This picture was taken on 7th February 2023 at 9 am in the vicinity of entry to Swat Expressway, where I remain in wait for my school fellow Sadiq Akbar to join for our onward journey to Lal Qilla in Lower Dir for the funeral prayers of the beloved mother of our common friend Honourable Karam Elahi.
This picture is of Dost Muhammad whom I had known as a young boy of hardly 18 years way back in 90s, when he served as a hotel waiter at Safder Hotel in Takht Bhai, once famous for its kabab.
This self made hero struggled all the way to become a successful entrepreneur having three hotels and a commercial plaza built in his home town of Takht Bhai internationally known for its Buddhist remains.
There are many Pakistanies like Muhammad Dost, who leaves their home for work empty handed and build their way up the success ladder with their sheer hard work. There is hardly any expatriates that one knows who had any capital to start their lives abroad. It was only their hard work and honesty that not only made them stand on their own feet but stand out in whatever country they served. It is these expatriate Pakistanies whose foriegn exchange remittances keep the economic engine of Pakistan in motion.
Nothing hurts more when a country that is blessed with every resource from gold to emerald, rubies and a talented man power it still could not stand on its own feet. There is something wrong somewhere and the worst is that we hardly have developed our own systems of governance to put our own house in order instead we thanklessly occupy ourselves in serving others. In urdu there is an apt saying that fits our plight well. ” ہم بیگانہ شادیوں میں دیوانہ”
It is people like Muhammad Dost to whom Pakistan belongs and who continue to build it with their sweat and blood that unfortunately goes waste by her wasteful leaders to whom everything else is dearer than Pakistan. To me personally people like Muhammad Dost makes my head bow in their respect for their love and devotion to serve their motherland. Long Live Pakistan And Its Resilient Nation
