First Year demystifies the link between Pakistan and Limerick
Know Your Classmates
Pradeep Jayaraman & Priya Rangarajan, WG'08
Issue date: 10/16/06 Section: Insider
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Meet Humera Afzal: Class of 2008, Cohort K. For a person who is half Irish, half Pakistani and spent half of her childhood in Karachi and the rest in London, Humera represents someone who has a great sense of identity and thrives on all the multiculturalism Wharton and the world have to offer. She seemed to us to be the perfect blend of who we were looking for for our story: a well rounded personality with an interesting cultural medley. So, we pursued her and begged her for the scoop and after a few dings, our persistence paid off and Ms. Afzal relented.
We spoke to her last Sunday and asked her to demystify some of the notions we carry about a much misunderstood country - Pakistan. Her biggest pet peeve is the portrayal of Pakistan in mass media. Contrary to popular belief, Pakistan is not filled with religious zealots willing to burn every vestige of "Western" civilization at the slightest provocation. Pakistan, according to her, is bubbling with a prosperous and burgeoning middle class who are every bit as educated, learned and cultured as their western counterparts. Reared on a diet of Hollywood films and NBC sitcoms in the bustling streets of Karachi, Ms. Afzal is extremely proud of her sub-continental heritage and her appreciation of the world in the background of Islamic philosophy. She opines that an average Pakistani is more open and welcoming to a stranger than someone from the west usually is.
Bureaucracy and income disparity are among the biggest bottlenecks to growth and prosperity in Pakistan. Unlike the US, there are far fewer opportunities for the underprivileged. The environment in Pakistan tends to be much more protective of women. Humera certainly feels strongly about this. She says, "The way you are brought up stays with you, even with the relative freedom I enjoyed on moving to England, I always behaved in a certain manner - I was more reserved in public."
What Humera misses about Pakistan are the historic mosques of Lahore, the ruins of the ancient Indus Valley civilization at Mohenjo Daro City and the ruins of one of the oldest universities in the world at Taxila. She is nostalgic about the Himalayan mountain ranges on the eastern border and the Hindukush on the west. She fondly recalls her favorite Pakistani food - from peshawari naans to shami kababs. As we sat in the coffee shop listening to her description of the food items, we became aware of a gnawing hunger that not all the Starbucks coffee in the world could quell. And above all, Ms. Afzal reminisced about the vibrant music of her country - from the quintessential qawwalis of the sufi saints to the elegant ghazals written in Persian verse.
While the Pakistani community is a small minority at Penn, Humera does not feel as homesick due to the number of Indian friends she has made. She feels her Indian connections have an important role to play in bridging the political gulf between the two countries of India and Pakistan, who share so much in common culturally and historically.
Now here comes the twist: Humera does not just have a Pakistani identity - much like Superman with his dual identity, she dons her Irish identity when she is visiting her mothers relatives in London who fondly reminisce about her hometown of Limerick, Ireland. She confesses that she shares the predilections of many Europeans: at worst tending to look down upon and at best chiding American practices and customs.
Life at Wharton has thus far been very good to her - she has had a lot of fun trying to absorb American culture. The funniest incident she recalled was when she saw two 70 year olds engaging in fisticuffs over a bus seat in Philly, something she would not have probably witnessed in her hometown of Karachi.
When we tried to probe into her views on the salient points of differentiation among Asian, European, and American men, the best response we got was a diplomatic "no comment"! Ugggh, Humera, you disappoint us! Alas, on that note, we had to conclude our interview.
Readers, so this is our pitch. How do you like it? We would love to hear from you and appreciate any comments. However, please bear in mind that we are first time writers with rather tender egos. Also, if you have an interesting background and would like to be the subject of our next write up, please feel free to email us at priyar @wharton.upenn.edu or pradeepj @wharton.upenn.edu
We spoke to her last Sunday and asked her to demystify some of the notions we carry about a much misunderstood country - Pakistan. Her biggest pet peeve is the portrayal of Pakistan in mass media. Contrary to popular belief, Pakistan is not filled with religious zealots willing to burn every vestige of "Western" civilization at the slightest provocation. Pakistan, according to her, is bubbling with a prosperous and burgeoning middle class who are every bit as educated, learned and cultured as their western counterparts. Reared on a diet of Hollywood films and NBC sitcoms in the bustling streets of Karachi, Ms. Afzal is extremely proud of her sub-continental heritage and her appreciation of the world in the background of Islamic philosophy. She opines that an average Pakistani is more open and welcoming to a stranger than someone from the west usually is.
Bureaucracy and income disparity are among the biggest bottlenecks to growth and prosperity in Pakistan. Unlike the US, there are far fewer opportunities for the underprivileged. The environment in Pakistan tends to be much more protective of women. Humera certainly feels strongly about this. She says, "The way you are brought up stays with you, even with the relative freedom I enjoyed on moving to England, I always behaved in a certain manner - I was more reserved in public."
What Humera misses about Pakistan are the historic mosques of Lahore, the ruins of the ancient Indus Valley civilization at Mohenjo Daro City and the ruins of one of the oldest universities in the world at Taxila. She is nostalgic about the Himalayan mountain ranges on the eastern border and the Hindukush on the west. She fondly recalls her favorite Pakistani food - from peshawari naans to shami kababs. As we sat in the coffee shop listening to her description of the food items, we became aware of a gnawing hunger that not all the Starbucks coffee in the world could quell. And above all, Ms. Afzal reminisced about the vibrant music of her country - from the quintessential qawwalis of the sufi saints to the elegant ghazals written in Persian verse.
While the Pakistani community is a small minority at Penn, Humera does not feel as homesick due to the number of Indian friends she has made. She feels her Indian connections have an important role to play in bridging the political gulf between the two countries of India and Pakistan, who share so much in common culturally and historically.
Now here comes the twist: Humera does not just have a Pakistani identity - much like Superman with his dual identity, she dons her Irish identity when she is visiting her mothers relatives in London who fondly reminisce about her hometown of Limerick, Ireland. She confesses that she shares the predilections of many Europeans: at worst tending to look down upon and at best chiding American practices and customs.
Life at Wharton has thus far been very good to her - she has had a lot of fun trying to absorb American culture. The funniest incident she recalled was when she saw two 70 year olds engaging in fisticuffs over a bus seat in Philly, something she would not have probably witnessed in her hometown of Karachi.
When we tried to probe into her views on the salient points of differentiation among Asian, European, and American men, the best response we got was a diplomatic "no comment"! Ugggh, Humera, you disappoint us! Alas, on that note, we had to conclude our interview.
Readers, so this is our pitch. How do you like it? We would love to hear from you and appreciate any comments. However, please bear in mind that we are first time writers with rather tender egos. Also, if you have an interesting background and would like to be the subject of our next write up, please feel free to email us at priyar @wharton.upenn.edu or pradeepj @wharton.upenn.edu
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