Enlightening Entertainment
 
Smiles, Laughs and Embraces: Souvenirs from Pakistan      
Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Urdu, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Welcome gentle viewers. Today we invite you to travel to Pakistan. Walking along a street of a Pakistani city, we can feel the warm friendly atmosphere: People hug one another, shake hands with their neighbors, and even wave at strangers.

How are the people of Pakistan?

Very lovely. Very friendly, very lovely, very lively. And…

They treat the foreigners like a brother. Like… They believe in humanity.

In Multan City, greeting guests can be both a joyful celebration and touching experience. The hosts would come outside their houses to welcome the guests. Donning the guests with an elegant scarf and hat, they might also toss rose petals and present the guests with bundles of flowers. Lovely children come and lead the guests inside.

If the guests are here, we treat them as a blessing, just like as you are here.

Once the guests are seated, the whole family will sit around the guests and keep them company. Offering the guest a complete warm meal is an inevitable part of hospitality in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, when anyone comes as a guest, obviously we greet them first with salutations like, “Peace be upon you.”

And then with open hearts, we let them in the house, and we offer tea initially. Then, if they want cold, we offer cold as well, like any drinks. Afterwards, whether they are ready for food or not, we offer them food, and we prepare the food. Whether it's dinner or it's lunch. And after food, yes definitely, a sweet dish is very important, whatever sweet dish we have. Mostly like in food, we offer biryani (rice dish) or we offer like any vegetables, like daal (lentil dish).

And they [guests] are served plates individually, and they are... they may select any food items. the vegetables which we have in front of us, and they are offered any vegetable, they are offered bread, and as they may wish.

We have mango pickle, that's a homemade mango pickle with carrots and mangoes. We have mashed potato. It’s all homemade, all green.

We try to make the guest as comfortable as possible, so that they can have the food easily. As we are having a meal, we don't get up from the meal floor or meal table. We wait for everyone to finish their meal. And everyone has finished, then we can get up together. That’s our tradition. And yes, we start with the name of Allah and we end with Allah's name, like, “Thanks to Allah,” thanking Allah that we had a meal which we did not deserve, thanks to Allah. That's how we start and that's how we end.

After a sweet dish, we offer them to have a get together.

We talk of family or if they are anyone else not from family, we talk of what's happening in the country. We talk of various issues. We let them know that we don't want you to go, we want you to stay with us. We have a tradition. We let them stay as long as possible. So that they know that we don't want them to go.

Pakistani people have maintained their extended families, and share everything in person with loved ones and relatives always. From a young age, children in Pakistan have close and open relationships with their parents as a source of joy in the family. They learn to take care of siblings and love their cousins. This network of loving and caring sustain Pakistanis through their adulthood.

Affection abounds between mother and child… father and child… These youngsters seem to make their parents laugh all the time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

(No, father has to drink it.)

Enough.

His elder brother is a little shy at first. But soon he shows off his reading skills.

People in Pakistan pray to Allah together frequently every day. They remember God at every occasion in daily life. Today, our friend’s uncle moved into a new residence. Relatives and friends gathered to celebrate. A priest comes to the new home as well.

In the Name of God who is the Most Merciful. First of all, I welcome you to Pakistan. And this is my uncle’s house. He has bought this house and he has arranged a religious get-together in it. This is our culture. Now, my cousin will tell you more about this event. He will tell you further.

Thank you, Abid. The ceremony is something which is quite normal in this country. It is sort of a prayer, a mass prayer where we invite our loved ones, close relatives, friends along with their families. And then, we have a person who is sort of a priest, who says prayers, and the prayers are about the well-being of everyone in the house, and about the prosperity and about a good future for the residents of the home. This is again, so the event is basically of a religious context and quite normal thing. People come out in smart clothes, and sort of to congratulate the person for getting this home and wish him best of luck in this home and for his rest of the life.

Pakistani people live life with sincerity, gratefulness and an open heart. A peasant working at a singhara crop field would have a good laugh with you. A fruit shop keeper would share his thoughts about current issues.

…The reason behind this are the floods that struck our country recently.

Cousins and friends who have grown up together are seen playing with one another outdoors. And fathers carefully select fruits and vegetables to bring home after work…

Overall, Pakistan is a very safe country. It is a very loving country. You can make investments here. And you can feel good here. In the northern areas, there are a lot of tourists. You can love all the aspects of life.

Smiles, laughter, heartfelt embraces, and faith in Allah… These are daily rhythm of life in Pakistan. They are also beautiful souvenirs a visitor may take home from a visit to this lovely place. May Allah bless Pakistan and her gentle residents with evermore harmony, prosperity and joy.

Friendly viewers, thank you for your pleasant company today. Now, please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. May your heart be peaceful and happy.

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