Last week I received an e-mail with facts about India. All these observations were made by Indian guy himself.
However, reading all these facts I could see myself in Pakistan. As Pakistan and India has close cultural similarities, I decided to convert some facts and introduce you with my daily life in Pakistan.
[...]
1. Some Pakistani men hold hands in the streets while they are not
necessarily gay
2. Rishaw driver always said "no change" but if you insist on the
changes, they can find and give you
3. There are almost impossible to see Pakistani girls wearing sexy
clothing in the streets
4. Arranged marriages are very popular
5. Pakistani people are crazy about cricket
6. You can bargain even with Traffic Policeman for your fine!
7. Drinking beer in street will get you in troubles
8. Western young ladies and even guys would be invited to take
pictures with local Pakistanis, (men, women, teenagers and children)
9. You can hardly find public toilet. For men everywhere is public
toilet, for female, it's a little bit trouble
10. Food are spices even you told the waiter not to add spices
11. Pakistanis drink water without touching the bottle neck
12. You can find girls/women wearing sali and jogging in the park
13. Pakistani marriage takes 4 days.
14. Pakistani drivers are really crazy
15. Crossing Pakistani road is a challenge
16. A lot of street baggers
17. Chinese food here is not exactly chinese, atleast thats what
people say
18. you'll never find toilet paper anywhere.
19. Giving a bribe can solve a lot of problems in Pakistan, expecially to
police and goverment officers.
20. You can find more 6 people on a motorcycle which is designed for
2 people only.
21. Public bus driver don't stop for passengers.
22. Public transport usually don't have doors, even if they have,
people don't close them
23. You should expect local airlines to be late.
24. If the rishaw driver tries to charge you something extra for
something you didn't agree on beforehand, just walk away. He won't
report you or anything.
25. Half of the time, there is probably some extra charge for
something somebody didn't tell you about.
26.There are pedestrian sidewalks, but you're not supposed walk on
them. Always walk on the streets.
27. It's also okay to cross the railways to the other platform instead
of using an overarching bridge.
28. People called you Sir/Madam
29.Going to shopping malls is like going to airport, you have to past
through the security and show your bag, but normally no body really
give a damn on checking.
30. Don't expect people to know your country's location if you're not
from US and UK.
31. you'll get tones of advertising calls and loads of spam SMS if you
got an Pakistani sim card
32. Pakistanis likes to listen music on their mobiles - but they don't use
headphones - it's important that everybody around knows what they're
listening to :)
33. In many public places (cinema/train station) there's often a
seperate line for women so that they don't feel harassed or simply
uncomfortable squeezing with men.
34. Line like people standing one behind the other hardly exists. At
the ticket window there're usually around 3 people hanging on each
other and the rest behind is loosely shaped into a sort of a queue
35. You have got, or know someone that had, something stolen from him
while travelling by train.
36. If you've been living for more than a month in Pakistan, you are
becoming expert at decoding some sign language, such as:
- The infamous but how awkward tilting of the head sideways, in
between a yes and a no.
- The way rickshaw drivers sometimes tell you to hop in their vehicle
(quick head movement towards the backseat, almost unoticeable)
37. Things that are really cool in Pakisttan/Indian movies or music videos, like
dance moves, might actually look cheesy and uncool to other cultures.
38.Most rickshaw driver are knowledgable and actually know shortcuts
which are shorter than the "official route".
39. You can't get into airports unless you have a ticket
that departs three hours before.
40. Get used the fact that if you don't look south asian, people will
stare at you
41. If you ask passengers directions for the place you want to go,
they will give you a random one even they don't know. Most seriously,
they point to the sky.
42. you can get 3 completely different directions by their guides.
43. Pakistani's "5 minutes", if you ask for how far it would take for a
walk to a place, most probably the answer would be "5 minutes", in
fact it's freaking far. This applies to driving as well.
44. People sit on the roof of the jeep, sometime there are more than
10 people on the roof (especially on the public bus).
45. You got a 5mins break in the middle of a movie in cinema.
46. Teek hai (= OK in English) can mean anything between ok/ I will do
it/I won't , but better say I will just to shut you up/yes, I know/I
better pretend I know/...what is s/he talking about?
[...]
Well, this is what I face almost every day. Funny, isn't?
