Having lived overseas for
almost one third of my life and then ‘migrating’ back to my country, people get
curious as to what led to my ‘return’? To me that is strange, because I think
sooner or later everybody will return to their place of birth. But my reply
does not satisfy the lay men because, knowing what they know about this
country, I should not have returned to my country.
Now that I have been here
for a couple of years, I can understand their growing frustration. I am also
aware of the fact that if the motherland would have provided the general public
with the respect and the basic necessities of life, hardly anybody would want
to leave their home in the first place.
The most frustrated are the
young and educated professionals like doctors and engineers, who had to compete
against thousands to find a seat in the top medical and engineering
universities. They spend four years studying hard, looking forward to their
bright future, bringing emotional and financial stability in their lives and
homes. Once they graduate the reality strikes. They are the bottom of the barrel
in terms of working and living conditions, after they find a ‘respectable’
government jobs. Their jobs require long hours with lots of public trashing,
with the ‘pay’ they are too embarrassed to mention to their loved ones.
No wonder I met so many of
the doctors and engineers in the U.S. working and living the life they truly deserve.
Many people questioned my decision. But I must say, some people do swim against
the tides. They have to, or the world would not get the kinds of people like
Martin Luther King, Nelson Mendala etc. Everybody wants to have a decent life
for them and their loved ones. I don’t blame them. They have worked hard for
it, so they should.
The recent saga which played
out between the Punjab government and the young medical doctors in Punjab was
an example of how stupefy our leaders are. They have such a parochial vision
that they can’t think beyond the ordinary. As long as they will remain in
power, our young and brightest will keep leaving their homeland. It is such a
pity for the whole nation. It is worth mentioning that the foreign lands are
not hospitable, but compared to the current situation, the foreign countries
present a better option.
The people of Pakistan need
to think about it and they have to weigh their options very carefully the next
time they get the opportunity to vote. Do they want their children to look for
another country to live or they want to make this country a reasonable place to
grow? And having seen all these things going around, the people should strive
to change this place. Otherwise, the future of this country will become the
future of some foreign country. I rest my case.
