whatever and then has 3 girlfriends and boozes it up every night. Maybe he was just forced into marriage back home when he was like 12 and now he just wants to live his life and make the best of it. He'd ofcourse never admit that that's what he's doing. He's working hard so his family can enjoy, and even though it is true, its still a bi-product of his living-it-up life.
I went to NY and met a Pakistani guy while there. He had a good position with a large computer company in NY and while he was showing me around NYC I commented to him about his excellent driving and parking skills, and that is when he told me he used to drive a cab after he graduated from Princeton, to make ends meet. It was a humbling experience.
On top of that...Princeton...Munni, I think he was hitting on you. No princeton guys, even in a down economy would be driving a cab. Not because it is beneath them...but because you are creme dela creme and jobs are there.
yeah after graduation is a bit strange. during school would be a diff story
I am good pals with a dude who went to Uni of Chicago and drove a cab for a bit while he was in the program. and know some Penn grads who worked odd jobs to supplement their income while in college. one PhD candidate used to work as a security guard, I dont think his dept knew about it.