Money Makes the World Go Around

Visiting Pakistan has really provided me an opportunity to understand the meaning of globalization and exploitation.

I always thought it was very cruel that American companies and other developed world companies moved to the developing world and exploited the workers through cruel conditions and low salaries.

However, what I realized here in Pakistan is that labor is exploited whether or not it is a developing or developed country employer. Labor is extremely unpaid. For example, a maid who comes to work daily and washes clothing, sweeps and cleans the entire home and puts things in proper place, and even often cooks and washes the dishes, is paid only about 20-30 dollars per month by each family! That is crazy and should not be acceptable. A gatekeeper which is necesary in front of every building, and who opens the gate for every single person coming in or out 24 hours a day, and who does other odd jobs which might be necesary such as setting up the water or keeping things safe for you, or washing your car and helping you park your car, is only paid 100 dollars total in a month!

Kids of all ages are put to work in sewing or embroidery factories, or in shops to sell clothing or serve food. I have seen kids from 8-16 working all day with long hours. No one seems to realize that eight year olds should be in school and not at work.

Whether it is a child or an adult, people are working in really harsh conditions, in shops where there is no AC nor fan, shops with sharp corners, shop in unhygienic areas, and lots of rust everywhere. And even after being in such an environment all day, workers are paid a maximum of 150-200 dollars.

This to me a terrible exploitation.

Now think about this: American companies pay about 2-3 dollars a day means about a $60 dollar a month. Can you imagine the amount of money saved on salaries for one person? Assuming that American companies pay about $2500 to an American worker, and pay about $60 dollars to a foreign worker means saving $2440 dollars per person. And assuming that a large company has at least a 1000 workers, that is about a $2,440,000 dollar profit! Wow!

What I do not understand is why these companies do not simply pay about 10 dollars per day. It would not make things exactly "fair" since American workers would be getting more than 10 times as much, but at least this salary provides an affordable life for the foreign worker, and still provides a 2,200,000 profit for the company. To me, a 2 million plus profit after paying an affordable salary to workers seems like good logic to me.

Malls Malls Malls

Let's not even discuss malls here. You guys- I have visited about five malls here, and literally, I have not bought a single thing because they were too expensive, and my family earns in dollars. What is the logic? 

In all of my history and sociology books, American society is criticized for it great division between wealthy and poor. However, it is nothing like the division between the rich and poor in Pakistan. 

I was reading an article which described how the affluent in American Society are physically separated from the rest. I cannot seem to find the article currently but it mentioned how a rich baby is born in an expensive hospital, goes to a private and extremely expensive daycare, and then a private elementary, middle and high. And in college, even though people of all monetary classes are accepted, the affluent have their separate clubs which only certain people can join. And lets not forget debutante balls to ensure the wealth remains in the hand of a few. 

However, here in Pakistan, things are even more separated. The defense area in a city is the most expensive place to live generally, and one of my friends was telling me that often people, particularly teenagers from defense, have not even been outside of defense their entire lives. They attend school there, and shop there, and eat there, and marry there. At least in the US, people of every class can go to the same malls and still find things that they can afford. Malls in Pakistan are only affordable to the extremely wealthy, where not even one store is "cheap." I know that from experience. 

Just to share from experience. A t-shirt that I saw in an affordable place cost about 250 rupees, while a shirt  that I saw in a mall was 5200. The expensive shirt cost 20 times more than the affordable shirt. 

Another shocking spending was with food. Eight of us went to eat in a relatively good place to eat, and our bill was 1065. And in an expensive place, where two of us ate, the bill was 3600. Woah!!!! The cost per person in the affordable place was 133 while the cost per person in the expensive place was 1800, about 13 times more. Would it be lame if I inserted another "woah" here? 

A somewhat completely random note: unfortunately, gold and silver costs about the same internationally. Considering that Pakistanis earn a third of Americans, purchasing gold must be an extravagant affair!

The Clothing Cycle

When shopping, it is really difficult for me to understand what "expensive" means here. For example, tea for 17 rupees, which converts to about 17 cents is one heck of a great discount for me, while here, 17 rupees for tea is considered really expensive and 7-10 rupees is a reasonable cost for tea. For me, as a rule of thumb, I multiply the cost in rupees times three to get an approximation of what is expensive or not. For example, if the cost of tea is 20 rupees, I multiply it times 3 or 4 to get 60 rupees, which converts to about 60 cents. Spending 60 cents about five times a day (since people literally drink tea every other hour) can turn out to be a very costly expense.

 It is not simply that the standard of "expensive" is set really low here, it is rather that things actually cost a third of what they cost in the US.  If that was the entire matter, then I would not be so concerned. There are however two main things that make affordability a large concern here.

One issue here is that salaries are less than even one third of the salaries in the US. For example, a standard salary that can still provide an acceptable living in the US is $2000 per month. However, about $200-300 per month is considered an acceptable salary in Pakistan, and seriously $400-600 per month is considered a really good salary. What I cannot imagine is how someone can survive here if they earn about $100 per month, which many people do.

What makes matters worse is that some things are extremely expensive here, and I cannot imagine how people here manage to afford those things. Clothing, for example, is really expensive here. The simplest casual wear outfit that I could find cost about a 1000 rupees, which is about $10. And if you earn about $100 per month, that is like paying 10% of your salary for casual clothing. To put things in perspective, if you earn about $2000 per month in the US, then the simplest outfit costs you about $200. Can you imagine having to spend $200 on an outfit that you can barely even walk outside in because it is too plain? And outfits that people wear to the religious center or a restaurant, cost at least about $40-70.

It is ironic that clothing is expensive in the country where export of textile and clothing is the second or third largest in the world. So this country provides clothing for the entire world, and yet it cannot supply for its own citizens. 

This is the main reason why clothes are so often passed from one child to another, and then if no child can fit the outfit in a family, the outfit is given to another family, and after it has been passed on to everyone possible, it is given to the maid in the home so her family can utilize it.

Oh and basically, there is really no such thing as a real sale on clothing. Any time I saw a sale board, it was either for items that were literally unwearable because of intense deterioration, or the sale was in a store that was already completely not affordable, that even with a 50% off sale, the items are no where close to affordable.

When I first came here two months ago, I was so surprised that no one seemed to be dressed up at all, and their clothing was so plain. Fashion of fancy Pakistani clothing is in the US and I honestly assumed that it was a copy of the clothing style in Pakistan. But really, Pakistanis wear really rather simple clothing. And I believe that this trend is at least somewhat rooted in fact for super fancy clothing is simply not made affordable enough for Pakistani citizens. It is really a shame. 

Laces and Dyed Scarves

Oh my goodness, the clothing making process is the coolest thing ever, and yet it is one of the hardest things to do! My friends like shopping with me because I can immediately look at an outfit and say if it is pretty or worth trying. However, here in Pakistan, it is a totally different story.

Outfits are generally made from scratch here. You first go to a place where you are sold printed cloth. So either you can buy one cloth, or you can buy multiple pieces of clothes to use for the same outfit, such as a cloth piece for the panels on the side, a different cloth piece for the back, top, or pant or scarf etc. After choosing the clothes for one outfit, you go to a lace shop and you buy different laces, velvet or silk or satin. If you want, you also need to go to a place for buttons for your outfit. If you want the outfit to be more fancy, you go to a shop to either buy a neck piece which is embroidered or you can give an order get a design embroidered either with thread or different beading. You also need to remember to get a sleeves, and decide if you want net sleeves or what sort of cloth you want for the sleeve. Then you need to go to a shop to get the scarf piece, and you have to go to a shop to get your scarf and sleeves dyed. You also need to get a cloth to make a chemise that matches with the outfit. So after all of that is over, you go to a tailor to stitch the outfit. At the tailor's shop, you give your measurements and bargain the price.
And the issue with tailors is that they take forever in making the outfit, and take at least an extra week or two and lots of visits before they finish your entire outfit. Everyone here is always complaining about tailors. One of my aunts is always taking food for the tailor and stopping by to say hello. So I asked her why she randomly worried so much about getting snacks to the tailor, and she replied that it is to butter him up so he would stitch clothes for them faster!

This is a skill I do not have, and a hassle I am incapable of dealing with. I do not know how to imagine an entire outfit in my mind, from buttons to the dyed shades and patterns of the scarf, and I have no idea what the difference is between lawn and cotton and linen and silk and all the billion types of clothes.

I tried taking the long process to get clothes made with lots of help from my aunts and cousin, but all that thinking really gave me a headache. So now, I have been going to places where I can buy ready-made outfits. But even those I have go give an order for and they have to get made according to my size.

It is a hassle, but at the same time- isn't the whole idea of an outfit you designed yourself from scratch the coolest idea ever? 

Exotic Clothing Choices

Today I was thinking about the meaning of being exotic.
I have been meeting several people who have visited the US for maybe a year or so, and just that one year has transformed them so much.
So first, let me describe two events where I met two people who inspired me to write this post.
-I went to what is referred to here as a "picnic," at a "farmhouse" last weekend. Basically, about a 120 of us went together in two large buses to a house we rented for a day. The house had two large rooms, a kitchen, dining and sitting area, and a very large portion in the front of the house with swings, a slide, a treehouse, and a small pool. I have gone to two picnics, one which was on a small basis, and one much larger with the 120 people. During both picnics, we reached there at around 9 am, ate breakfast that we picked up on a way, and then basically swam all day, taking small breaks for playing games, talking, drinking chai (english tea), and eating lunch. Well anyways, on this trip, I was wearing the traditional pakistani dress, a shalwar (a long shirt) kamiz (bottom) with a duppata (long scarf), that I wear everywhere, and while swimming I was wearing a very very loose shirt, and pants. So basically, I looked completely pakistani, and no one could really tell that I was from the US. However, there was one girl there with a modern, somewhat fitted shirt, a miniskirt, and jeans. Her hair was really stylish, and not tied, and she looked to me like a regular teenager in the US. To see someone who looks like a modern American teenager in Pakistan is very odd- because no one really dresses that way, and if they do, they completely stand out, especially at a picnic with people of all ages. Her looks and style looked very American, and it turns out that she lived in the US for one year.
-The next person is at the place I am researching. She studies in the US, and has lived in Pakistan for her entire life- yet the first day, she came in with a shalwar kamiz without a dupatta. I do not go anywhere in Pakistan without a duppata because it is important in this culture to not leave your neck bare. And the second day, she came in with skinny jeans and t-shirt.

I feel like the dressing choice of the girls was chosen by them to make themselves stand out, and look unique and foreign and exotic.
Meeting them made me wonder why I do not desire to wear my western clothing here.

I think that the reason why I do not desire to dress the way I generally do in the US is because this summer, my goal was to understand what it means to be a Pakistani. Therefore, I want to dress like a Pakistani, I want to eat, and sleep and talk like a Pakistani. It is my desire to understand perhaps the other part of me, and to understand my heritage better. I also perhaps desire to discover how I might have been if I never left Pakistan. I believe that the US is no longer an exotic location for me, but rather a home to me (that is not to imply that Pakistan is not my home).

But I can empathize with the girls because I love to show off my Pakistani outfits and Pakistani culture to my friends in the US.  And since I had not visited Pakistan for about 12 years, I really was not aware of the culture- so I too perhaps for trying to express an exotic part of myself to others. My purpose in showing Pakistani culture to others was not to show off, but rather I truly felt that Pakistani culture was a part of me, and I wanted to share this culture with the people around me. Perhaps that is what these girls feel?

I think another reason why I do not dress in western clothing here is because I feel that you should dress according to the expectations of the society that you reside in. If I dressed in western clothing here, it would be considered inappropriate and might even offend people. That should not be the intentional purpose of clothing choice. Although often people do wear very provocative clothing, and the obvious example is Lady Gaga, but to observe her clothing is a matter of choice, and she dresses that way to make a point.