Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
What I am confused by is why do you care if you are Pakistani or not? In reality if you don't hold that green little booklet or the green really thin plastic card you aren't Pakistani.
Pakistani is not an ethnicity. It is a country made out of no where with various different ethnicities in it. I get being Muslim Americans of Pakistani Origin. But unless you have those two documents you aren't really Pakistani.
Agreed
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
In order:
Muslim. American. Pakistani.
EXACTLY!!! My parents came to the US in 1972...they lived here longer than they had their respective home countries (india & pakistan). I'm first generation born and raised here, and now my kids are starting the second generation. I don't consider them to be Indian or Pakistani. They've never stepped foot on the soil, so how can they be called Pakistani? Our nationality is American...that has no baring on our heritage though. We speak Urdu at home, my kids go to the masjid for sunday school every week from 10-2, and have quran class three times a week after school... I cook desi khaanaa, we watch all the Indian movies and Pak dramas, etc...at the same time, they are your typical, all american boys...we are fiercely into NFL & NBA (Cowboys & Mavs..woohoo!!!), Celebrate Thanksgiving with gusto, and the typical "american menu", we go trick or treating on halloween....I don't understand the need to put a desi label/stamp on everything. We are Muslim first and formost...then American, then a shared Indian/Pakistani lineage.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
yeah agreed but doesn't that make us neither here, nor there?
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
Dutch by Paper but Pakistani by Nature
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
So what about Pakistani born people who have left to live somewhere else like the UK or USA (or anywhere else really), and then haven't come back for a good few years? I'm sure they'll still 'feel' Pakistani but they may feel as if their cultural identity has changed
That's me, I spent the 1st half of my life in Pakistan and 2nd in Canada (thus far). I am a Pakistani is so many ways but a Canadian in many other ways.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
I spent my childhood (well more than that)in pakistan but literally lived under a rock. I feeel so lost, i dont feel i belong anywhere, cant relate to either Pak or the Us .
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
I grew up in Saudia Arabia>>Jeddah until the age of 14 years..then moved to Canada. I am 28 atm so ya..go figure. I can't relate to fellows who grew up in Pakistan. For instance, i meet some of my friends of friend who totally grew in Pakistan and immigrated to Canada 4 or 5 years back. We can chill and talk. But when comes down to settling down, lifestyle etc..we can't get along. I do consider myself Pakistani but yet have so much in common with Canadian values. <<good values yo..!
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
^Such as???
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
True, however it’s not about the physical part of it which matters; it’s what you identify as. I know a American born person who tends to identify more with being Pakistani than American, in the end it’s like choosing a culture which fits your values, personality, or comfort level.
And if you still follow your origin culture despite not having any actual relation to the place except your parents being born there, are you not being Pakistani in a way? How can somebody deny that correlation unless they completely unidentified with Pakistan or wherever, you don’t need a green card or pass thingy mabob to be still be considered Pakistani or American so why define yourself with physical things which hold no value to the inner mental emotions.Eh?
And Edal: of course you’re going to feel misplaced, its natural, if you spent more time there and actually lived there it would be easier on yah and you may choose differently.
I identify more with being more American… Pakistani -American or whatever the heck my mind takes me… I tend not to label myself too much so I can explore opportunity to be different… but yah know that rarely happens but I leave room.:p
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
This is a question for those people born or raised in the West, whose parents/grandparents are from Pakistan or perhaps some other Muslim country (if we have such members here).
Do you consider yourself an American/Canadian etc..or do you identify more with Pakistan?
For me I didn't realize how American I was until I actually visited Pakistan for the first time at age 25,** I have never felt more out of place and more like a foreigner in my life. Even though I had cousins and uncles there, I surely didn't share their way of thinking and doing things. I just felt totally lost and out of place. **
Now I deeply feel like an American, I feel like a person who is Muslim but in terms of identifying with a nation I would identify more with America than Pakistan, in essence my loyalties are with America.
What about the rest of you, do other Pakistanis/Muslims feel that way?
Thanks
I am not sure what OP meant by this post.
Differences of opinion can be present even among people who live in same country.
Also, if someone lives for many years outside Pakistan, that person may not be able feel same when goes back to Pakistan.
Time changes thoughts of people and relatives/cousins etc. grow up and have their own priorities.
There is no such thing as being American, Pakistani, Canadian, British etc. by ideas.
Like CM said it all boils down to what yo have on paper.
Following religion is a different matter. It is largely a personal matter, partly a collective matter.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
If one spends more time with people of a country, one may be able to understand those people better. Short visits may give false impression.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
True, however it’s not about the physical part of it which matters; it’s what you identify as. I know a American born person who tends to identify more with being Pakistani than American, in the end it’s like choosing a culture which fits your values, personality, or comfort level.
And if you still follow your origin culture despite not having any actual relation to the place except your parents being born there, are you not being Pakistani in a way? How can somebody deny that correlation unless they completely unidentified with Pakistan or wherever, you don’t need a green card or pass thingy mabob to be still be considered Pakistani or American so why define yourself with physical things which hold no value to the inner mental emotions.Eh? ** And Edal: of course you’re going to feel misplaced, its natural, if you spent more time there and actually lived there it would be easier on yah and you may choose differently. ** I identify more with being more American… Pakistani -American or whatever the heck my mind takes me… I tend not to label myself too much so I can explore opportunity to be different… but yah know that rarely happens but I leave room.:p
They say never say never, but I can't ever see myself ever going back there, place ain't for me.
I am extremely thankful to GOD that my parents left, North America might have its problems but I will never complain about it again. Pakistan made me appreciate how fortunate I am.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
The reasons cited hardly justify the decision. But it is a personal choice.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
Obviously that goes to prove you aren't Pakistani.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
atleast one guy without the ‘c’ of abcd 
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
If someone doesn't identify themselves as Pakistani, their loss. Don't fret over it guys.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
If someone doesn't identify themselves as Pakistani, their loss. Don't fret over it guys.
its not a loss.........that would sound like..he is less than those who identify themselves as pakistani............... i think its a good thing he has the confusion out of his mind........
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
Personally what annoys me CDG is that people don't need to define themselves as Pakistanis. Sure your parents are Pakistanis. But that doesn't mean you have to be. Pakistani parents put way too much emphasis on back home when the kids group up all their lives abroad. That emphasis is unnatural and can lead to the ABCD syndrome. If you are born in the UK/US/Canada and only go to Pakistan for vacation you really aren't Pakistani and you don't have to prove yourself that you are one. Be happy with who you are and what you have.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
Nomi 
fine…tu sai tai main galat.
PS. aho CM tusi vi sai akhaya.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
That's not the kind of confusion C stands for.
It is meant for blurring desiness and being born to other country.
You can take anything out of a desi, but not desiness if brought in to a desi family.
Prove is that OP cannot separate himself from a desi internet site.