Returning to Pakistan - A Guide - Scorecard

Moving Back Scorecard
In order for these people to move back, there are always grave concerns about life in Pakistan for themselves and their immediate family. Things related to healthcare and security are usually on top of their lists while source of income is next. Factoring in these issues in the overall logistics of the move, along with the daily exhaustive routine of life in USA prohibits most people from reaching a conclusion and time just passes by with their feet ingrained in American soil deeper and deeper at the passing of each day. I have spent my years in USA dealing with these issues on a day in day out basis and perhaps know most flavors of all issues that overwhelm the mind when it comes to “Returning to Pakistan”.

I have been able to devise a simple 4 step test to see if you should return or not. This 4 step test is described below:
Step 1: Social
Step 2: Financial
Step 3: Professional
Step 4: Environmental

Let’s take a look at these one by one. I will define them and then explain what makes a go/no go decision on each of these steps.

Social
This relates to the people that you will be socializing with once you go back to Pakistan. This can include family, friends and extended families. Integrating with this group socially is essential and therefore careful analysis of this circle is very important. You will score positively on this if your social circle is compatible with your family values. On top of that, if you belong to influential social circles, this factor is even more positive for you. The negative would be if there are family feuds, inheritance or Saas-Bahoo or in-laws problems now that you will be living closer or with them. The social setup back home has to be at a point where you find comfort and joy in that circle and not getting pulled into family politics or have to explain to your children why they shouldn’t be doing something that their cousins are doing

Score:
1 – If you look forward to living in your social setup in Pakistan
0 – If you don’t look forward to hanging out in your social circle in Pakistan

Financial
The convenience of life and affordability for the middle class in USA is not easily replicated in Pakistan. Real-Estate prices alone are mind boggling and renting a place to stay has its own set of problems where you have to come up with 13 months worth of rent upfront. The overall affordability status that one is accustomed to in USA will not easily be accessible in Pakistan. All the luxuries of life are available in Pakistan but at a very high price, I will provide more detail on this in a subsequent section on life in Pakistan. Your overall financial status is very critical in making this determination if you want to go back as you may end up depriving your family of amenities of life they have gotten used to in USA if you do not have the financial capacity to acquire them in Pakistan. The positive here would be if your family runs a successful business, or you come from an affluent background in the upper class or if you are bringing significant savings with you (savings? From USA? Yeah Right) The negative would be if you were part of the middle or lower class in Pakistan and have been hand-to-mouth in USA (that’s more like America)

Score:
1 – If you belong to a wealthy family or if you are bringing significant savings with you
0 – If you cannot rely on your family for financial support and are unable to bring savings

Professional
This is a key component of your decision making process, as to what will you be doing in Pakistan. I will expound on this in detail in the opportunities section below. The bottom line is that a move to Pakistan is not a 2-3 month affair. You have to look at the long term prospects of growth in a profession or business. Learning, earning, work excitement and bright outlook for future years has to be there in order to score high on this factor. People belonging to industries that are non-existent in Pakistan like R&D in a corporate setting, electronics manufacturing, bio-tech, marine sciences, space exploration, etc. should score low in addition to people who cannot handle incompetence, dirty politics, work ethnicity issues, and Seth sahib led management. If you are not a “flexible” individual, you cannot work in Pakistan

Score:
1 – If you are an executive in a reputed firm, have ivy-league education or established business 0 – If your industry doesn’t exist in Pakistan, if you are not a manager in your present job

Environmental
This covers aspects of life that are not in your control but have a serious impact on your family’s life style. Power breakdown, roads, traffic, schools, clubs, security, healthcare, etc. all make up this last decision making factor. You will have to prioritize which of these are important to you and then decide whether you will have access to these or not. You will score high if your residence will be in a secure compound that of a university, hospital, cantonment or diplomatic enclave where traffic, security and power related issues are almost non-existent. You will score low if you cannot handle these environmental problems very common to life in Pakistan

Score:
1 – If your residence will be in a well managed/designed neighborhood & closer to work
0 – If you cannot handle poor road, traffic, sewage, power, security situation in metropolitans

Rules
I have designed the scores to be simple 1 or 0, you are welcome to fine tune these into more finite weightage. The conclusion has to be based on the following rules

1. If you score less around 25%, forget about going back
2. If you score around 50% you want to plan for the missing 50% and minimize its impact to your family’s well being over the next 1 year or so and try to move beyond 75%
3. If you score around 75%, you should move with an aggressive and ambitious plan
4. If you score more than 75% then you are undermining your potential by staying in USA
5. At a minimum, you should score high on either the financial or the professional in order to make a decision on moving to Pakistan If you see positives coming out of either the financial or the professional factors, it will give you the courage and the strength to fight off the challenges thrown by the environment and social factors.