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    December 2018

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    Posted on December 4, 2018
    Lifestyle

    I am sure you, me and in fact, most of the people submit to the destiny and take this statement as part of our belief, yet, I thought to write few lines on this theme for two reasons. Firstly, to reiterate my full belief that, “If it is meant to be, it will be” and secondly wish to suggest adding a small line to this phrase so that it reads as “If it is meant to be, it will be, but we still need to pursue our well-thought-out objectives, proactively”. Here, I wish to share a personal experience, which to some readers, may seem to be just a normal happening in life but for me it was a complete game changer.

    I am an Abdalian (studied in Cadet college Hasan Abdal from Class 8 to FSc). Cadet College is semi-military institution, which produces high-grade professionals for almost all occupations, however, majority opt for their career in Pakistan Army and so did I. In fact, from day-one, I had no other option in my mind but the “Pakistan Army”.

    On completion of my studies I applied for Pakistan Military Academy Long Course and passed the written exam and preliminary interview for selection, in one go. Now, I just needed to clear my medical tests and go through Inter Services Selection Board (ISSB), to finally land in PMA.

    I was an active sportsman in the college and a known fittest guy in my class, therefore, did not foresee any problem in clearing medical test. Going through ISSB was also not likely to be an issue because of the military like environments that we were put through during our five years in the college.  So, everything looked set for me to be in PMA soon… my life time goal.

    I still clearly remember myself in my village in Azad Kashmir after my FSc exam, anxiously waiting for a “khaki envelope” with a letter asking me to appear before the medical board. (Just for those who may not be familiar with “khaki envelopes”, most of the correspondence in army is done in khaki envelopes, sealed and addressed to the addressees by name 😊).

    So, it came one day, asking me to appear before the medical board at Military Hospital (MH) Rawalpindi. Feeling confident of my selection, I appeared for the tests as desired, wearing my blue college blazer with sports colours on my chest (just to impress the doctors how fit I was 😊). After three days of medical check-ups, we were finally in front of Commandant’s office to get the results. Entered the office at my turn and smilingly greeted the Colonel who was very kind to offer me a chair to sit.  However, I could feel that he was little tense and un-easy. With a pause of few seconds, he broke the silence with a shocking news that I had been deferred for three weeks due to suspected systolic murmur, a kind of heart ailment and needed medication before re-examination. With some kind words of encouragement to help me absorb this temporary setback, he guided me to collect the medicine from the store.

    Returned to the village for three weeks for a forced holiday to spend some time with my parents and also get mentally prepared for my future life as a soldier, which I thought would start in another 5/6 weeks’ time. Enjoyed a well needed break and was in MH Rawalpindi again on the given date, fully confident to be declared fit the same day and proceed for ISSB. However, after a brief check-up, I got shock of my life when the Commandant informed me that I still have problems and needed re-examination again after another three weeks medication. The real bomb-shell was his next sentence informing me that since the PMA course was to start in less than three weeks, there was no time for me to be tested again and therefore, I was not to be re-examined.

    I was totally shocked at the news and did not know how to react. I was not finding suitable words to express my disgust and frustration. The Commandant could apparently, feel my pain and with few words of sympathy, advised me to continue medication and apply for next course, if I so desire. That meant a wait for another six months, going all over again and still not sure to get selected. The game was over, as far as, I was concerned.

    Honestly, I considered it as a doomsday for myself. A person who had never thought of doing anything else in life but soldiering—declared medically unfit despite being Cadet College’s sports colours holder in five major sports; captain of college football team, member of college boxing & hockey teams and winner of inter services long distance races. I found myself totally helpless.

    In next few hours, I was riding the bus back to my native village, this time, with no dreams for the future in dignified military career, which had always been my only passion. So, I was back to square one, at a place from where, about five years back, I was able to fight my way through the mountains to Cadet College Hasan Abdal. Though, failing in the medical tests was not in my control, I was still blaming myself to have let down my dearest father who had shown me a way forward from a village school to cadet college, the prime institution of the country and had imagined a brilliant military career for me in Pakistan Army.

    Although, I had passed FSc in pre-engineering with good grades, I was so much demoralised that I was finding it difficult to convince myself to apply for admission in any of the engineering universities. Nobody will believe that in my heart, I had decided to work in our own lands in the village. My hats-off to my great father (God bless his soul), who once again, quietly applied for my admission in Engineering University Lahore through one of our relatives, without my consent. For me, the life there-after was directionless and purposeless.

    It was after about two weeks that I got surprise of my life when I, once again, received a “khaki envelope” from MH Rawalpindi, informing me that since PMA course for which I had applied for, had been delayed by few weeks, there was time for me to appear for my medical test as per the schedule and if I pass, I could still run for my selection through ISSB. The news gave me hope for a “second life”.

    With a new hope in sight, I was, once again on a bus to Rawalpindi, very hopeful and enthusiastic. After a very brief appointment with the cardiologist, I was sent to the Commandant for the result. The Colonel looked at the result and with a very heavy heart informed me that the problem still persists, and I required more medication and therefore, I fail to join this course.

    It was totally shocking, and I could not control my unwarranted emotional outburst.  I asked the Colonel, if he could not see cadet college’s sports colours on my blazer and certificates of merit at inter- services level competitions and still thought that I had heart issues. I don’t remember what else I might have said but, the sentences must not have been very decent and matured. Instead of getting annoyed on my unwarranted out-burst, the Commandant, like a good senior military officer, could understand my position, felt moved and asked me to wait outside his office for some time.

    After a while, I was called in again and told that in order to clear any doubts, Colonel had ordered a special board of five doctors to re-examine my heart. Confused, demoralised and hopeless, I followed the individual who was deputed to guide for the tests. The doctors examined me for nearly one hour and sent me back to the commandant. I was delighted to see commandant, this time in an absolutely different mood, welcomed me with a big smile and greeted me with great enthusiasm, “Oh! young man, finally you have won a career for yourself. Congratulations.”

    There-after, I proceeded to appear before ISSB and got selected for PMA Long Course that I had applied for. Served gracefully for nearly 40 years in the army and now live a retired life with left over energies that this great institution provided me during all these long years. Thank you, Pakistan Army.

    Interestingly, while I was in process of joining military academy, I also received a letter from engineering university, Lahore, informing me about my selection for the admission and was to join the session starting in another two months’ time. It was my father’s contingency planning which also came through, as an alternate option. But obviously, I was already home…Pakistan Army.

    I wish to once again take an opportunity to pay homage to my late father, who remained a source of great strength for me all along, during my career searching stage, till I was finally settled in the profession of arms. I honestly, believe that I owe everything to my parents. While, my father was always with me in the field, my mother who played an important role in my initial grooming, has always been a source of spiritual strength. Parents play an important role in our life, for which we have no substitute. Though we cannot repay for what they do for us, at least, we all need to take care of them when they require to be taken care of.

    I hope this short and simple narration of an actual happening in my life, justifies that, a successful life is a combination of destiny, self-belief and proactive pursuance of well-thought-out objectives. Parents in their own capacity, provide a safe and favourable playing conditions. Rest is all your show and that of your destiny!

    Brig (Retd) Naseem A Khan

    by
    3
    Posted on November 7, 2018
    Defence

    A man jumped out of an aircraft for his first para jump; confused, frightened and totally lost. When finally landed at the jumping site, a large number of his friends and well-wishers came running towards him. He thought they were happy to see him still alive but to his surprise, they were congratulating him on his first para jump, which they thought, was done with great perfection and confidence. The man, seemingly more confused and disoriented, asked them,” would you be kind enough to tell me who was that atrocious person who pushed me out of the aircraft”.

    Well, for me Marcom were the people who pushed me out of my “silent mode” and here I am trying to scribble something to make a start. Thank you Marcom, you have done your bit and now please pray that I am also able to make a safe landing.

    Now the first challenge to me was what to write about? Well, I did not waste any time on this and I started my writings with simple and short blog on my home… “The Pakistan Army, its friends and foe”.

    Pakistan Army is a huge organisation, with a great history, world’s best human resource and multi-dimensional role at national and international levels. The other day, I came across a report written by some US strategist who had talked about the best armies in the world and surprisingly, had put Pakistan Army on number 13. I was little confused but when saw Indian Army among first 5 or 6, I could immediately make out what must have been their criteria for the judgement and honestly, felt sorry for the gentleman. I wished, the writer had thought about the fate of their great armies in the region, without the support from Pakistan Army.  If strength of the armies is to be judged on the numbers only, there would have been a different world today. After remaining a part of Pakistan Army for nearly four decades, I can confidently say that baring few of the super powers who obviously, have very high technical superiority, we always considered ourselves second to none and we have reasons to believe in that.

    Leaving aside its glorious past history, just a look at what Pakistan Army is successfully confronting under the prevailing scenario, by itself speaks of its inherited strengths and the role it is playing in nation building and ensuring its ideological / geographical integrity. An onslaught of international conspiracies, shifting of battle- fields from Afghanistan into Pakistan, deployments of Indian consulates all along Pak-Afghan and Pak-Iran borders to reinforcing Indian sponsored terrorism/ insurgency in FATA and Baluchistan, fragile LOC in Kashmir and our total involvement in international war against terrorism, are costing us thousands of officers and men. To judge the real strength of this great institution, one just needs to see the courage and commitment to the cause by our officers, men and their families, with which they receive the dead bodies of their near and dear one’s, almost every other day.

    A glance at the Pakistan Army’s role in nation building, especially in troubled areas, is mind blowing. Building of road networks, schools, hospitals and even the sports infrastructure in FATA and Baluchistan should be eye-opener to those who have any doubt on their performance. Their involvement in fighting against day-to-day crimes in the country and supporting civil administration during natural calamities is a very common sight. One can keep adding what all our army does for the country and the story will not end.  Writing a whole sum blog on such an army, require expertise and research and I feel I lack both. Therefore, I thought it appropriate to restrict myself to just  the basics and highlight the inherited strengths that make Pakistan army, as one of the best armies of the world and will also try to identify some of its enemies, who have continuously been working to weaken it,  in one way or the other.

    Pakistan Army is a highly disciplined force, with inbuilt motivation and strength of character that makes it a difficult customer for its enemies. Whereas, weapons/equipment can be counter by a better quality of weapons/equipment but nothing can match the inherited strengths on which the whole infrastructure of our army has established, over the years. Pakistan army is not an institution where soldiers are hired for fighting and other administrative jobs. The brave soldiers of Pakistan army are like a well-knit family with inherited ownership for their country, mutual respect and in-built trust. Seniors are taken as elders while juniors provide the follow-up, thereby, establishing a correct social structure within the institution to create a life style of its own. Youngsters find time out of their ‘mess’ life and visit married officers to  join them for dinners (mostly un-invited), even join them in cooking and some even supplement food by bringing selected items from their messes, as a token of ownership. Officers joining soldiers for food in their messes and tents, when out for operational duties and playing cards, singing and dancing with them, is a very common site in the army units. It may be interesting for many to know that the young officers when initially join their units, are made to live with soldiers in their rooms/tents for first few weeks/months, to enable the new comers blend  into the team. The whole scenario makes such an outfit that fights the enemy as one bullet, when it comes to war. Only a soldier can explain how he feels to follow his commander in operations against spray of bullets hovering from the front. It really requires courage, motivation and trust in the command. When all these qualities combine with our religious beliefs, no opponent, how strong he may be, can stand in the way.

    I will briefly quote an incident when I as a commanding officer was leading the regiment in an Army exercise conducted at national level, one of our tanks stopped due to some technical fault. I immediately decided to leave that tank behind with its commander, a havildar, just to be retrieved soon after the operation was completed. The next moment I had the Havildar standing in front of me with tears in his eyes and blocking my way, “How can you leave me behind? I will not let you go ahead without me and would prefer death rather than becoming a left over”, were his words. I embraced him, got his tank rectified and took him along. This is the level of spirit that Pakistani soldiers possess. Another example showing the strength of our bond might be of interest to some. A retired havildar calling me in Dubai, from his village in southern Punjab, after 15 years of my retirement and asking me to help him to settle a minor issue with some policemen who were unnecessarily teasing him and his friends, to extract some money. I immediately obliged him and they were let-off. I felt happy and honoured that I, being his old commanding officer, still enjoyed the trust of this man, even after 20/25 years gap.

    Welfare of troops and their families is a subject that the officers in the army are taught since day one. Every officer is supposed to keep himself abreast with the family environments of his under command and ensure that all possible efforts are made to keep the soldiers satisfied from their home issues. Fauji Foundation is an organisation, which plays a tremendous role in ensuring welfare of retired army personnel and their families. Best possible medical and educational facilities have been created throughout the country and are available to them, free of cost.

    Army housing schemes which are generally used as a point of criticism by anti- army elements, are so well organised that even the critics prefer to reside in Defence Housing Schemes and their children studying in Army Public Schools. For those who have doubts how army affords these residential areas, our officers’ start paying installments for these houses from day one and the balance is deducted from their gratuity on retirement. Effective management makes army ventures strong and attractive. I wish all those who raise fingers at the army on these scores, could just verify the details before making allegations.

    Pakistan Army sets a very high standard of merit-based inductions/promotions, which are never compromised. Soldiers’ sons have made up to the rank of a General while many of Generals’ sons got rejected for induction in the army, purely on merit/de-merits. One of my class-fellow from cadet college Hasan Abdal, who was son of a General, failed to make it to PMA while many of us with middle class background managed selection in the army and rose to the level, according to our potential.

    We in the army, take the profession more as a service to the nation, rather than purely as a job. Training at the time of induction, is focused at grilling a spirit of nationalism and sacrificing life for the motherland becomes a motto. Practical examples of thousands of ‘Shaheeds’ and reaction of their colleagues and their families on their martyrdom are the clear expression of what I am trying to say.

    Standards of the training are so high that our officers stand out clearly on merit and are praised, internationally. I had a number of opportunities to meet senior officers from UK, US and other advanced countries who all spoke very high of our professional standards and national pride. Quoting an incident from my PMA’s time, at this stage, will be quite relevant. During an exercise, “Battle Inoculation” where all of us are supposed to assault towards an objective under live firing, one of our colleague got a bullet through his body and died on the spot. The whole class was made to stand in a parade for dua and within minutes, the body was taken away in an ambulance and firing resumed as per the plan. This is the kind of training Pakistani army provides to its officers and men.

    Inculcating team spirit is another important ingredient of our training in PMA and regimental centres. It reminds me of an incident during our training in PMA when whole of our class went through punishment of crawling  on snow with bare elbows, for two hours, just for not disclosing name of one of our colleague who had made some funny noise in the class. The snow in the ground turned red with blood flowing from our elbows but to save one member of the team, nobody would speak out his name until the instructor himself had to call off the punishment. Interestingly, our instructor knew the culprit but wanted us to develop a sense of comradeship among our team. During the punishment, even our colleague himself wanted to accept the mistake and take punishment but others did not allow him to do that.

    Pakistan army provides strength and stability to other important national institutions, whenever, asked for. May it be to support law enforcement agencies, hold mega events or carry out any other task requiring extra-ordinary management/groundwork; their performance has always been praiseworthy.

    Pakistan Army enjoys a very respectable status amongst the armies’ world over. Leaving aside international geo-politics, our army always has very warm interactions with its counter-parts all over the world as part of the military diplomacy. Our effective participation in UN peace missions, all over the world, has always, been recognised at international forums.

    Because of these inherited strengths, mentioned above, Pakistan army has undoubtedly become the centre of gravity for the country. Resultantly, it has become a priority target for our adversaries and unfortunately, some political/ nationalist elements, with a foreign sponsored agenda and corrupt mafia who believe in self-interests rather than the national interests, have become their facilitators. Military take-overs in the past have also been a point that the army’s critics generally exploit to discredit the institution. Without going into the background details of these takeovers or army’s justification in taking such a set, It would be suffice to say that even under these military governments, Pakistan has always done far better as compared to the political governments. However, by saying that, I by no means, suggest such steps in the future and wish that our political system gets matured soon; to give it an internal stability to take-on the challenges that Pakistan faces today and lead the nation forward on the road to prosperity.

    A minority among our bureaucracy also possess negativity against army, basically, for two reasons. While some of them are politically motivated, the others feel left-behind when they find army people living a better life as compare to theirs, purely due to mismanagement in their own departments.  There is also a small group amongst the better-educated people, who for some reasons, fails to join army or any other respectable profession. They feel frustrated when they see people with similar or lesser degree of education, in better positions in the army and thereby, indulge in bad mouthing.  These minor issues create an unwarranted divide of “army and civilians”. Mutual understanding and frequent interactions between each other, can bridge the gap.

    Last but not the least is a deliberately created wedge between so called, fundamentalist groups and the army. Our enemies have planned it meticulously and needs to be countered very carefully. However, it is satisfying to note that actual religious groups seem to be aware of this conspiracy and are on board in most of the cases. There are only few splinter groups, which are actually not religious in practical sense, are used as a tool by their handlers, to gain their own ulterior motives.

    By the grace of God, Pakistan Army enjoys a very strong footing and will continue to remain the saviour of the country, InshaAllah.

    Brig (Retd) Naseem Akhtar Khan

    Pakistan Army

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    Posted on November 1, 2018
    Lifestyle

    I am a housewife with three kids, already a very heavy-duty job but still like many others; I have a dream to pursue a career of my own and make a mark professionally. With this great believe that Almighty Allah has blessed women in particular; a special ability to simultaneously excel and take care of all, whether at home or any field; I decided to finally step into the professional world.

    Now the first question that arose, what should I do? It was almost a decade gap with no work experience at all after I completed my MBA. To be honest I was much afraid; which option to choose from? Who to trust? and above all how to gain back the self-confidence. I had my constraints too, a home to manage and kids to look after, which is my prime responsibility as well. The answer to all these questions came to me in the form of MarCom. A firm who showed faith in my abilities and gave me back that lost confidence; not only through provision of a platform to showcase my creative skills and polish them, but also by giving me enough freedom to work within my limitations.

    Having studied business, I am well aware of the kind of influence advertising has on our everyday lifestyle. It converts our wants into needs, dreams into desires. As a socially responsible Pakistani, I would like people with such influential power on our decision making, to not only be just more skilled and proficient, but also most importantly socially responsible, so that they don’t take advantage of their respective positions to exploit others. Money making should not be their sole objective. I consider myself very lucky that I was able to find a place at the right agency (MarCom) that actually practices strong moral values. Hence our philosophy matched fully, and I started working on equal frequency and moral grounds.

    For me Life at MarCom is simple, exciting and full of passion. Over all, the work culture is highly motivational, which enables us to bring out our best. MarCom strongly encourages all team members to share any creative idea that pops up in our mind irrespective of the job title or department. This enabling environment helps employees to think out of the box. Roles are important for work distribution/ assigning of responsibility; but at MarCom there is no defined boundary to limit creativity or passion to contribute in any project. I truly believe that free flow of ideas is one of the major reasons behind success of MarCom in such a short span of time.

    The best thing I found at MarCom is the rare culture of appreciation/recognition; where people and their work is cherished and celebrated more than anything else. I was pleasantly surprised to find an agency celebrating the smallest of occasions to the bigger ones. Life becomes so easy, satisfying, more meaningful and enjoyable when work is more like fun and colleagues become more as family members. This for me is the concept of an ideal workplace which I am lucky to be part of and enjoying every bit since I joined.

    I am already in admiration of the quality of work being produced at our agency. From the first day onwards, it was made very clear to me that there is no compromise as far as quality is concerned. Joining the creative team, interacting with highly qualified and thorough professionals working round the clock in different countries with a lone purpose of producing best quality product, has been a great inspirational journey so far. Distances do not matter at MarCom, it was surprising for me at first place; how this global team is able to communicate flawlessly; rather the synergy is actually mesmerizing. Despite giving maximum leverage to different employees in terms of flexible work hours due to time differences and other limitations, the work quality standard has been persistently maintained rather is improving day by day. Thanks to repetitive quality checks at all ends, our prime goal of ensuring a happy and satisfied customer every time is intact strongly. This is indeed evident from the ever-increasing number of our clients mashaAllah! 😊

    While sharing how Life is at MarCom, I feel it is pertinent to mention the inspiring journey of two young brains behind this rapidly growing one stop communication firm. I feel honored to be led by young, focused and specialized thorough professionals, passionate enough to show the world their strength, expertise, intelligence and sheer talent. Both our founders are powerhouse of knowledge and experience, a lethal combination to be successful in any field. It is so encouraging to know that both have actually been at our place at first, serving the industry with same passion for years as an employee. Their persistent hard & smart work, pure loyalty towards the profession has always been talk of the town even before starting up this firm. Despite financial limitations, minimal resources and negligible investment, they took a major risk with purity of purpose solely to realize a dream of creating a top-quality internationally recognized Pakistani ad agency which is not only a hub of creativity but also a place of pure happiness and actual empowerment for everyone involved. This they feel have been missing from the industry over the years. The success and growth of MarCom over the last two years is definitely the result of the untiring day and night efforts by the founders who have always remained at forefront at every platform, every stage of work to ensure best results possible.

    At MarCom, Pakistan always comes first; another similarity which I dearly hold. It is astonishing to witness the kind of love and passion team MarCom has when it comes to anything about Pakistan. This ownership is unfortunately lacking these days. I proudly claim to be a part of an ad agency which keeps coming up with ideas and ventures that can help promote Pakistan and Pakistanis across the globe. With initiatives like Promising Pakistan, Inspire Pakistan, Pakistani Tohfa and so on; MarCom is making its humble contribution to keep the Pakistani flag high and roaring.

    To sum up, I must conclude by saying MarCom is indeed a much-needed addition to our rapidly growing and competitive advertising industry. It is not only gaining recognition amongst a diversified clientele but for me it has proved to be an ideal employer. Kudos to the owners as they are leading from the front and setting example for the others to follow. Wishing MarCom a very happy 2nd Anniversary and prayers for unlimited accomplishments and victories ahead.

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    Posted on October 26, 2018
    Food

    You are a Pakistani and not a foodie, is like a cold day in hell. Food is something that unites our nation, it runs in our blood. Food is veritably the only thing I guess which knits our people together. From rich to poor, every person wishes to have the best of food in his/her capacity. Our day starts with “what are we going to have in our breakfast today?”, a phone call is a must while driving back home to ask, “what is in the dinner tonight?”. Food is not just a necessity but a festivity for us as a nation, it is hospitality, entertainment, celebration and a source of sheer happiness. No meet up, no occasion is complete without food; in fact, it all revolves around food. People eat to live, and we live to eat. In our culture, occasions are remembered mostly because of the quality of food served, for ages.

    Tikka-Pakistani-food-marcom

    Pakistani taste buds are the strongest, no wonder why we don’t fancy any food in the world other than ours. From north to south, from KPK to Karachi, Dumpukht to Kabuli Palao to Biryani, Namkeen Gosht to Roghan Josh, from Chapli Kebabs to Chicken Tikkas, Halwa Puris to Pathuras, Hareesa and Haleem, our food culture is extremely rich in taste and variety. Pakistan’s renowned desserts range from Ras Mallais to Barfis, Gulab Jamans to Kulfi Faluda and Rabri Dudh, Kheer and Firni to Zarda and Matanjan, not to forget varieties of Halwas available for the sweet tooth. Not just our own traditional dishes, we are simply the best in recreating recipes from around the world. For us, pizza from a popular Pakistani restaurant trumps any international brand, no English burger can compete with the taste of our burgers specially the “Anda Shami Burger” , even Chinese love the Pakistani version of Chinese cuisine.

    A number of world famous food chains are making their mark and multiplying day by day in Pakistan such as Mc Donald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardees, Burger King, Fat Burger, Nandos – to name just a few. The presence of these in Pakistan are one of the added attractions to boost tourism in our country as tourist would find any food of their choice here. In addition to this, we have budding local popular fast food restaurants such as Roasters, Tayto, Howdy, OPTP, Pappasallis and much more, with equally good quality and taste as of any leading international brand and these have every potential to grow globally with a bit more focus, planning and investment. Many popular food chains have already expanded overseas and have gained great fame such as Student Biryani, Bar B Q tonight, Nirala Sweets etc. Famous eating places such as Kolachi in Karachi, The Monal in Islamabad and Cooco’s Den in Lahore are now recognized as a must-go tourist spots.

    monal islamabad pakistan

    cooco den lahore pakistani food

    kolachi pakistan

    Snacking is one of the most treasured hobby of most Pakistanis and innumerable options are available to munch on. Hardly surprising, with the kind of love we have for food, despite having three full meals in a day, we still cannot resist the temptations of Samosas, Pakoras, Namakparas, Nimkos, Dahi Bhallas, Papri Chaats, Gol Gappas for the evening tea and snacks. Evening tea time holds a great importance in our family-oriented culture, which enables households to enjoy quality Ghup Shup time along with of course some tasty irresistible snacks.

    I feel for expatriates who while missing Savour Pulao, Grato Jalebi, Phajjay ke Paye, console themselves with whatever they find in their new-found countries. You may get Pulao, Jalebi, Paye, Biryani in most of the countries now but they’ll have a tough time coming anyway close to the quality & taste of food as of Pakistan. Eating Pakistani food abroad might be a good way to feel close to home or making the most of whatever’s available but if you want to enjoy the real taste, it’s only Pakistan where you may have this pleasure.

    Pakistanis just don’t let go of any opportunity to eat. A place to eat – whether a roadside stall or a fancy expensive restaurant in an upscale locality is jam packed at meal times. Restaurants, bakeries, eateries are thriving, and their numbers are ever increasing, but the mushroom increase also sometime comes at the cost of quality and hygiene as well. This does need our kind attention, one must be careful about what we are eating and from where. As a matter of fact, health is wealth and it should remain our priority. Here I feel the relevant food quality control authorities/departments must play a more effective role to ensure quality and hygiene standards are never compromised at any cost. We as responsible citizens must also collectively raise voice if find any substandard quality or expired food items and should immediately report such cases to relevant authorities. Same goes for unnecessary price hikes, over priced food places/items, a point which I think should be given due attention by the government as well as us; we must learn to pay for quality rather than just for the namesake.

    Coming back to topic; on a lighter note so far, the quality, hygiene issues have simply failed to dampen our love for food! 😊

    After reading through this blog, are you also craving for some pure Desi Spicy Biryani like me?

    Enjoy eating!

    Hira Umair

    A proud Pakistani

    Blogger at Marcom

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    7
    Posted on October 21, 2018
    Lifestyle

    “Have you applied for an Australian Immigration?”, “Move to Canada for the sake of your kids”, “Settle in UK, Pakistan is not going to get you anywhere!”, “Move to Middle East and make tax-free big bucks”; Something a young professional, a young couple or a young family gets asked quite frequently these days. No doubt, the longevity of Pakistan’s ‘crisis’ like situation and the absence of work opportunities have made these questions tempting and there are genuine cases of the need for a move abroad, but before such a decision is made we must make sure that our priorities sorted out well and expectations managed accordingly. Remember! You gain a few things by losing a few. Make sure the gains you envisage with such a move outweighs the losses incurred.

    People who choose to stay in Pakistan despite the lack of job opportunities, the never-ending load shedding, lack of basic necessities are not committing a crime. They love their children just as much as you do. They care about their kids just like you. It’s just that maybe they want their kids to spend more time with their grandparents, to frequently experience cousins’ get-togethers during holidays, to celebrate festivals just like they did – Yes, at the cost of something for sure but something they value less than the company of grandparents, cousins and the freedom to celebrate the festivals – basically a connection with their homeland.

    This blog is not intended to doubt or judge anyone’s decision of moving abroad – in fact it is meant for exactly the opposite. We should stop doubting or judging anyone for moving or not moving abroad. You leave behind a whole lot when you move abroad. Your family, close relations, friends to start with but it doesn’t end there. You leave behind your culture, language, food as well. You leave behind meat distribution on Eid, you leave behind the sound of Azaan, you leave behind Paan shops at every corner, you leave behind story telling by your kids’ grandparents, you leave behind decorating house on Independence Day and you’ll most likely leave behind late-night sittings with siblings munching on anything available at that time. We need to make sure that we think it through well enough if we would like our kids to get a shot at relatively better education opportunities at the cost of grandparent’s company and a load-shedding free home at the cost of joy of bringing in and photographing sacrificial animal on Eid.

       

    There is no doubt that every decision you make, comes along its pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages. If I take myself as an example, I spent my whole life in my “own” land (always being a first-class citizen). Studied here, earned my bread and butter here, still enjoying a good reasonable lifestyle here, negating the fact that only “sifarish” functions in somewhat dysfunctional society of ours, denying the fact that there is no good quality education here. Many of you would agree (and many wont) but in my view what works best is sheer hard work, dedication and determination. No matter where on earth you land, hardwork yields positive results. One big reason, in fact the biggest is the law and order situation in our country, our home that compels many to go abroad and take benefit of a bomb-free, terrorism free environment. But are you really sure “malkul maut” can’t book a seat and fly abroad? So death is destined and you can’t run away from it.

    Despite mentioning all these points, a better life style and kids are ultimately main factors for most of the moves abroad. We should spend some time in ensuring we get this ‘better’ sorted out correctly before making such a decision. We should not lose sight of a number of intangibles, subjective things that play an important role in your children brought up in the glare of some of the more obvious, objective ones. We should make every effort to give our kids the best of opportunities even if it involves changing a few things we hold dear but then down the line as we get old and they grow up, we should be ready to accept them changed as well.

    Hira Umair

    A Proud Pakistani

    Blogger at Marcom

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