What devoured glamorous Pakistan?

[barcelona]

A Indian friend of mine told me this quite seriously: "Do you know why there is a 100% difference between Indians and Pakistanis? We Indians like to live 50% below our means, and you Pakistanis like to live 50% above yours!"

I think its punjabi mentality of showing off irrepective of means i have lot of punjabi friends and they flaunt a lot kind of propaganda thou substance wise they are nil zero sifar...............................

 

[LaBong]

Lol feudal/elites dont represent a society, Bengali aristocrats used to live same glamorous life at expense of millions of poor, which has been romanticised in a same way. I think most unfortunate folks are Bangladeshis, they broke away to end the oppression of ruling feudals only to be caught under feudals of different ethnicity.

 

[LadyGaga]

The article itself portrays the presence of two worlds within pakistan which were totally apart in terms of ideology.One was the feudal,rich,world traveller,and the other was the world of religious leaders who dreamt of making pakistan a "real "islamic nation.Somewhere in the interim ,everything got mixed up and the result is an incongrous society,that finds itself unable to define itself.

 

[Developereo]

Focussing on Benazir Bhutto and Imran Khan as being somehow representative of Pakistan's image is ridiculous. I am sure even today, Bilawal Bhutto is living the high life on daddy's dollar and has no trouble getting laid.

The rich and famous live on a separate planet, largely immune from political firestorms. They identify far more with their socioeconomic class than with any particular nationality.

In any case, for the average Westerner, there is no difference between Pakistanis and Indians. Unless you tell them, they cannot even tell us apart merely from our lifestyle. And, far from being glamorous, India's image today is that of the land of cheap IT nerds. Appreciation of Bollywood and yoga are confined to specific niche subcultures.

As for Pakistan, the negative media image is a factor only for the politically aware Westerner -- a small minority -- and, even then, only initially. After that, the only thing that matters is the individual relationship.

 

[Coltsfan]

And, far from being glamorous, India's image today is that of the land of cheap IT nerds. Appreciation of Bollywood and yoga are confined to specific niche subcultures.

So India is seen as a progressive society that contributes productively, albeit by means of "cheap IT nerds" as you so eloquently put it.

As for Pakistan, the negative media image is a factor only for the politically aware Westerner -- a small minority -- and, even then, only initially. After that, the only thing that matters is the individual relationship.

Far from that, Pakistan has become synonymous with Taliban and as hot bed for Islamic terrorists even for ordinary Joe in the west. Also, the most likely location to find Osama.

More politically aware people in west are very cognizant of the double game Pakistan has been playing with US, pretending to be an ally in war on terror, while trying to shield of minimize the losses to its "brothers".

So you see, people in west may not be able to tell apart b/w Indians and Pakistanis but once they find out who is what, their reaction is diametrically opposite.

 

[Omar1984]

A Indian friend of mine told me this quite seriously: "Do you know why there is a 100% difference between Indians and Pakistanis? We Indians like to live 50% below our means, and you Pakistanis like to live 50% above yours!"

So true. You will see this in the United States where indians save each and every penny while Pakistanis spend all their money on cars, clothes, houses, women.

 

[Omar1984]

I think its punjabi mentality of showing off irrepective of means i have lot of punjabi friends and they flaunt a lot kind of propaganda thou substance wise they are nil zero sifar...............................

Not only Punjabis. Its true of majority of Pakistanis, especially the Pakistanis in the west and Middle and Upper class Pakistanis in Pakistan.

The Bhuttos and Imran Khan are not Punjabis.

 

[Developereo]

So India is seen as a progressive society that contributes productively, albeit by means of "cheap IT nerds" as you so eloquently put it.

It's got nothing to do with progressive or regressive; the average Joe doesn't analyze it that way. All I am saying is that the only thing that comes to mind when you mention India to an average Westerner is IT and -- coming back to the title of this thread -- IT is not considered glamorous in the West.

Far from that, Pakistan has become synonymous with Taliban and as hot bed for Islamic terrorists even for ordinary Joe in the west. Also, the most likely location to find Osama.

More politically aware people in west are very cognizant of the double game Pakistan has been playing with US, pretending to be an ally in war on terror, while trying to shield of minimize the losses to its "brothers".

So you see, people in west may not be able to tell apart b/w Indians and Pakistanis but once they find out who is what, their reaction is diametrically opposite.

Not really. Very few people are politically aware and, even if they equate Pakistan with Taliban, most of them get past that label pretty quickly when dealing with an actual Pakistani. You will always have people who insist on hanging on to negative stereotypes, but they will do the same thing to Indians with stereotypes of poverty, etc.

 

[somebozo]

This is sooooo true..indians are way more responsible with money than Pakistanis!

 

[T-Faz]

The article itself portrays the presence of two worlds within pakistan which were totally apart in terms of ideology.One was the feudal,rich,world traveller,and the other was the world of religious leaders who dreamt of making pakistan a "real "islamic nation.Somewhere in the interim ,everything got mixed up and the result is an incongrous society,that finds itself unable to define itself.

Umm, Agha Hassan Abedi and the many Pakistani's who worked in his bank around the globe were not feudals, neither was Mahmud Sipra, Imran Khan, Tariq Ali and some others this article is referring to.

The one feudal discussed here is Bhutto, the rest hailed from middle class families and went on to do well. Though Abedi was from a rich background, he was a self made man when he found UBL and then BCCI.

 

[KS]

India might be turning into a pool of talent but the conditions and international image of india hasnt changed much. Infact the world opinion towards India has become not nascent due to continous flooding of cheap labour, a strategy which amounts to "economic terrorism" which has backfired into riots and protectionst measures against India world wide.

Its China rather than India that is accused more often for "economic terrorism".

It's got nothing to do with progressive or regressive; the average Joe doesn't analyze it that way. All I am saying is that the only thing that comes to mind when you mention India to an average Westerner is IT and -- coming back to the title of this thread -- IT is not considered glamorous in the West.

It may not be glamorous for them,but it certainly doesnt give a NEGATIVE image which is far more important.

And as long as the $$$ keep flooding here,who gives a damn if it is glamorous or not.?

 

[PakiiZeeshan]

I think its punjabi mentality of showing off irrepective of means i have lot of punjabi friends and they flaunt a lot kind of propaganda thou substance wise they are nil zero sifar...............................

That's just a sterotype. Most Punjabis don't have a superiority complex.

 

[Awesome]

Simply put what the west found glamorous about Pakistan in the 70s is exactly what disgusts it now.

Our terrorists were cool freedom fighters (as if they weren't as oppressive, intolerant back then), our feudal lords were envied by rich brats all over the world (as he said everyone wanted to be guests of the bhuttos and spoke about their feudal culture)...

Actually only the west has changed, we're as good or as bad as we always were .

We need to change now.

 

[Developereo]

And as long as the $$$ keep flooding here,who gives a damn if it is glamorous or not.?

Because the title of this thread is about image, not $$.

Pakistan had a super-rich elite in the 70a and 80s; it still does. Same thing with India, more now than before, sure. These elite's lifestyle has not been impacted in any way by the image issues since most of them have multiple passports anyway.

I remember meeting the Gokals in the 70s when we were living in Switzerland. No one could tell they were Pakistani, and no one can probably tell even now.

 

[Omar1984]

That's just a sterotype. Most Punjabis don't have a superiority complex.

Maybe, but you will find many rich snobs among Pakistanis (not singling out Punjabis, rich snobs exist in every ethnic group).