Chowrangi

Despite my country being a near failed state, I still love Pakistan. I dream of the day when my fellow citizens will be able to live together in peace. I dream of better times in the years to come, when a man or woman will not be discriminated against because he or she is not a muslim or does not belong to a particular province.

And I love Pakistan because wherever I go, the people are so hospitable and kind. I know that wherever I go, I shall be able to make myself understood easily because the dialects of the people are so similar.

I remember the time when I had to wait twenty four hours before I could make a telephone call from Peshawar to Karachi, because of the long waiting line. I remember when the cost of calling Lahore was forty rupees per minute compared to today’s rates of two rupees a minute. It would take years before one got a telephone connection. Very few people had cars or motor cycles. Now practically every family has a vehicle.

Although the pollution has increased, medical facilities have grown astronomically. In the early sixties, there was only one doctor in Nursery, where I lived. Now there are ten. Medicines were very expensive and had to be imported. Now we have factories making drugs for practically every ailment under the sun.

When television first appeared in 1967, there was only one channel. Now, there are fifty and growing. It’s a real pleasure to watch TV plays produced by talented players.

Yes, the country has progressed remarkably. I am hundred percent sure that in the coming days, we shall overcome our political problems and the rule of law will be restored.

Other posts by Shakir Lakhani

• No limit on foreign exchange taken out of Pakistan - November 12th, 2008
• Some questions about the "forex" scandal - November 11th, 2008
• Enjoying life after sixty - November 7th, 2008
• A Hussein in the White House - November 5th, 2008
• Why are poor Pakistanis always punished? - October 31st, 2008
• Pakistan's Economic Crisis: we're responsible - October 29th, 2008
• How Wall Street operates - October 23rd, 2008
• We’ll always have corruption - October 19th, 2008
• If Pakistan goes to war with United States of America - October 9th, 2008
• Killing of Christians in Secular India - October 1st, 2008