Elders Respect-- Good Things about Pakistan

Good Day Readers. After a long break I am back with a refreshing article about Pakistan. The name of today's Topic is quite refreshing for me and for you as well I believe, especially for Pakistani readers, It's because I have written my last few articles in which I focused on bad things happening around in Pakistan, So now I am starting a new series of articles in which I will focus on good things of Pakistan and how as a common Pakistani I like these things and want these things to flourish more in Pakistan.

The reason that I thought of this series of articles because there are a lot of misconceptions and wrong ideas about Pakistan floating around in the mind of the people who are not Pakistani and Never been to Pakistan. They have come to know about these bad things from there media, social media or any other source. So for these people I am using this platform to show the good face of Pakistan. The person who is reading this should not get the idea that what ever bad things they listen or watch on their media or social media about Pakistan are not true. In every country there do exist bad things and good things side by side, but unfortunately bad things happening in Pakistan are more highlighted not just on media and social media of other countries but on Pakistani media as well. I don't know for sure that is it the money involved like media gets more viewers from putting out the bad things or is it just for propaganda. I will discuss this thing on some other day. Right now what I am trying to do is to fulfill my responsibility to show the world the good side of Pakistan.

A child who is born will grow with time and will become kid then he/she will enjoy his/her teen age then will become adult, middle aged and then he/she will be old and die. This is the life cycle every child is supposed to have when they are born but it does not go like this always, some kids die very young some die in their youth time and some get old and then die. That is just how Allah has planned. My point here is that those who grow old they become the Elders of the Society.

RESPECT IN HOMES.

In Pakistan these Old people are treated with care and respect. Even if someone does not know an old person he/she is interacting with they will still call the old man with respect by saying (Mian G) which means something like "Respected Sir". The old people live with their family their whole life. they become grandfathers and grandmothers to the children of their sons and daughters. Their children ask for their advice in almost every matter and their decisions are considered final. Nobody is allowed to speak louder or in disrespectful manner with them. They have the highest priority in the house. Every one in the house pay salutations to them when they comeback from work, school or college. People like to sit with them, talk to them and share their life stories to gain knowledge from their experience and to make them feel more than just a member of the house. Because they are old so they are more prone to joint pains so the people in the house knead there legs, shoulders, arms or other body parts whenever the elders feel the need. Some people do it regularly every night before they go to sleep. In short in 99 percent houses of Pakistan the Elders are treated like King and Queen of the house.

RESPECT ON THE ROAD

Old People are treated with respect when they are in the Streets. As the old people are weak so they are unable to cross the road quickly as the young people do, so most of the drivers on the road slow down upon seeing the old people crossing the road. They are slow in almost all the things like getting on or off of a vehicle (Public Transport). Even when they get on a public Bus or Van they need the seat to sit down as they cannot keep standing while the vehicle is moving so In PAKISTAN old people are given the priority to sit first on the seats of vehicle and most of the young people around 90 percent give up their seats in respect of the old people so that the old persons can sit. I do give my seat to the old people inside the Bus or Van. Most of the old people are not well educated and those who live in village whenever they go to the Cities they need guidance to reach their require destination. So whenever they ask for the directions from other young or old people they are given the guidance or even lift to their destination. This Guidance to the destination is not only given to the old people but to the young people as well It is a very good habit of the most people of my country.

LITTLE COMPARISON

As I mentioned the reason of this article already as it is to remove the misconceptions of the people attained through media and social media, so a comparison with few other countries is also necessary especially with those countries who consider Pakistan a Bad Country. This comparison is not based on media or social media but based on the observation of the people from my family who are living or have Lived in countries like Finland, UK, USA and Germany. In these countries and many other western countries the Old Parents are not allowed to live with their family and are sent to old homes or are compelled to live as homeless people. The young generation of these countries hate to talk to these people. The Concept of Mother's day or Father's day is the production of these countries as they visit the old Homes and meet their parents on the specific days only.

In Comparison to their concept of these days Pakistanis Celebrate each day as Mother's day and Father's day as they meet their parents every day as long as their parents are alive. On the Streets of western countries the old people are humiliated and called by many bad names due to their low speed of walking. In the Bus or Van these people are not given the priority to sit as this fact was told to me by my Cousin living in UK and a friend Living in USA. They told me that the old people are not given the priority to sit in metros and other buses other than the priority seats allocated to these people. As my Cousin and friend are Pakistanis so they give their seats to the old people. The old people on getting a place to sit and also shocked from this act, as this is not very common in their countries, ask them about their country and upon listening to the answer as Pakistan they become more shocked as their misconceptions about Pakistan begin to destroy.

The old people living in the old homes in these countries become fed up of their lives and do suicide and this thing is not even considered as bad. I am saying this because my Uncle who has served in Pakistan NAVY. used to go on tours with ships and he has seen many countries. He told me in one of his visits to USA and I am Quoting his Conversation "I went to the park in the evening nearby my hotel and their I saw an old lady sitting on bench alone staring in the sun as it was setting, as she was very quiet and sad so I went to her and said "Hello" upon hearing the hello word she was shocked and started to look left and right and then asked me "Are you talking to me?" I said yes as she seemed very shocked upon hearing my answer and replied "The people around here do not like to talk to us" Then I asked why are you so sad then she said that "I have two children a boy and a girl in the start when they left me in the old home they visited me from time to time like twice in a year but now they have become busy in their lives they pay me a visit hardly in a year now I am so fed up of my life that I have decided to commit suicide and also have made the

payment to the doctor so tonight he will inject me with poison and I will die. I am taking in as much sunlight as I can because it is the last sun that I would see" As she was of my mother's age and it seemed very sad and disturbing to me so I tried to reason with her and tried to convince her about to withdraw her decision of suicide and also gave her offer to live with me as she was of the age of my mother and my mother had died long ago due to cancer but she did not agree". This is the true story I wrote in the words of my UNCLE.

The elder's respect in my country is one of many good things that I am and every other Pakistani is proud of but this trend is also changing in Pakistani in the name of Modernization due to the negative exposure of the youth to the western world's life style as this exposure does not show the reality but only the glamorous details of their life. So in the race to achieve their life style the youth of my country is also taking the negative affects of the western world that is why I have written words like "Most of", "99 percent" and "90 percent" people respecting old people. For the first time there are old homes built in Pakistan But thankfully the Speed of this negative change is Very Slow in Pakistan but still it is Alarming and need Efforts to remove this change. This article is also a contribution to remove the bad change.

Thanks a lot

Thanks to the readers who have given me time from their precious time and read my complete article and I would love to read your thoughts and suggestions about this article and issues discussed in this article. Your words mean a lot to me. Once again thanks to all of you and if you want to listen to me speaking about the things that I write in my articles, you can visit my youtube channel by the name of "STERLING RADIO". I have shared the links of the recorded sessions on my profile. I am little slow in recording and sharing the stuff on youtube but will try to keep up with articles.

Please do share with others if you like this article.