Life of an Average Pakistani!

As per the request of my friend @aldentan I would like to share with my Steemit friends the life of an average Pakistani.

I’m not speaking for upper or lower class but for a middle class person. So basically I can relate to it too 

Well, first off, I’d like to clear some misconceptions about Pakistan. People think everyone living in Pakistan is a terrorist which is not the case. They are some of the most hospitable and caring people I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Also, some people think it’s like a village where people live without internet and have a backward lifestyle. Again, this is totally wrong.

A lot of cities are developed and have modern infrastructure. I myself live in Lahore which is one of the major cities of Pakistan and life is anything but dull here.

I’d like to call it the city that never sleeps because even at 3 a.m. there is good amount of traffic on the roads.

So for an average Pakistani, life is something like this:

In Pakistan girls/boys mostly live in their parents’ house till they get married. Some do live independently as well but in general people live with their families. Now I’ve had the chance to do both. I’ve lived independently (even for a short while but enough to give me perspective).

Living with family has its own perks. The MAJOR being, you get to live rent free :D

There’s no concept of paying monthly rent to parents when you’re a grown up and especially if your parents own the house. Similarly, you don’t need to pay utility bills. These two take so much out of your monthly income otherwise that you’re basically hand-to-mouth by month’s end and this also means no savings and no buying expensive things, almost ever!
Secondly, desi (term used for people of Indian subcontinent or South Asia) parents are really protective of their children no matter how old they get. Family bonding is mostly very strong in Pakistani culture.

However, this has the drawback that sometimes your privacy gets invaded. We need some space but can’t really say it because of the “respect your elders” thing.

As I’m getting older, however, I want to spend more and more time with my parents though and when I don’t feel like it, they just know and don’t disturb me either.

Whenever I’m sick, my mother is the first one to rush to my side regardless of her own health issues. So basically a yes yes on living with family for me!

An average Pakistani person is very much up to date with the technology and social media sites like Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp and Instagram etc.

We have some great restaurants with various cuisines where people can hang out and spend quality time with their friends or families. Food culture is really popular in Lahore and Lahoris love to go out to grab a bite to eat. On weekends, hot spots in town are mostly packed with people.

This is a very famous food area in town known as Food Street (on this street there are restaurants of various types)

People who are working have a steady inflow of income and can live a comfortable life in Pakistan.

We do have electricity outages though, in summer, but most of the people have alternatives for that too such as generators and uninterruptible power supply (commonly known as UPS).

There’s freedom for women as well. Women drive, get good education and work as well. Now a lot of institutions actually prefer female employees.

The national dress of Pakistan is shalwar kameez, however women wear western dresses too. I like to wear both Eastern and Western dresses and I have the freedom of choice to do so.

For those who don't know what a shalwar kameez looks like, here's a picture of me where you can get an idea

(All of the images except for the last one are taken from Google)