Okay this is from the other thread in this Forum, i didn’t want to mess up his thread so i am opening my own. Maybe some of the content will overlap, maybe not - until individuals respond, i cannot say with certainty. So if it does overlap, i sincerely apologize in advance.
What’s ‘thinking’ like a Pakistani - i mean, how does one ‘think like a Pakistani’? How is that different than thinking like a, for example, conservative non-desi person? What sort of ways do you have to behave/think like, in order to think like a Pakistani?
i know this sounds very abstract and vague… but what characteristics define being Pakistani ? Off the top of my head, i guess these are some:
showing respect for your elders; many Oriental and African cultures have this ingrained in their culture as well, note.
strong sense of community/familial kinship - again, many African cultures have this as well. Their (grand)parents stay with them until they pass away. They also revere their elders (generally speaking).
sense of being ‘shy’ ? Is this part of Pakistani culture ? i am not certain how to describe this further.
I think you already asked this in your post, but to think like a Pakistani, you first have to be a Pakistani, right? What makes somebody Pakistani? According to some of the posters on this forum, simply being from Pakistan doesn't make you Pakistani. You are a fake/wannabe Pakistani if you don't 'think' like a Pakistani!! You aren't a 'real' Pakistani. So, first off, how do you become a Pakistani if your being from Pakistan is not enough?
ive no idea.. umm how one thinks like a pakistani.
I guess if you prefer eating roti and salan compared to steak and mashed potatoes.. or pasta beign cooked at home is something u look forward to.. wearing a shilwar kameez at home rather than trackies.. i dunno
Million Dollar Question, Mehnaz. :k: Often wondered this myself. How does one become Pakistani if being from Pakistan, is not deemed sufficient ?
i think people have this perception that you should have spent most of your adult life in Pakistan, like say, at least until you are 18. Not only that, you have to have a certain “knowledge” when talking about things/life in Pakistan - like you should know the ins and outs of the market places, local foods, customs, have lived there quite a while to be fully meshed with the culture.
What i find REALLY annoying let me tell you, i find this so despicably annoying - is someone telling me i am not Pakistani b/c i have not lived in the country for a sufficiently long period of time. Or because i have spent more time outside of Pakistan, than inside it. If i want someone to stick a certificate of “Pakistani-ness” on my forehead, then i’d ask for it. Until then, i’d wish people would keep their opinions to themselves
Sorry, i had to vent that out :o
Sadzzz,
Welcome back yaar, it’s great to have you back.
i prefer eating salan and paratha to eating some westernized foods… does that automatically make me as much a Pakistani than someone residing in Pakistan ? What traits do i lack/have that would make me as equal a Pakistani in terms of mentality, as someone living there who automatically gets that right without having to fight for it?
No. You might have a virus or some spyware on your computer. Hmmm, post a thread in the Computer forum if you can’t figure out what’s wrong. The guys there are smart.
lol, you think that’s bad? I’ve gotten PMs about how I’m a fake/wannabe Pakistani cause I have different views than ‘real’ Pakistanis here.
i know someoen who was there till the age of 14 and i came here when i was 6. She has very narrowminded views about India as I see them just as another country, lovely people and culture.
She told me how im not a pakistani, just cus I dont feel the same hatred towards indians as she does..
awww Mehnaz hahaha i don’t know whether to laugh or be sad at that. Least you haven’t had to read comments calling you a ‘kafir’, ‘infidel’, wannabe-Jew-lover, wannabe-Hindu-lover, and um what else, oh yeah, wannabe-Shia-lover. All that remains is for someone to call me Mormon, then i think i’ll have all world religions covered.
i have the same problem, Sadzzz. For Canada, you’re not Canadian enough. For Pakistan, you’re not Pakistani enough. The quintessential problem of all xBCDs, i suppose.
Regarding your friend, i suppose she has very particular views of what Pakistanis are supposed to be ‘like’. i dunno how people can stick to such narrow-minded views. Don’t they realize how irrational it is - there are millions of Pakistanis. How can millions of ppl possibly think the same way - i mean, rationally, that’s not possible
Who—me, Define how one has to think in order to ‘think like a Pakistani’.
but i sometimes think they're not to blame. They only know whats been taught to them.. no more and no less. Their history books consist of brutalities caused by indians.. their geography includes kashmir as part of pakistan..
spent most of your adult life in Pakistan, like say, at least until you are 18. Not only that, you have to have a certain "knowledge" when talking about things/life in Pakistan - like you should know the ins and outs of the market places, local foods, customs, have lived there quite a while to be fully meshed with the culture.
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I've never been. I'm not to up to mark on the language, and dont know much of the customs, or even like a lot of them.
Nadia, I think its about a set of characteristics that are for the most part, unique to people from a certain region/country. It includes the good, the bad and the ugly as well. So in some ways, being stripped of your pakistaniat may be a good thing:) If a person drives like a maniac in the US, we say hes driving like a pakistani. If someone deceives you in some way, or cons you, people say 'the guys' shown his pakistani side'.
But this is just about a set of common expressions, because surely there are countries in this world that are more corrupt than Pakistan, but you would never hear someone refer to a pakistani con-man by saying 'hes' shown his nigerian side'. That is also why 'showing respect to elders' and 'having a strong sense of community/familial kinship' is referred to as a Pakistani trait, even though it is prevalent in many African countries as well.
This is what i think of all the pakistanis no matter where in the world they are.. 'chamchas'... and thats what i think of the culture as well 'a totally chamcha culture'...
I think all pakistani think the same way regardless of where they are unless they are mixed with some other race..
Nadia, the truth is, Pakistanis are just Pakistanis by circumstance. And everything that people say about Pakistanis is just stereotypes. You just can not generalise, each individual is different, and this will be evident to you from the different types of lives Pakistanis lead. There are Pakistani farmers, Pakistani murderers, Pakistani actresses, Pakistani females in tableegh, a female who became a Pakistani prime minister, there are Pakistanis who are living in some foreign country never even vsited Pakistan. There are so many different types of Pakistanis from different backgrounds doing different things with different lifestyles and cultures.
There's so much diversity yaar, you just cannot strereotype or find a common denominator, there is no formula.
Sorry, i had to vent that out :o
i don’t know whether to laugh or be sad at that. Least you haven’t had to read comments calling you a ‘kafir’, ‘infidel’, wannabe-Jew-lover, wannabe-Hindu-lover, and um what else, oh yeah, wannabe-Shia-lover. All that remains is for someone to call me Mormon, then i think i’ll have all world religions covered.
i have the same problem, Sadzzz. For Canada, you’re not Canadian enough. For Pakistan, you’re not Pakistani enough. The quintessential problem of all xBCDs, i suppose.