The most important thing that expat Pakistanis can do is not to send their annual zakat to Pakistan, but to give back intellectually tothe community
“HOWEVER much I may consider myself a citizen of the world, the fact is that I am always going to be asked where I am from. I have therefore dispensed with the multi-rooted pretence,” says Nuzhat Ahmad, who arrived here a decade ago for her residency and stayed on to do her fellowship. Today, she teaches medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (U-Penn), but the “pull” for Pakistan, whilst putative, defies a definition other than “at heart, in thought, somewhat in lifestyle and in my reactions” she’s still a Pakistani.
Is the doctor who studied at Dow Medical in Karachi and saw “bodies from the Bohri Bazaar bomb blast, the Pan-Am hijacking, rioting and tear-gas in the ‘80s and ‘90s” an incurable romantic viscera-vise? “No, I do not look at Pakistan with the nostalgia of sarsoon ke khait or sawan mein jhooley ilk, I look at it as a country with a sordid past and a complex present.”
And is the future graspable?
“Pakistan has a very real chance of success in the future and we 20 and 30-somethings will have to play a vital part in that success.”
The storyline sounds promising. Some Mensa smarts, hugely ambitious and highly successful in their respective fields, are all set to coral their capabilities, working in tandem to put into practice a slew of new ideas that will jettison the jaded and self-serving compatriots who work only for themselves and not Pakistan.
Getting into their groove, and not a moment too soon, these young are underscoring the role for thousands of Pakistani-Americans, those ‘middle-roaders’ who in their own unique way do Pakistan proud, but appear removed, distant, as if to cut off the umbilical cord with their country of birth.
Through Chowrangi — with a degree and pulse — promising to be a bold and relevant publication, Nuzhat, Ghazala, Arifa and a few other Ivy Leaguers hope to shine light on shaping life “between the pure appeals of home and adopted nation”, sowing a seminary of fresh ideas that “challenge simple and static notions of identity ... to embrace diversity and uphold it as a value that strengthens rather than divides a community.”
The journal, a quarterly, will gravitate into reality soon and “distinguish itself by its intrepid writings delivered by voices that are distinct, edgy and shockingly candid,” as an intersection of the Pakistani diaspora with the United States, hopes Nuzhat, who has found the experience of working in the US “absolutely wonderful”. If you work hard, she says, with honesty and integrity, “your chances of being rewarded are very high ... it is a true meritocracy.”
Of traction is the tilt to the third space for Nuzhat and her group: “one is supposed to have two choices; either to assimilate in the American mainstream culture or live in a desi ghetto, but we offer a third option — to keep your Pakistani identity intact while being productively involved in your adopted country.”
And how is that possible?
The most important thing that expat Pakistanis can do is not to send their annual zakat to Pakistan, but to give back intellectually to the community. Her can-do list is indeed doable:
1) professionals in the US can do annual workshops in Pakistan to share their expertise;
2) give generously to institutions that are working for the upliftment;
3) build processes;
4) invest in education of the young and the underprivileged.
“There is a small team of us in Pakistan and here in the US that support education projects for underprivileged kids in Pakistan. The aim is not to provide just ‘charity education’, but quality education. I don’t do it out of some misplaced sense of attaining a place in jannat, but because we owe it to our country. We have to give back to Pakistan with our intellect. There is no other choice.”
An active fund-raiser and the brains behind her family-run Karachi project, Ibtida (beginning), Nuzhat has exemplified herself as a woman of substance, who does what she believes with tangible results for all to emulate.
Arifa Khandwalla, a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government where she published a treatise on ‘gender and education’ is currently conducting research in the intersection between cloud remote sensing and entomology. She’s a forceful voice for Chowrangi.
“A community/society that discusses controversial topics in a constructive manner shows an openness ... it shows a vital society, one that often does not exist in states with totalitarian regimes or states with homogeneous extreme religious orientation. That is the role that Chowrangi will play. My participation in it is motivated by a desire to foment change within the Pakistan community by introducing new ideas, new ways of thinking and new possibilities by publishing articles that challenge existing stereotypes or describe things in a new light.”
Arifa is clear in her mission: “By creating a top-notch magazine that provides a space to discuss provocative issues in a constructive manner, we implicitly improve Pakistan’s image.”
Well aware that she and her team alone cannot abloom into greatness, “We need the entire community to be engaged with this venture.”
How does her team hope to win the war of ideas as Pakistani-Americans? How can they fight the stereotypical portrait of Pakistan as a violent, fanatic, ignorant and semi-civilized society?
“As Pakistani-Americans, we unwittingly act as ambassadors of our country. Our lives, achievements and success reflect on its image. This is where our filmmakers, authors, scientists, entrepreneurs and other professionals enter. Also, we need to actively educate our neighbours, coworkers and community members about who we are and where we come from about world geopolitics. We should invite them to our homes and reach out to the larger American community, rather than stay in our own narrow cultural ghettos.”
Arifa who works in the Microwave Remote Sensing Lab at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, “hopes to return to Karachi one day.” In the meantime, she is introducing a “cutting edge” in the educational projects in Pakistan such as eLIT (empowerment through learning and information technology) which she helped found. The main focus of this organization is to help disadvantaged women and children.
Safia Khalil Rizvi, who became the first non-native American woman ever to win the Working Mother of the Year award in the year 2001, is an accomplished scientist who, too, is a founder of eLIT.
“She has extraordinary determination and focus — many people talk about doing things for their country, Safia actually follows through,” testifies Arifa.
Another player in the star-studded list is Ghazala Nomani, an author of children’s books in English and Urdu. She initiated the ‘American Friends of The Book Group’ a US-based non-profit organization whose sole objective is to help print more children’s books in Pakistan and provide a platform for collaboration and exchange of ideas and expertise between authors and illustrators of these two countries.
“Most Americans are wonderfully warm and caring and generous people and it is our duty to educate them. It is imperative that we involve Americans in our causes, so that they get to know us for the people that we are and dispel the stereotype image as violent, fanatics.”
Ghazala says Pakistanis tend to work within the folds of their own community and don’t venture into the mainstream community. “We need to serve the larger community that we live in. I work with the state of New Jersey as a volunteer educational surrogate for children living in state-owned foster homes. More and more Pakistani Americans should work alongside their fellow Americans for the betterment of the common goals in society so we become an integral part of this society.”
Do any of these young titans feel discriminated in their personal and professional lives as Pakistanis and Muslims? A resounding “No” imploded forth from all!
The most important thing that expat Pakistanis can do is not to send their annual zakat to Pakistan, but to give back intellectually tothe community 
