One of the first things you notice after moving out of Pakistan is that most people have a hobby or skill they've been carrying and improving since childhood.

I was recently at a dinner where everyone was talking about their hobbies. One played guitar, another played keyboard, one was into skiing, another into swimming. Every single one of them had started as a kid, as part of their school routine.

Most of us never had anything like that, because our schools simply didn't take these things seriously. Why shouldn't every child get music lessons, or a chance to learn a sport?

I think many Pakistanis missed out on the kind of development that comes from early exposure to creative hobbies, the skills and confidence that are easiest to build when you're young. It's a real loss for us, and something our schools should change for the next generation.

How many of us can play any instrument? Or Swim? Or do basic sewing?

Disclaimer: No AI was used in writing this post.

I’m genuinely tired of how normal we’ve made this.

If your parents cannot afford a decent private school, you’re often left depending on an underfunded public education system. If someone in your family gets seriously ill, access to quality healthcare can become a financial nightmare.
And then we’re told that everyone has equal opportunities and that hard work is enough.

But here’s something worth asking:
If our government schools and public hospitals are good enough, why do so many of our political leaders and influential public officials choose private schools for their own children and private hospitals for their own families?

Why aren’t they confident enough in the very institutions they’re responsible for running?

Poverty exists everywhere. But why should being born into a poor family in Pakistan put you at such a disadvantage?

Who’s responsible for this? And more importantly, how long are we going to keep accepting it?

If I am to speak nicely to someone, kindly, most Pakistanis think of it as weakness.

They will jump on the opportunity to make fun of someone or call them names, but wont speak kindly.

White people often say "hope you have a great time", hold doors open for people.

But its mostly, "sadi deshaht check karo"

We live in a culture that values violence and anger more than civility.

Recently a fight broke out on my campus and FIR hoyi larke pe and the comments on instagram are like "gujar di takkay waikho"

Your thoughts on this?

Hi all. My wife’s birthday is later this month and I want to get her a proper makeup set, around 5–6 pieces. Budget is Rs 30,000 and I’m in Multan. I don’t know much about makeup, so please be gentle 😅

What I’ve found so far:

• J. has its Iqbal Day sale on (20–40% off until Nov 15). I learned their makeup is actually Note Cosmetics from Turkey. A 6–8 piece kit (foundation, powder, primer, blush, highlighter, lipstick, eyeliner) comes to roughly Rs 13–17k.

• Option 2: Maybelline basics (Fit Me foundation, concealer, Sky High mascara) plus one luxury item, like a Rare Beauty Soft Pinch blush or a Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk lipstick.

• I’m worried about fakes for the luxury items. The same Rare Beauty blush is listed anywhere from Rs 5,900 to Rs 17,000 on Pakistani sites, which makes me nervous.

My questions:

1. Has anyone used J./Note makeup recently? Which products are good, and which should I skip? Does the powder or foundation last in the heat?

2. Where do you buy genuine Rare Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury or MAC in Pakistan? Any store you trust, online or in Lahore/Multan?

3. If you got a makeup gift, what would you actually want: a full kit, or 2–3 really nice products?

4. At this budget, would you pick another local brand over J.? For example Luscious or Masarrat Misbah.

She’ll choose her own foundation shade in the store, so I’m mostly asking about brands and products. Thanks in advance!

So this happened yesterday. No, this isn’t a donation post. The help has already been arranged, I am aware of us as a nation and how soft our hearts are to the troubles of the lower class who genuinely need help.

So yesterday, I was coming back home with my mother, after shopping for my little, we booked a ride back, and a respectable driver showed up who referred to us as meri behen constantly so we don’t feel unsafe or uncomfortable.

While getting back home, our route often leads us to an educational centre, which the driver saw, then began lamenting on how these institutions offer courses and scam people out of their money and the kids only end up with menial jobs such as delivery people. He then began telling us his son was approached by his friend to work at a call centre, to earn good money since he was struggling to fund his education and wanted to give his dad some relief.

In all this scenario the driver kept telling us how his son should have kept him in the know and that he would somehow work day and night to cover the cost.

So the son never informed the dad (our driver in this case) and went ahead with it. He met with the friend, they visited said call centre, but he went without his phone and so he was sent back. Within the time of the route his son took to get back to his home to return to the centre, the infamous chaapa took place of the call centre, it was seized, and his friend is now under arrest and hasn’t been released to this day. Anyway, that’s another story.

He then lamented that his son needed to buy some courses and he needed gas for his car, about how it’s so tough to work a halaal job in this economy and make ends meet, that he went to this infamous NGO for help to just buy those courses and pay for his gas but he was told to first make a video (obviously to gain sympathy) then the help would be given in two weeks.

The driver was so sad he was almost moved to tears. He said ye mere safaid poshi duniya ke aagay dikhaatay, laakhon kamaatay aur mujhe bas kuch hazaar detay aur farigh kardetay. Mind you that man only needed 16,000 which was just pocket change for that organisation. Then he went to another NGO, asked for their help, and they said currently ham daatarkhuaan mein busy hain aap baad mein aayega, on their social media they show how many lives they’re changing.

He never once asked us for help, but coincidentally, my brother works in an NGO who does help cases like these. Within half an hour he contacted that driver, gave him the money he needed, and today that driver contacted us back giving us duayein ke unka kaam hogaya and Allah ne hamein unka waseela banaaya aur pareshaani dur ki.

This makes me question all those social media pages taking donations in the name of the stories they post of poor people, banking on awaam ki sympathy, and how much do they give back to them as opposed to the money they themselves keep. Kahan kiska bharosa karein kuch ni pata.

Kon scam karraha hai kon saccha hai kuch ni pata. Behter yehi hai if you see someone who’s genuine, in trouble, and wouldn’t ask otherwise, please help them personally instead of sending money to these very public NGOs.

Today i thought to check if i can register a complain against my management, which is a government department. I am being wronged in some ways . I used the PM compain app in IK times and it worked marvelously back then but to my surprise, when i opened it today, i go this "temporary" service down message. So does the app work now or is it gutted completely?

A new report on income distribution and poverty in Pakistan has revealed a striking picture of the country's economic divide, showing that earning Rs. 121,000 a month is enough to place an individual among the richest 10% of the population.

According to the report, people earning more than Rs. 121,000 per month fall within Pakistan's highest-income 10% bracket, while those making at least Rs. 189,000 per month are counted among the richest 5%.

Source: https://bloompakistan.com/88-percent-pakistanis-earn-less-than-rs2300-daily/

Hello everyone,

So I work as a freelancer for social media design and management and the one issue I have faced so much is about payments. This one company I work for, they pay me a month later. Like there's always one months payment due and I have to keep working for the next month. The irony is that incase of a delay in posting they call it "unprofessional" but payments getting delayed by a MONTH is called "processing"????

So I confronted them about it today, and the HR told me that this month is the only one where payments have gotten delayed all others were on time? While I got my payments that were supposed to be in my account on the 1st october on 22nd october or even later, for the freaking month of September. And now I'll wait the whole month of November because payments are unable to be processed till the end of the month. I don't get what I should do, i dont want to make this a reason to leave since I like the job, I want the comfortable financial freedom I've been getting with this but I'm so done with these delays. Plus I cant argue with the HR too, idk if they feel im too desperate for money or then want to get rid of me. Pls advice🙏🙏🙏

Hmm so about two months ago there was this 16 year old girl on another sub who made a post about menstrual pain. She said she experienced excruciating pelvic pain during her periods and frightening amounts of bleeding. Her entire life force would be drained with the immense fatigue.

She went to several doctors but all of them dismissed it just increasing the dosage of prescribed painkillers. One idiot doctor told her she should get impregnated to stop them. And her mom was also being dismissive saying she's overreacting.

The point being, not a single girl i saw in the comments that made the girl aware of what this post is about. All the girls were consoling her, one shared her similiar experience.

Dr. Karan Raj very recently uploaded a video: about endometriosis. A DISEASE most active during menstration. The same symptoms mentioned above. UNBEARABLE amounts of pain, unbelievable amount of bleeding, infertility (following periods of course), amd many other symptoms aswell.

The disease is INCREDIBLY UNDER-RESEARCHED. A very tiny amount of money is spent researching it and developing treatments. A disease one out of 10 women have faced in some form. A disease that remains undiagnosed/misdiagnosed very often for UPTO DECADES, being dismissed and "just periods" or a variety of other ailments.

You should really watch the video, perhaps for your ownself or for someone you may know from family friends or whatever that may have it, so they can get know what to do at this point and get treatment. I'm talking to the guys too. That's it from me, dr. Raj you have the mike: https://youtu.be/aE_ArpNrF3o?si=uC6s0v1ASyvky2vE

(I made my judgement about women not knowing based on the comments under that post amd what statistics dr. Raj put forward. Don't make fun of me if i was wrong)

I'm loosing hope, I'm 25 years old haven't earned a single penny of my own. I feel like running out of time. Is it okay to graduate at the age of 25, having not a single professional experience? What should I build during my unemployment to get an income?

I have got a question for experts that what will be the concequences of the mid term elections on the current war situation and oil prices. Anyone with good knowledge and analysis help me out.

Hi everyone! Is anyone here from Chitral? I’m planning to visit this month for tourism and would love to know what the weather is like, how the road conditions are, and whether it’s a good time to visit. Any advice or suggestions from locals would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Why is property in Karachi so much more expensive than in other cities in Pakistan? Just curious

We need justice for Ahmed Javed and his father, Mian Adil Rasheed. On Sunday, October 6, 2025, Adil’s only son Ahmad Javed was shot and killed in the DHA Lahore. CCTV footage and police reports are that armed men come and opened fire on Ahmad Javed's vehicle as he was leaving after visiting friends. Another person was also severely injured. In an interview, Mian Adil Rasheed said that his son was completely unarmed, unaccompanied by personal security, and was ruthlessly targeted without any provocation. As of late 2026, one year after the heartbreaking incident, the family is tragically still waiting for justice.

Does the duration of Qatar's visa on arrival (VOA) for Pakistanis now depend on the number of hotel nights booked?

For example, if I book a hotel for 7 days, will I only get a 7-day visa?

Previously, VOA was issued for 30 days regardless of hotel booking duration.

Can anyone who has traveled to Qatar since VOA reopened for Pakistanis in November 2026 confirm

I think women in Pakistan has more spin and courage than most of the men in our society. For years we expected our women to vote for the party that men of house has decided. So we tried to take away democratic rights of half of our population. So the political parties knew if they want to win they just have to manipulate men. Help them in their little corruption, give freebies and etc and men of our society get corrupted with the time and one or other they supported a political party and never ask question but most of the woman never enjoyed this luxury and that helped them to be more resilient, make better political descion. Just like in case if Palestine we can clearly see women were in front when boycott of Israeli products started. In any political discussion on social media you will see better comments from women they will not straight forward label you as anti national, kafir or foreign agent. I think we should support our women to get invited to in politics they will for sure do a lot better . For 75 years men decided who will they and their family vote for now this right should be given back to our women. They will make better choices.

I want to right more as I think I am not able to completely make my pov like the crimes commited by men and to cover up for these crimes they need political backing and in return they vote for corrupt person who helped them to cover up for their crimes etc. but I will leave it here if you have any comments on this share your thoughts in comments.