Hi friends, as promised in my last blog, I will explain my interests in Pakistani media with greater detail. So as I mentioned before, I grew up in South Carolina, USA. Growing up, I was into all the southern brands, Hollywood media, and keeping up with shows like Pretty Little Liars and Jane the Virgin. To start, my favorite brands included Lauren James, LL. Bean, Simply Southern, Lily Pulitzer, and Vineyard Vines. I probably invested around $3-4,000 on just Lauren James alone over the period of three years. Yes, I was obsessed. Even today, I have a closet full of LJ apparel and still wear the clothes on my lazy days. Growing up, my basic outfit would be leggings, with a big shirt, a hoodie, and slip on sneakers. I was always the simple, nerdy girl. Big glasses, always under dressed, never got my nails done, and a makeup less face with naturally curly hair. I was always into the southern American way of dressing. My favorite singers was Taylor swift, and my favorite actor was Jennifer Hewitt. My mom would always watch Pakistani drama serials by ARY and HUM tv. I would often make fun of her because the shows were always so dramatic and very loud. The Pakistani media industry is known as "Lollywood" and I would always make fun of the name. The only middle eastern media industry I would keep up with was Bollywood which is more Indian based. I never showed interest in media made in my own country or the very talented actors that practically ran Lollywood. During the years I grew up, I did face lots of racism being a Pakistani Muslim who wasn't even born in the states. I would try to avoid explaining my background and avoid religious related topics every chance I get. Looking back now, I felt shamed for being from Pakistan and for being Muslim, and would get the expected "you come from terror land" comments.. However, all of this changed in February of 2018 when I flew to Lahore to attend my cousins wedding. It was my first time attending a Pakistani wedding in Pakistan itself, and let me tell you, it was VERY different. From the decorations, to the food, the celebrations, types of people... it was pretty different then the way Pakistanis celebrate in America. I spent most of my time with my cousins who would take me to all the shopping centers, malls, and designer stores. I was only in Lahore for eleven days, but I took back years worth of knowledge and experience with me. Visiting my hometown during a time of celebration really made me realize that there is also life worth experiencing outside of America. My family is so proud to be Pakistani and they openly speak on Pakistani media and politics. During this realization, the questions came to my mind.. "Why am I so scared to openly express my culture, and my background"? "This is who I am, I need to own it and show it in a very humble and confident way". So from that trip going forward, I promised myself to be more involved in my culture. I started by researching popular brand apparels in Pakistan. Just like America, you have luxury brands like Gucci and Balmain and you have basic brands like Michael Korrs and Coach. . My favorite Pakistani "basic" brands are Khaadi and Sapphire for basic apparel, and Elaan for "luxury" apparel. A few months later, I learned of the story of Qandeel Baloch. My mom told me how they were creating a drama based on her life called "Bhaaghi". Her story interested me so much I was counting down the days the drama would be aired. As I was watching the show, I noticed how natural the acting was of Saba Qamar was. She played the lead role of Qandeel herself and did it with total perfection. After Baaghi ended, I became more interested in Pakistani drama serials. My favorite actors are Imran Abbas and Hira Salman and my favorite drama to date Is Bin Roye. Unlike Hollywood, the Pakistani media industry is a lot more modest with ads, acting, and making sure they do not cross limits in shows to coordinate with religious values. Day by day I feel myself getting more interested in my culture, Pakistani media, and keeping up with the lifestyle and trends in Pakistan. I'm so happy that I am proud of where I'm from and am beyond grateful for my eye opening trip to Pakistan in 2018! My next blog will be about beauty with a purpose, and the woman who I looked up to.
Ending this blog with something I always tell myself: "If you are proud of where you come from, you will always have an army of supporters behind you." - Hira
Hira you know I had that same issue instead I was ashamed as well but doing my teenage years I was trying to find out who was I but always tend to look in the mirror every time and i say I don't look like the other people of color here nor my family either so soon find out by my father that we was form southern Iraq . that we have family over there. after that i embrace my heritage being form the east i would never thought we was form the east or Iraq. we are planning on going back but we are going to Pakistan to get citizenship don't know when I 'am but excited