My journey to Pakistan Part 6: People’s continuous surprise to the word “Pakistan”

If I had a penny for every time a person was surprised when hearing the word “Pakistan”, I would be rich. Richie Rich rich :) , Donald Trump rich :)

Two weeks back I met some of my former high school colleagues that I haven’t seen in more or less 10 years. Some of them were a little familiar with the changes in my personal life, but some were not and were curious to know who was the lucky man that put the ring on my finger :).

All I said was that I am married to a great man, I am very happy and he is from Pakistan. I swear that it didn’t matter that I said “great man” and “happy”. These words just vanished when Pakistan came into the sentence. For me it was a little funny as I am already used to the shocked expression on people faces. To my disappointment, the only conclusion for them was that my husband must be rich. Why else would I marry someone from Pakistan? I guess it is obvious why I didn’t keep in touch with these people for the past 10 years: they have no clue who I am and what is important to me.

Few days back I had the occasion of seeing yet another surprised face when I said I will soon go to Pakistan for few weeks. But this time there was a sign of genuine curiosity and cultural interest which I really appreciated.

I hope that people who think Pakistan is a place at the end of the world, a no man’s land, only a war zone, will get to read this. I don’t know if I should be hopeful or not, but if there is at least one person who, after reading my blog, understands that Pakistan is just another country with its goods and bads, with warm people, sunny skies, hope for the future, corruption, fights and love, then I will be happy and thankful to have taken the time to write all this.