Survival mode is the new Pakistan

Almost every week I receive a text message from friends, which I haven’t even talked to in years, asking me about ways to come to America and if I’d be able to help. America has always been the land of opportunities and many young men and women in Pakistan had always wanted to come to America. However, the desperation that I see now is something I haven’t seen in my entire lifetime. These are highly educated and skilled people that I am talking about. They already know that nobody can actually pull any strings to ensure that they’d get their US visa but they still ask not because they are imbeciles or illiterate but because they are extremely desperate. And in desperate times, people do desperate things.

People always talk about brain drain in Pakistan. I’d rather call it drain-brain. Sure, when people’s pockets are drained, then they flee to lands where their talents and hardwork are valued and they can earn a decent living. But what bothers me is an issue almost nobody ever touches upon: people with their skills, talents and creativity are compelled to worry about ensuring there is food on the table and bills are paid. People don’t want to end polio or worry about climate change or celebrate the arrival of international cricket on Pakistan’s soil, or perhaps start an electric car revolution in Pakistan, and so forth. They only want to make sure they can feed their children and send them to a decent school without resorting to doing the things they never did before. The mindset in Pakistan right now can be summed up as survival mode. It is the worst we can do with our brains. That is why I call it drain-brain, meaning throwing our minds to trash. Animals also only worry about their next meal. Yet, somehow we have labeled ourselves as the superior beings because we have superior brains. Do we really?

People often ask me to highlight the similarities and differences between Pakistan and America. One can write an entire book about this but one thing always stands out to me: American citizenship, gained as a birthright or through naturalisation, is cherished. Pakistani citizenship is mostly held by people against their wish. They were born with it and that is the only reason why they have it. It is not cherished as a birthright but rather seen as a curse. And never was that feeling more vivid than today.

There is a scare that has engulfed the Pakistani mindset that living in Pakistan might not be enough for survival in Pakistan. I know families that are trying hard to send their sons to America in order to not only ensure their child’s future but also for him to become a source of income for the family in case things go south. And things going south is the one absolute guarantee in Pakistan. Those parents’ advice to their children is not only to work hard but also to gain American citizenship so as to be respected and valued. We have to understand that it is never easy for parents to see their children go away to distant lands to an uncertain situation. I should know because I was one such son who went to America 14 years ago. My mother was all I had in this world. Today, I have everything but not my mother. I made a lot of money but I didn’t spend the last few years of my mother’s life with her. Criticise me all you want but I blame Nawaz and Benazir for this. If Pakistan had opportunities, I’d have never left.

The Pakistan I left was bad enough economically but it was much better than what it has become today. I don’t blame young Pakistanis for wanting to leave and use their talents in America to achieve success. It is a survival strategy for the many restless young Pakistani men and women who don’t lack talent or the urge to do hardwork but lack the right connections.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2023.

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