Paki wannabe Goray

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
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Re: Paki wannabe Goray

Assalam Alaikom...Gora wife here, hmmmm...do you mind if I point out something that bothers me a little? Please do not take offense. Firstly, for the one who refuses to answer your cousin in English, would it really hurt you? Often ppl who have learned a little of a second language love to get a chance to use it. I also really hope that Pakistanis are not ashamed of the rich language and culture... I THINK IT IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFULLY AMAZING!!!
I think there are of course 'echoes' of God awful colonised rule...but English is a universal language, and if that opens up doors and just gives the user a sense of accomplishment so what? I am desperately trying to learn Urdu and Punjabi. I wear salwarr kamise when in pak...because damn right it is the most apt clothing for the environment...love it...so comfy!
Yes, I really do love the culture and the family values.
BUT... one thing that does seem to come across in these posts is not pleasant...unwittingly, subconsciously you are acting like snobs...as though because you learned English abroad you have a right to use it and belittle others who try and come off with an accent. Don't you think that is rather hypocritical. Also, England has many variations with strong accents, Geordie, Mancunian, London, Southern, Liverpudlian etc... and each has difficulty understanding each other at times....(I have real problems deciphering the 'Sheffield' accent!
You joke that the local Paks learnt from dictionaries...Alhamdulillah....an awful lot of 'British' children could do with learning the same way. And please. why do you think adding swearing makes your English somehow more real? Swearing is offensive in any language and is a poor substitute for friendly communication. Manners are far superior to offensive rhetoric.
I love the enthusiasm that so many other cultures have for learning (many English never bother to learn a second language!) I think people should be respected for embracing diversity not ridiculed.
The eccentricities, fusion, history, glamour, traffic chaos...etc...FOOD!!!! is what makes Pakistan what it is. In the West you wear what you please...why can't your brothers and sisters in Pak?????????

  1. I hate jeans and t-shirts so BORING and very uncomfortable. Contrary to what is being suggested here...the world does not roll out everyday wearing jeans. (I have very rarely worn them- the exception being when they have been the appropriate attire for the 'job'- no thank you!)

  2. Jeans were never intended as a 'cool' item of clothing...the purpose of them was intended for hard manual labour... only much later did they become a fashion item.

  3. In Islam we are never meant to deliberately be offensive...

  4. Clothing is not 'living' and cannot be homosexual....

  5. Salwarr kamise more closely observes the Sunnah which is fard to wear loose clothing which does not reveal the shape (well the male version anyway) the female version even with a tailor on board can be difficult to be made to follow the principles... tight fitted at the bosom, waist and even clinging to the leg...not of course a problem if you are not muslim

  6. we are a global community and Islam is a global religion.

  7. Travel and T.V. etceteras means that the international community is naturally going to enjoy the best of what it sees...and sadly probably suffer from the worst that it sees.

3.

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Re: Paki wannabe Goray

mrs ibrar

Nice to meet you as well. on the topic of clothing and language. sure people are free to wear what they want and speak what they want, but its intentions.

I think people just want others to be genuine and not try to be something they are not.

Once you move to Pakistan, you will see tha english language there is a status symbol..not to us brit-paks or yank-istanis because that is what we speak. Its the people there who use the language to feel better. In many cases once you start speaking in english with them, they would stop. its kinda strange.

same goes for clothing, its the trying too hard complex, it does not just affect pakistanis in pakistan, btu everytime I see a suburban kid trying to be all inner city, an american who went to London for the summer and is now trying to act like a brit (or what he thinks a brit is :) ) etc.

so again no issue with people and their choice of clothes and what language they want to use, but if it is not done right or for teh right reasons thats what people have issues with.

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Re: Paki wannabe Goray

Salam alaikom Fraudz...
yes, I do see your point. But look how eloquently you put your point across to me. That is a much more friendly style and productive to framing the real issue and condusive to solving the puzzle. You have also in a way answered the point of the thread. People living in a fractured society (that applies globally) desperate to be accepted, and therefore doing things which make them 'fake' it. I personally do not have an affinity for being English...but I am, I think my Mother and Grandmother (or Mum and Nanna) came from moral and admirable times. English society today is not really anything different to what you are witnessing in Pakistan...just a slightly different evolution. Think about it, now most 'Brits' have the latest designer gear both in terms of clothing and luxury decked homes...luxury or alternativley a proliferation of short breaks and travel... and mostly achieved through maxing out credit cards gathering debts that can never be repaid. That's 'wannabe' someone you are not on a huge scale. Don't you think?

N.B. I think the other difference is oppurtunity...here the poor get government benefits which are then sometimes put to ill use.

If Pakistan were to really get to grips with its Islamic identity on basics such as collecting apt taxes and caring for the poor, and also putting in good basic education, healthcare etc...What a FABULOUS country it could be.

One thing which shocked me was the abundance of luxury housing, beautiful, creative & stunning... and the blinkered almost dismissive attitude towards the poor :-(

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Re: Paki wannabe Goray

To know English in Pakistan you have to have gone to school. Only the educated in Pakistan can speak it fluently, so it might have come to be associated with the upper classes by the average joe. bit like the rich have a wardrobe consisting of more than just Kameezes.

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Re: Paki wannabe Goray

or the average joe in the uk owning 'society' style clothing, etc...there are some ppl so desperate to deny the poverty trap they r caught up in that they overdo the whole designer label bit ... 'chavs'