Asim & Tamreez

Choudhary Saab, a close friend of mine is visiting London for a couple of weeks. I must say that he has no association with the famous Choudhary bradaran, neither is Choudhary part of his name. It’s just that he is from Lahore and hence the name Choudhary Saaab. In return, I get to be ‘Khan Saab’.

Choudhary Saab started a business in Lahore after completing his education in UK about 3 years ago and considers himself fairly settled in Pakistan now. On a great day this weekend we had a long serious chat about ‘life in Pakistan’.

“Life in Pakistan is not easy anymore”, he said when I shared my interest in setting up a social enterprise in Pakistan. Our discussion opened up a pandora’s box of questions in my head.

I have been in the UK for almost a decade now and I can’t believe it’s been that long. Although I am lucky to be in constant touch with the day to day affairs of my home country in this digital media age and I have been visiting at least twice a year, yet I feel I don’t know anything about living a day to day life in Pakistan. You in Pakistan, must be nodding your head saying ‘duh’.

Things have changed ‘a lot’ in these 10 years. Can I still fit in with the home crowd?

Over a latte and a lemon juice, Choudhary Saab passionately shared the story of struggle. The umpteen tales of blatant corruption and the acceptance of it being ‘normal’ and ‘necessary to survive’ is a scary fact. The palaces of the Sharifs and Zardaris are becoming more and more lavish by the day whereas life for the poor is still a living hell. The constantly rising prices of basic edibles are running people amok and everyday the newspapers are full of tragic stories of families committing collective suicide. There is no middle class in Pakistan anymore, either you are filthy rich or you are struggling to keep up with the day to day living. Choudhary Saab, paid Rs 35,000 (£270) for his last “monthly” electricity bill, and that shocked me. Considering there is no electricity most of the time anyway and that he lives in a family of three, this is ridiculously high.

I was reminded that I have been living out of the country for a long time and I should think a thousand times before even thinking to think about living in Pakistan now. The discussion surprisingly did not squelch my passion of setting up a Social Enterprise in Pakistan and instead made me even more interested in thinking about ‘life in Pakistan’. I realised for the first time that I have been away for too long and am becoming alien to my own homeland.

I really want to play a role in making a difference in Pakistan and I don’t know what that smells, feels and tastes like at the moment but the idea has certainly come into existence an as entity in my world.