CHALLENGES are what one encounters in life that develop one’s immunity against unforeseeable hardships laying ahead. In this backdrop, how our youth, comprising 64 per cent of the overall population, portrays an image of their own life and the economy of the country is something that needs a detailed course correction.

Unfortunately, the young appear contended while living in their motherland unless and until they are provided with an opportunity to be part of the brain drain. Their patriotic sentiments fade away once they approach the end of their academic years. Hence, having the ability to avail of all the luxuries without doing anything is the proud privilege everyone wants to have in this country.

Maybe, this is the reason behind the fact pointed out in Dr Ishrat Hussain’s book Pakistan: The Economy of an Elitist State, which argues that despite the expansion of elitism in this country, the economy has failed to flourish.

I believe living in a underdeveloped country is a blessing in disguise. It gives everyone an opportunity owing to numerous voids ranging from economic to social. Human enterprise allows one to fill these voids.

My father belonged to an underdeveloped village in southern Punjab. Following his graduation from the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Taxila, in 1992, instead of getting into the list of employees, he decided to be an employer, though he did not have the financial means to take up the initiative. First in hiccups, later it turned into a prosperous business. Being a citizen of a Third World country can be exciting if one wants to make it big with due planning, vision and perseverance.

Talha Qadir
Lahore

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2023