…permanently to live there. If that person was born in the West, do you think it would be easy to adapt to life in Pakistan? I’m thinking of moving there, I have to go to Pakistan anyway, because I’m going to let my children go to school there in_sha_Allah for few years, so they understand their own culture and why not settle there permanently. What would you miss, if you lived here and would settle in Pakistan? I do know that the medical care is bad, but apart from that.
good idea. about medi-care, i don't think its that bad. :-)
Good luck anywayz.
I don't think the medical care is necessarily bad, although I have no first hand experience, just judging by other peoples experiences. Basically you get what you pay for.
My parents took us to Pakistan when I was 10 so that my sister and me could know our roots, understand our culture and learn our national language; we stayed there for 2 years and I absolutely loved it, those years were the best years of my life. I’m 18 now and have been going back home every year ever since we came back to England. I learnt how to speak Urdu fluently even though it’s not my first language.
Pakistan has everything you could possibly want, we’re from a village and even there life was very comfortable and luxurious, I expect it would be even better in a city.
Allah willing I’m thinking of moving back home after completing my studies, maybe to Islamabad or perhaps Kậmra.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Saif-ul-Islam: *
My parents took us to Pakistan when I was 10 so that my sister and me could know our roots, understand our culture and learn our national language; we stayed there for 2 years and I absolutely loved it, those years were the best years of my life. I’m 18 now and have been going back home every year ever since we came back to England. I learnt how to speak Urdu fluently even though it’s not my first language.
Pakistan has everything you could possibly want, we’re from a village and even there life was very comfortable and luxurious, I expect it would be even better in a city.
Allah willing I’m thinking of moving back home after completing my studies, maybe to Islamabad or perhaps Kậmra.
[/QUOTE]
just out of interest which village are u from?
I dont think it is that difficult in the city and especially if u have enough money u r definatley ok. I went to pakistan after 8 years, we went to the village and we couldn't adapt at all, but life in the city is much more easier.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by coolmunda_2000: *
just out of interest which village are u from?
[/QUOTE]
It's a small village in the Attock distict, I can't really remember how to spell it, it's only about 5 miles away from Kậmra which is quite developed and modern therefore we could enjoy the village life and at the same time if we need anything there's shopping malls, cinemas, gyms and schools etc. just 15 minutes drive away.
Re: suppose one would move to Pakistan...
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by sadya: *
...permanently to live there. If that person was born in the West, do you think it would be easy to adapt to life in Pakistan? I'm thinking of moving there, I have to go to Pakistan anyway, because I'm going to let my children go to school there in_sha_Allah for few years, so they understand their own culture and why not settle there permanently. What would you miss, if you lived here and would settle in Pakistan? I do know that the medical care is bad, but apart from that.
[/QUOTE]
sadya...:)
i feel i should encourage you !
i myself am moving back inshaAllah within an year or so .....so all i can say is it needs courage !
the biggest problem , i see there is not medic care ...its not that bad ....but the overall system in all fields of life is not fair ...bribery etc. are too common ....
i would say ....move to pak but not to grumble ....only move if u r realistic enough that u r not gonna live in fairy tale land ......after all its 3rd world ....u need to be prepared for that
dunno if i made any sense !
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Saif-ul-Islam: *
It's a small village in the Attock distict, I can't really remember how to spell it, it's only about 5 miles away from Kậmra which is quite developed and modern therefore we could enjoy the village life and at the same time if we need anything there's shopping malls, cinemas, gyms and schools etc. just 15 minutes drive away.
[/QUOTE]
i lived in Kamra airforce bases for almost 4 years. first 2 years i was in the base where they have this mountain (cobra hill?) in the middle? and a swimming pool in the airforce mess (can't remember the name of the base) This was 78-80 (I was 2-4 years old)
Then we went to MRF base in 1988-1990. I loved that place.
Sadya,
it's a good idea tht youre considering coming back, but i do agree with afia too, life out here is no easy game AT ALL and it takes a lot of courage nd patience to adapt and accept the change.
i lived mostly all my life outside Pakistan but 2 yrs ago we came back to settle down here. it was a HUGE change and everything changed in our lives. things that we used to take for granted began to seem valuable after a few months. w used to get angry at our parents at times for bringing us back here, for snatching away our peaceful lives from us for pushing us into this miserable dirty place called pakistan. but its been ovber 2 yrs now and we've survived! my parents are one of those ppl who really do believe in values and the philosophy of life and patriotism. today although i do accept, and at times i also feel sad for the loss of the good old days when we used to come down here only for vacation, cause this place often seems only bearable for a few weeks in a go, i am alos proud of the fact that our parents were strong enoough, bold enough, confident enough and had enouygh vision to realize what importance getting back here had. im in college here and i have no regrts that i didnt go to any of the world famous colleges, our colleges are and can be the worlds best too. why not!?
this country has given me an identity, and i owe somethging in return, as does every pakistani living in any corner of the ball. far as the difficulties are concerned one gets used to the crap in no time and i fore onme would l;ike to contribut to at leats try and get the corruption out once nd for all once i get ale to contribute. i hope i do end up doing whjat im saying ;p
every pakistani owes a great deal to pakistan, we shouldnt run away from it, we shouyld try and do something for it. it sure is scary, but its worth it!
I suggest you take a trip back solely with the intention of looking at the environment to figure out if you would be able to live in it. Don't take it as a vacation and it should help you realize whether it's for you or not.
Cool yaar 
One of my cousins did aeronautical engineering in a college in the MRF colony (I think it was there anyway).
I miss Kamra, the sights the smells, the people… and that that dirty big road with usmania resteraunt on it, something mor, can’t remember the full name, I use to luv the tooty fruity from their… sighhhh 
Thanks Entity Paradigm.
Shahreen, I remember when I went there first time, it was for a short period, and I became ill because I wasn't used to the water there, despite of drinking as much as possible from bottles, I still became ill, and the medication wouldn't work. A doctor who is a friend of my DAd, laughed and said: This is Pakistan, medicines don't work here, only natural cures!
It took me half the holidays to recover. I think I should bring some medicatin from here for the first few weeks till we get used to conditions there, lol.
Saif-ul-Islam & Coolmunda, yes, from the very short period I was there, life in city was definitely more appealing. I only saw Rawalpindi and Islamabad, most of my family lives in Kashmir in Kotli. Though life seemed much easier in the cities, Kashmir was breathtaking.
I still remember the beautiful mountains, when we went from the airport direct to Kashmir in a van, first I was shocked, because on one side, you see kilometers of ..nothing...just depth! I kept thinking, omg, next turn we're falling down the mountain, because vans and trucks from the opposite side came and our van would turn to one side to let the other pass, and the road seemed so small for two vans to pass each other.. that was scary, but then we stopped for chai and afterwards I let my brother sit on that side, lol. Then I could finally look out of the window without feeling scared, and it was awesome! Such beautiful view I've only seen on postcards. Kashmir definitely has the most beautiful mountains of the world!
Afia, yes you do make sense. :-) I only spent a few weeks in Pakistan on my very first trip there, that was about two/three years ago. Though in such short time, I couldn't see much, since half the time was gone in family visitings and illness, I did get a small impression of life there, and yes, it's definitely no fairy tale land. I'm thinking, could it be possible for someone like me to get used to it still? I don't nee dthat much to live anyway. As long as I can read and write, I will be fine, I think...
Haris Zuberi, yes, that is so true, instead of running away, we should make something of our country. After all, even if we're not born there, it still is our country. I know life isn't easy there. I also know I will miss many things here. But there should be enough to compensate as well?
I don't know, I've been reading history, of the first years, how the partition happened and the years following it and I'm starting to have these patriotic feelings... yeah I know, I'm a nutbag... maybe I won't even feel this way anymore in a few weeks!
Hayaa, I think that's a great idea, first take a trip and see how it feels, when I go there in_sha_Allah to educate my kids, it would be a great test for me. Too bad, first time I was so ill, half my vacation was wasted, and then I didn't have enough time to see life as it is there.
I didn't have such a great impression the first time.
I think we discussed that here few days back and sadya u posted that too in the thread!!! why same topic so soon…
http://www.gupistan.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=105280
u iz all be dyin as soon as ya be drikin da wata
Yes, you’re right, I forgot.
At the time, I wasn’t even considering it. Now everyone here is leaving, most of our acquintances are going, for the holidays,perhaps that’s why I want to go too. I don’t know, or maybe because I’m reading aobut it a lot these days, I just have the urge to go there. Maybe I’m about to die, lol, no, I would rather have the urge to go to do haj or umrah before death would come. But that’s superstition. I don’t know exactly why, I just feel like going there, see my ‘own people’, see Lahore, I never went there, minar-e-Pakistan, I also want to go to Karachi, I want to see all the famous places there. I’ve only mostly seen Kashmir bedroom and bathroom since I was ill most of the holidays. But when I talk about Pakistan now with friends and cousins, I jsut want to go. I don’t even know most of my family members living there. All like strangers! I want to get to know them. Maybe I want to sense the ‘family-feeling’, lol, I don’t know. I just feel like going. And then staying there.
sadya, its good idea to go there and you have nice plans. I have got similar plans once i get married. kids should spent some years in pak to get natualy what we try in west to force them to adopt. and a good combination of pak and west values is best for kids I guess.
only thing you need to worry about its people and culture, its different!
you may find problems interfacing and understanding them.
medi care and other facilities are ok. its just you can get whatever you want with money . I mean private treatment is much more luxorious there then compared to west.
if you try to settle in one of main cities. it will be good for you to get settled. you will not find drastic gap there.
ofcouse its still a backward and poor country. you can change your own home and family, you cant change rest of the country. it will take time to get used to it.
Goog luck.
any thing I can help with i am here to help or assist in anyway. atleast in lahore. cause I lived 23 years of my life there.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Shak killS: *
sadya, its good idea to go there and you have nice plans. I have got similar plans once i get married. kids should spent some years in pak to get natualy what we try in west to force them to adopt. and a good combination of pak and west values is best for kids I guess.
only thing you need to worry about its people and culture, its different!
you may find problems interfacing and understanding them.
medi care and other facilities are ok. its just you can get whatever you want with money . I mean private treatment is much more luxorious there then compared to west.
if you try to settle in one of main cities. it will be good for you to get settled. you will not find drastic gap there.
ofcouse its still a backward and poor country. you can change your own home and family, you cant change rest of the country. it will take time to get used to it.
Goog luck.
any thing I can help with i am here to help or assist in anyway. atleast in lahore. cause I lived 23 years of my life there.
[/QUOTE]
that's kind of you, thank you, but unnecesary. I'm planning to stay with family. I'm going to settle near my own relatives, so they can show me the way.
I"m not so worried anymore about the people and culture. First time shocking was to see the roads and all that. And first time I was a bit shocked at mentality of Paki people. They were gossipers, at least what I've experienced anyway, and some pretended they liked us, but only because we lived in Europe...And it was all about money, while I didn't expect that, form the Urdu text books we read here, I had the impression that Pakis living there would sacrifice anything for their mother land, and I expected everyone to be pious or something, but when I came there, I saw corruption, fake medication, hypocrisy, and I was shocked. So the normal people, who are not rich are the victims I guess. Now I've seen, Europeans are no better! They are even worse gossipers than us Paki's. And no matter what you do, how long you live in Europe, how much you adapt to a country, you always remain a FOREIGNER. So if you're not starving completely in your own country, why not go back there to your own people, why get back stabbed here, while you have your own people to do that?
Sadya
It is definitely do-able. You have to go with realistic expectations to begin with and give yourself a certain number of years that you will try and if by then you are not comfortable to move back, or list a set of criteria that if it does not meet or set of events that if theys tart occuring you will return.
I have to say this though. I am not sure why people feel that going to Pakistan for the kids sake will be beneficial. there are many other ways to do that. I was born abroad, grew up abroad ..but my parents made sure that we spoke in urdu at home, that we learnt how to read and write urdu and trips to Pakistan atleast every other year helped as well.
I have seen people who have gone back and stayed there even if they had opportunities to go abroad. one of my uncles moved from UAE to Pakistan, all of his kids had british citizenship. everyone is abroad now except for his eldest son who decided to stay in pakistan and is doing very well as a senior mgr with a multinational. His three brothers on the other hand did not want to stay in Pakistan and all moved to UK, two of them have no intention of moving back. One is on the fence. The eldest brother is now thinking about moving from pakistan solely due to career growth factors after living in Pakistan for 20 years and previusly in UAE for 19 years. If he finds better career opps in Pak, he wants to stay.
In my case. all siblings were born and raised abroad. we moved to Pakistan, I had a good time but wanted to leave again for education. Had I stayed there then, I think I would have done okay since my friends who stayed there did allright for themselves. However as time passed, I found it harder to be able to go back and really have no interest to go back right now. My younger brother feels the same way. My sister and youngest brother who spent more time in Pakistan who liked it there much more than myself or my yoinger bro, are also in US now and have not really wanted to go back.
My sister has children and the kids are well mannered, well adjusted, fluent in urdu and english and have a good grasp on our culture, and able to function in different social settings. This is even without the type of frequent trips that I had as a kid to Pakistan. My sister has done a great job raising her kids but it takes time and effort.
I guess it varies for people. if you want to go and settle there. I dont think you will have a problem. Much of the people I know whob had moved there and moved back left again either due to lack of opportunities, or they wanted to be a family and when kids were colleeg age they moved back as well, or they did nto feel safe there. Very little was due to anything else.