The clock struck four. The sun stepped down from it's zenith. The sky was still bright, as the last rays of sunlight had not yet faded.

Everyone was busy. The market place buzzed, the farmers worked in their fields and the buses wound their way along the roads. It was just too perfect! The sea was calm like a glimmering sheet and the wind caressed it softly. This was a picturesque ending to yet another day of my life- a life devoid of worries.

Until one day, when who I am and where I'm from started to matter. This was when I started becoming conscious of religious extremism, war on terror, free passage of drugs across the border, ethnic and tribal rifts, women abuse... and the list goes on. In the midst of all this turmoil, we as a society take solace in the fact that we have abundant natural resources, ownership of the second highest peak in the world, a Safari line that won a place in the Guiness Book of World Records(2003), breathtaking valleys and lakes- all of which are a return to the basics of existence.

My country is Pakistan. Sixty years since independance and Pakistan has managed to turn the tables in it's favour against all odds, simply by remaining on the world map. This makes me proud, for on the very first day of independance it was speculated that such a crippled country would not last for more than a decade. It is also heart warming to know that Pakistan is ranked "only" at twelfth position in 'The 2007 Failed States Index'- it could have been worse. Some people sigh at this irony but I always quote the character of Lucien Debray in The Count of Monte Cristo,'' No, my dear fellow; reassure yourself, we are tottering always but we never fall''. Ofcourse as the head of any state it would be dangerous to have full faith in this philosophy but we need rays of optimism every now and then, no matter how feeble.

However, it is absolutely necessary to ascertain why such a negative frame of mind has entered people's minds wherever Pakistan is concerned. It would be vexatious to go into the political workings or conspiracies that are behind it. If anyone could identify the political reasons with a hundred percent accuracy, why, there would be no more Tory and Liberals, let alone any work for a parliament. It would just increase the percentage of the unemployed in every country who are neither educated nor uneducated; their only skill lies in taking sides!

Pakistanis have the capacity to mingle with people of all nationalities: American, British, French, Chinese and Australian. So to lay the blame that it is an isolated nation would be unfounded. In reality, Pakistanis as a whole hate isolation which is the primary reason why there exists in their part of the world a strong, joint family system- 'the more the merrier'.

On a more serious note, there are reasons for the negative image projected by the international media. Suicide bombings and religous extremism have somehow married to form a family unit; their offspring being Terror and Hate- spreading all over the world, in every direction like an uncontained nuclear reaction. Pakistan actually being a nuclear power and armed to the teeth for a full fledged war with it's sister country India, it's no wonder that it has excited the world's attention. But does anyone care how the average Pakistani feels? Its always flattering to captivate other people's attention but when it's for all the wrong reasons, it's downright disgracing- everything is tolerable in a Pakistani society except disgrace.According to the Human Rights Commission Group based in Pakistan, honour killings have claimed one thousand two hundrerd and eleven lives in 2005 inclusive of both male and female victims.

However, I don't intend to end on a gloomy tone. My intention is not to scare the daylights of the already petrified people-of-the-world notwithstanding the fact that their views are that intelligence agencies are raiding and picking up every Pakistani, suicide bombings are exploding at every juncture and intersection, hungry and starved people are dying on the streets, in the span of four to five years 'terrorists' have sprouted everywhere-to be more precise after the terrible events of 9/11-and basically everyone who crosses the road is run down by a glaring army tank!- if so, then hats off to this brave nation who continue with their lives with an expression that says 'Trouble?Unrest?What's new?'

I want to impress the fact that the least the Pakistani nation as a whole deserves is understanding and respect from the world at large. The Pakistani nation is a hetrogenous community. Once a British colony, now an Islamic idealogical state, no country has seen the complete fusion between the east and the west as has the country of Pakistan. Every middle class man and woman in the country grows up in a culture deeply rooted in tradition, art, literature and music -in most cases classical music and folklore, whether it's the famous Khattak dance of the Pathans, the bhangra of the Punjabis, the romantic legend of the Sindhi deserts 'Umar Marvi' or of the short poems,dastanghs, sung to the accompaniment of pipes in the rocky Baluchi terrain. Then, to earn their livelihood, they take on an education, career and an environment nearly alien to what they and their ancestors grew up in. In this respect, the culture of Pakistan has rightly been said to be the most 'well-guarded secret'.

It would be hypocritical to say that everything is perfect. No one believes that nor do I. No one is satisfied nor am I. People believe that Pakistan needs to "do more" and so do I and yet in the face of our biggest problem- an unstable government- it cannot be wrong to see that so much already has been achieved. Besides buying more lethal weapons, playing "chess" in the diplomatic arena and getting involved in five wars in just sixty years (1947-48, 1965, 1971, 1979-1988, 2001), poverty levels have shown an appreciable decrease by ten percent since 2001. Although  twenty-three percent of the population continues to live below the poverty line, it is a topic best left to Ministry of Social Welfare and Development, who should have worked out an equation by now connecting overpopulation with lack of resources!

Besides, I only have one country; one home, no matter how others see it. Just like in the cartoon animation, the character Aladdin of the Arabian Nights says:

       ''Oh, I come from a land; from a faraway place,

       Where the caravan camels roam,

       Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face

       It's barbaric but hey!

      It's home.''

To sum it up, welcome to Pakistan.

This is where I live.