You might think George Ka Pakistan (George’s Pakistan) is a straightforward description of the political relationship between Dubya and Musharraf. Instead, it was recently Pakistan’s #1 reality show (via Uncleji):
The premise was simple: could a Gora (white man) become a Pakistani? Over 13 weeks, Fulton, a 27-year-old former public schoolboy, travelled the country to find out. He sampled Pakistan’s many delights – moseying through the tribal areas, dancing at slick Karachi parties, speaking bad Urdu and arguing with his electricity company… Fulton squeezed into tiny taxis, milked a buffalo and tried on a dhoti… [Link]
George Fulton, a TV and theater producer, ended up becoming a Pakistani citizen. Why? Lowe, twu lowe:
The ministry of the interior was so impressed with Fulton’s efforts that it offered him Pakistani citizenship… The downsides included the potential of being be conscripted into the Pakistani army in the event of war with, for example, India. But now, he says: “I’m going through with it”… he has fallen in love with a Pakistani woman, also a TV producer, and they plan to get married next November. [Link]
<
p>To paraphrase the National Front, if he’s a loyal Pakistani, why does he still root for England’s cricket team? 
To be a true Pakistani, all he needs to do is obsess over India and talk nostalgically of his years in New York.
Fulton received… six marriage proposals (he politely refused them all). Then, in the final episode, the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, received him in Islamabad and the show’s producers polled viewers about whether “George Sahib” had succeeded in becoming a Pakistani. Sixty-five per cent said yes. [Link]
He was surprised by the average Pakistani’s hospitality:
Complete strangers have written and phoned inviting me to their homes for parties, lunches, dinners and weddings. Aunties, concerned that I wasn’t eating properly and missing my mother’s food, have offered to feed me their ‘special’ biryani, chicken karhai, nehari, and maghaz.… the e-mail I most cherish is from a girl in Karachi who wrote: “I am 10 and studying in class five… We want you to learn Urdu. If you have any problem to understand the Urdu, you can take help from me…” Can you imagine a British 10-year-old girl writing such a welcoming e-mail to a Pakistani man trying to learn English? I can’t. She would probably be too glued to her X-box to even care. [Link]
It’s interesting to contemplate the subcontinental disparity: thousands of Brits and Americans have lived in India without raising eyebrows, but when it happens in Pakistan it elicits incredulity. Perhaps because, like that reality show guy in Bombay, he wasn’t a Pakophile to begin with.
I agree whole heartedly, i’m surprised this isn’t being pushed into american media and called ‘Dubya ka Pakistan’. Bush, whose approval rating is currently in the gutter, could benefit by showing the american public how hospitable their Pakistani allies are, and how willing they are to support the US war on terrorism…
oh my god, i’m a closet republican…
Pakistan has got a poor image problem. There was a programme a few months ago about UK Pakistanis and this Pakistani dude was talking about the difference in perception between Indians and Pakistanis amongst British people. He was a comedian called Jeff Mirza and what he said cracked me up with laughter although it wasnt really funny. He said, if a white person asks what background you are from and you say India they’ll get all excited and list all the things they love about Indian things and say ‘Oh I love India I love going to Southall and I’ve been on holiday to Goa and I love bhangra and I love Bollywood and I want to go to Rajasthan and I love Panjabi MC and I went to Kulu Manali and saw the Golden Temple and I eat Indian food at least twice a week and” etc etc etc
Then he said with a sad puppy dog look that if you tell them you are from Pakistan they just go quiet and dont know what to say and look a bit embarassed and shy.
Its darkly comic but true – and this was before the London suicide bombings.
I dont know what Pakistanis can do to improve their image. Every stereotype gets stuffed onto them big time.
So the PM in Pakistan does have a job. Phew! And I thought he was just a figurehead. I kid, I kid.
The President seems to be tackling that, I guess, what with him banning rape victims from travelling abroad and all. But seriously, I think this website is kind of a nice start. The author’s motivation for the website:
One fine evening, after browsing dozens of internet websites and blogs, I realized that I had not read a single piece of general-interest news about Pakistan. All I read about Pakistan or any of our cities was in relation with terrorism, hatred, violence, bigotry, intolerance, bomb-blasts, Al-Qaeda, extremism, etc. At that point I truly craved for some ‘ordinary’ news from Pakistan. After all, we are a living, breathing society where something ‘civilized’ must happen, or ordinary people aren’t always killing each other to rid of them from Pakistan! That’s when I decided to start PakPositive.
Many Westerners have remarked about the hospitality displayed by Pakistanis. Even the infamous Congressman Charlie Wilson was won over by the Pakistanis in the 1980s, and repaid their hospitality by promoting Zia in the U.S. whenever he could.
This should not be surprising. On the global stage, Pakistan has not really made a name for itself, so naturally they are interested in giving their country a good image. Shortly after 9/11, CNN sent Chistiane Amanpour to gauge Pakistani opinion, so she hung out with stylish, upper class Lahori women. Well they were elegant and well-spoken, I don’t think they were representative of the everyday Pakistani.
The fact the George had a film crew following him around may have had an effect on how people viewed him. Film crew suggest money, which will always get you better treatment, whether in Pakistan or the U.S. That’s teh biggest falsehood about “reality television”
Sadly, that’s so true of our own, supposedly South-Asian blog, right? What happened to out intentions of getting a Pak guest-blogger? And he, what happened to our intention of doing a nationality-wise survey of the Mutineers?
Male skirt? Jeez.
Yes, Pakistan has an image problem and their people know it. And thats why a lot of Pakistanis overseas refer to themselves as ‘Indian’ especially in a generalistic sense to the non-discerning.
I dont know if any Pakistani’s living abroad refer to themselves as Indians.Thats appalling. Where did you read that????
nabeelfs – my bad, please change the ‘a lot’ to ‘a lot I have known’. Am basing this on personal experience with a lot of pakistanis I have encountered, and its done subtly (more so to indentify with a region) to the non-discerning such as the white man…done more so in the context of if asked where in india? the answer would be – actually, i am from ____. so its never a continuous reference, just an intial.
but would it really be so appaling, as you suggest?
Oh I don’t know… Maybe stop fanatic indoctrination schools that teach young boys to go out, hate and kill non-Muslims. Maybe stop sending terrorists/troops over the border to kill neighbors and engage in ethnic cleansing. Maybe stop terrorists who like to shoot up the Indian Parliament. Maybe stop giving every guy and his grandmother nuclear materials and technology…
Little things like that. Other than small things like these the stereotypes are totally unfounded.
Nabeelfs: While I haven’t read anywhere that Pakistanis pass themselves off as Indian, based on my own personal experience, I know of three people (2 in NYC; 1 in Dubai) who will say they are Indian if asked by a “non-desi.” In two of the three cases this is purely opportunistic, as the individuals in question are anti-Indian themselves to say the least. In the third case (the one in Dubai) it is at least partly a reflection of the person’s view that partition was a mistake, and that religious fundamentalism has been greatly encouraged in the long term by it. All three started identifying themselves as Indian after 9/11.
I have heard of other Pakistanis passing themselves off as Egyptian, Turkish, even Iranian (though that probably has a different connotation in certain parts of Long Island).
Obviously I don’t believe a majority of Pakistanis would do this, but post-9/11, I think more and more Pakistanis are beginning to regard this as an option.
Interestingly, I have never heard of a Pakistani woman passing herself off as anyone else.
I haven’t met many Pakistanis, but I did know a ABCD of Bangladeshi background who admitted to calling herself “Indian” b/c she thought it would get the Islamist types off her back. This was at uni in USA!
JM: lol, You sound like an extremist.Easy there, buddy.
Yes, it is appalling.If you dont like being called a Pakistani, cross over to the other side.Maybe you’d be better off there!
Re: AG: “What happened to our intentions of getting a Pak guest-blogger? And he, what happened to our intention of doing a nationality-wise survey of the Mutineers?”
What about getting a bona-fide FOB guest blogger? 🙂
Even better than “George ka Pakistan” is a spoof they did of it on a comedy show called “Ulta Seedha”. The name of the spoof show is “Jamshed ka Englistan” and shows a Pakistani trying level best to fit in to England.
George Ka Pakistan was a beutiful TV programme. In the serial George try exploring Pakistan and its people, trying to understand the complexities of Pakistani society and to discover what it means to be a Pakistani. Most of viewers think that such type of efforts can improve the Image of Pakistan abroud and can be beneficial regarding multilateral trade ties. Such TV serials are efferts for cultural exchange etc. You may like to forward your proposals to me at my email address shabbirbhutta@gmail.com Cell: 00923005219930
Pakistani generally suffer from an image problem due to the same fact, all muslim country suffer from a negative image problem, due to overwhelming and influencial Western and Indian anti muslim and anti Pakistani propoganda respectively. Pakistani never refer themselves as indians due to the fact that Pakistanis see indian as short, dark, skinny and ugly people and refering themselves as Indian would be a like a Dove saying I am a crow. Now the reason India is liked by western people is only due to the fact that Indian have copu cated and taken on western values while Pakistani have stuck to their muslim values and have been sticking to their values for the past 1000 year or so including the time when they rules india as a minority. Now refering as being indian will only disgrace a person not elivate his/her status, for the reasons mentioned above.
There was a Paki girl in my class and she was so thrilled when I told her that we Indians and Pakis look the same. As for the skin color, we have different kinds of people in India living in harmony and very proud of it. There was another Paki friend who would jokingly curse his father for being a Paki. I had Bihari friends back home in India who did the same, they would say they are from neighboring states.
in terms of skin-colour, i think you should grow up. what’s colour got to do with anything? it merely exposes your stereotypical tendencies.
i’ve read some very extreme comments here. pakistanis do not pretend to be indian to their peers – i live in the united kingdom. to be honest, all brown-skinned people are treated pretty much the same here. call it ignorance if you will, but there have been many cases of sikh and hindu people also being racially attacked, in addition to muslim people. it’s partially because people here might think that they’re all muslims. but a lot of it is because people in the uk are just annoyed that so many asians migrate to this country and become successful.
every country has a poor image, and that is the main thing that several of you fail to see. every government has corruptness, and every country has some horrific deeds going on every minute of every day.
but if nations such as india and pakistan continue to quibble as they are, marking out their differences with arms and fists and harsh words, then nothing can be overcome. it’s a vicious circle – one country insulted another, and the other retalliated, and it keeps going on. you gain nothing good from it except 2 minutes of mental satisfaction, and then it’s over. the consequences are then that people will retalliate in anger at your comments and cause you to respond back again.
the reason why george ka pakistan was such a hit was because it was the first ever reality tv show in pakistan, which could be classed as “edutainment” (educational entertainment). it provided viewers with education on cultural differences and the adaptivity of the human mind and body. and you should also note that it was only a big hit in pakistan, and rightly so as it was the nation’s first reality show.
you’re trying to link the program to political motives – i call that scraping the barrel.
Assalam-Alaikum… I reside in Forest Hills,NY and do not have access to GEO TV, unfortunately. By chance I came accross the site youtube.com and there someone had posted ALL 15 episodes of George ka Pakistan. I finished watching all of the 15 episodes in just 2 days and I must say that I have fallen in love with George. He is so genuine about becoming a pakistani and has so much respect for our general public. I just Loved him. There was an episode where he went to Mir Pur and there he interviewed some UK born confused desis hehehe…I can never forget their conversation and expressions… SO FAKE..such a shame.
I am a proud pakistani as well and I LOVE my country , regardless.
Oh by the way..I heard George is getting married to some producer in NOV…who is she?
Hey George….. I dont know much about the show and to be perfectly honest, I dont even know if you will be reading this!!! My Name is Hammad Azim and I am an Old Uppinghamian!!! (M) 96 If you get this msg….. do get in touch!!! My email Address is hazdog@hotmail.com or hammad.azim@ufonegsm.net RGDS
Well…i have read different candid opinions about a TV programme “George ka Pakistan”.It was not the least surprised to see how some indian guys were again talking about Pakistan and its society with a pinch of prejudice.In fact, they haven’t yet digested the reality of the establishment of Pakistan.They just dont want to miss any single opportunity to attack Pakistan.I often observe the Anti-Paki attitude of indian dudes in the Chat rooms and read their comments in different web blogs.The way they have tried to exploit a workaday TV programme is just another manifestation of their back-to-the-core anti-pakistan feelings.One guy said that he heard some pakistanis saying that Partition was just a mistake.It’s ridiculous to know that Countries are formed out of mistakes.Lolz…The people who say so are not conversant with the history of partition.They better read it first and then give their WORHTY COMMENTS.Why do they forget the Congress agitation on the Partition of Bengal, Congress Rule in 1937 and many other episodes in the history of sub-continent when Congress missed the opportunities to win the hearts of Muslims.Later India grabbed kashmir on the plea that its ruler wanted to side with India, but occupied Juna-garh and Hyderbad on the reason that the majority of their dwellers were Non-Mulims(despite the fact that their Muslims rulers had opted for Pakistan).I can give a hundred more examples, but i’m not here to lecture on history. I just deemed it necessary to give a solid, logical and factful answer to that comment. As for the higher respect of Indians in the West as against Pakistanis, don’t you guys think that Indians can easily imbibe in the western culture than pakistanis?…They feel no hesitation in accomodating themselves in the western societies…While, on the other hand, Pakistanis can’t PLEASE the westerners by doing the ALIKE things…i know a pakistani software engineer, who is presently settled in Chicago. He told me that ,as against indians,he could not drink alcohlic beverages in the parties and couldnt bring his wife to attend the dancing balls due to the religious restraints. Besides, you dudes can find hundreds of DESI PORN WEBSITES and BLOGS in which you will see Indian girls doing sex with white men.Sometimes, the Indian girls are labelled as Paki Chicks, but their dark skinned bodies leave no doubt of their Indian Origin.On the other hand, you will not find a single pakistani pornographic website.Decide yourself…who is more to the liking of the westerners in the context of these facts…..Indians or Pakistanis?…Definetly the ones who know the art of luring the westerners, who have no problem in absorbing themselves in their societies… Again i read a comment in which a reference was ridiculously made on the internal problems of pakistan.Is india free of Caste Sytem and religious fanaticism(shiv sena)?
We pakistanis like to think ourselves as turks and indians even though we are black, skinny, smelly, malnourished and considered by both indians and westerners to be fugly untouchables. Having a preconceived image of ourselves doesnt help when we meet a racially superior hindustani or european. I dont think we’re that bad but we have a long way to go. Most pakistanis are lower caste converts to Islam.
I dont care about the sterotypes of pakistan. ive been there 3 times and it keeps on getting better and better.
and pakistanis for some reason , especially british ones are sOOOO proud of pakistan it is unbelieveable, they never refer to themselfs as indian..
pakistanis, forget the bad image and stereo types we got a kick ass country , we can enjoy it …
‘Pakistanis see indian as short, dark, skinny and ugly people and refering themselves as Indian would be a like a Dove saying I am a crow’-one imran does not represent all of pakistan. one aryan can not vouch for everyone in pakistan. we know many of us are converts and our forefathers were perhaps animists and came from tribal background. and had travelled all over india. found most of them look like us. of course in the south they look more like sri lankans.
I think George Ka Pakistan programme was an insight of Paskistani culture and how difficult it can be for the non muslim to survive in a country like Pakistan. Dont get me wrong I am trying to say that if you are well off in that country you can live like a king if your not then the programme portrays this..
Imran – Manchester (UK)
its sad but true…pakis calling themselves indians. but i dont think its because they’re ashamed of it…its just to ‘make things simpler’. i remember thinking of doing it…but not anymore. the more people ask me where i’m from now and the more i reply pakistan, the more content and proud i feel of my roots.
Pakistan at the time of its formation didn’t seem like it would last beyond a year, but it has not only persisted but it has survived well in the last 60 years. Pakistani’s should be proud of their achievements like nuclear weapons etc. But it probably is true as well, best what Pakistan has achieved so far is…. i can’t put any words to it. Its institutions are a mess. Its already gone through another partition since its inception. How Bangladesh got treated by West Pakistani’s is nothing short of genocide. Exporting terrorism across the world. Hot bed for all things wrong with a country. No democracy, no parliament, no financial institutions of any international repute, no development in terms of art and culture. History that’s taught in the Pakistani schools tries to present a wrong picture of what’s happening in the world, and completely tries to prelude anything before advent of Islam. Most bloggers on any forum with RECKLESS aggression are Pakistani’s. London bombers were exclusively Pakistani’s, blowing themselves to kill innocent people in the name of Islam and Pakistan. How can anyone be proud of any of these facts. Name me ONE incident where the world looks up to Pakistan for ANYTHING in the world. Pakistan is a test lab for USA to try its bad foreign policies and sell rusted defence equipment. Pakistan’s greatest gift to the world is TALIBAN. A frankensien that’s turned against itself. No one is blaming Pakistani people. Cause they dont control, influence or change anything. Its the people who run this country, making sure it is devoid of any people representation that is giving ISLAM, Pakistan and humanity a bad name.
image image… what image? we dnt need to prove ourselves to the ppl who bomb innocent ppl just for petrol.. America killed million of ppl in Iraq and look what the US motive is behind all this, “Bringing peace to Iraqi ppl”. If u dnt open yr eyes thats ok carry on with yr ignorance but the truth is truth. Its not about image, its about the power of media… I am pakistani, will remain pakistani and am proud of being pakistani.
Tell me which nation on the earth is a perfect nation? whose there who does’nt have faults in their societies?
I pesonally condemnd the suicide bombings. innocent ppl should not be killed no matter what religion or race they belong to….
BUT…. tell me in the last 10 years how many non-Muslims are killed by Muslims? 1000, 5000 and thats it. on the other hand look how many Muslims are killed? Millions my friend… everywhere if the blood is shed, they are Muslims…
Soviet Union killed countless Afghanis Muslims during the 80’s war. But no one call them terrerists.
India is killing Kasmiri Muslims from decades…. again no one complaint
United Kingdom occupied and killed so many nations in the world during the last 2 0r 3 centuries… they even are not sorry for that and are rather proud of their history and violance.
Germons killed… (Leave that infact all of us know what they did) and no one call them terrerists.
How many lives’ve been taken in World Wars… and yet none of the involed nations are labeld terrerists.
Japan’s two cities were bombed with ATOM bomb which killed countless innocent ppl.. and the one who did all this is…. (hummmm dnt even guess OR you will be behind the bars in Guatanamobay)
I think this much is enough to open the EYES…. or the list is endless…..
I will just say ” BAD SE BADNAAM BURA “
http://nowwatchtvlive.com/2011/07/zee-tv-live-watch-zee-tv-online-watch-zee-tv-free/