UNITED STATES:
Though I recently moved to the US, I have always loved Pakistan with a passion most cannot understand. I never longed to settle abroad. The ‘American dream’ never appealed to me. Don’t get me wrong, the US is in fact what the media portrays it to be — the place with the best universities, a smoothly running healthcare system for all, beautiful mountains and rivers, clean streets, perfect architecture, huge malls, parks all around and freedom to do whatever you want.
It is true that during the recent elections, almost half of the population voted for Trump, but on a day-to-day basis, most keep this racism buried deep inside because freedom is what the nation is supposed to stand for. I have prayed in malls, restaurants, parking lots, hospitals and airports. Never once has anyone ever said anything to me. I have never felt out of place. However, I don’t feel that I am home either.
What I love and miss about Pakistan is what others might hate it for. I love the unique sounds: people talking on the streets, customers bargaining at bazaars for unjustly priced clothes, children yelling in parks, the honking on the roads, the noise of rickshaws. People in Pakistan might think that there is never a moment of peace since there is so much going on. However, I believe that these are the moments and the emotions that one should cherish the most.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 18th, 2021.
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