No fashion model of the 1970s got paid in the thousands, except for the larger-than-life Rakhshanda Khattak, who had to travel a rough road to make a name for herself in the still fledgling Pakistani fashion industry.
Once, her husband Husain Javeri, a jeweller who hardly ever skipped work, decided to accompany her to a modeling gig. After watching his wife having to bend, stretch and contort her body for the perfect pose, and that too for the pittance she was being paid, he approached the advertisement director and demanded his wife be paid ten times the amount to make it worth her time. That was the amount of money someone would have to pay him to be away from his wife, he said. The director was shocked but since he could not afford to lose her, he agreed. Following this incident, Rakhshanda went on to become the highest-paid and yet the most sought after young model of her time. (complete article)
The Series is an invigorating tale of South Asian youth, whether living in their home countries or anywhere in the world. The story epitomizes true potentials of the young generation of this region by depicting them as intrepid individuals who are eager and ready to take on the title of ‘a global citizen’. It’s the commonality of the people around the world that brings them together to inspire something unique, an amalgam of ambitions, emotions, laughter and camaraderie all in the defined boundaries of a peaceful coexistence. Set in Toronto, Mangoes — the Series encapsulates the pursuit to put across part of the story that needs to be told. The theme aims to inspire the viewers with heartwarming scenes and unique yet relatable characters.
By Murtaza Haider, Ph.D. Associate Dean of research and graduate programs at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto.
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Several policy-makers, politicians, and development professionals in the west believe that the economic survival of Pakistan rests on handouts from the United States. Often American legislators ridicule Pakistan for willingly accepting American dollars in charity, but not delivering on American demands in return.
The Westerners are not alone in believing that Pakistan’s survival rests on handouts from the US. While speaking on Canadian TV earlier this week, Raheel Raza, a Canadian of Pakistani origin, argued the same. “Ever since the inception of Pakistan the United States has given Pakistan aid without which it cannot survive,” said Ms. Raza.
The US economic and military assistance to Pakistan indeed has a long history stretched over decades during which several American governments have poured billions of dollars into Pakistan. The question, however, is to determine first why Americans aided Pakistan and second what was the money intended for. And even more importantly, one should determine if indeed Pakistan’s economic survival rests on American aid.
The British newspaper Guardian maintains an active database documenting six decades of American aid to Pakistan. The data is compiled by Wren Elhai of the Center for Global Development in Washington, DC. The database reveals that since 1948 the US assistance to Pakistan has largely been for civilian purposes. Of the $61.7 billion in total assistance (in constant 2009 dollars) provided to Pakistan between 1948 and 2010, $40.4 billion were provided for economic assistance and $21.3 billion in military assistance. The economic assistance to Pakistan peaked in the early 60s when in excess of $2 billion annually were provided to Pakistan. (Complete article)
I hope you all read this article in it’s entirety! (via umalik)
This blog aims at telling you the "truth" about Pakistan. Unfortunately, today the news emerging from Pakistan on the Western media are so much polarized that it gives a very unreal image of Pakistan.
At "What no one told you about Pakistan", we aim at telling you the real stories about Pakistan.
