Pak-cord: A Pakistani Podcast

Meet Arifah, 22 year old from England. She's here to talk to us about various things, but mostly about her most passionate subject: Food. She even wrote her dissertation on food!  Arifah was born in England, moved to Saudi Arabia at a young age, then Italy, and then back to England. Although she's never lived in Pakistan, she says she has a 'very desi family', and is very well connected with her desi roots.Got feedback? Email us at hello@pakcord.com or DM us on instagram (@pakcord)!

We speak to a number of Pakistani youngsters from Islamabad, Karachi, U.K., and U.A.E. to ask them : can you count to 100, in Urdu? Turns out, it's not so easy, and as we collectively become more efficient with English, it seems we are losing the edge on our native tongues (Urdu, Punjabi, etc.) overall.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns across the world, we wanted to catch up with our Pakistani community on Discord and ask them how they're doing. As you might have heard from previous episodes, we run a discord server which is basically a modern online chatroom service, that allows both text and voice chats. We speak to several people from various places, including UK, Canada, Dubai, Pakistan, and combined their thoughts to create this episode. We ask them questions about their work/school/sleep schedules, how their communities are responding, and what they're doing to pass the time.  Want to join our discord server? Get your invite links at pakcord.com/discord !

Guest: Aisha Khan, 19 year old from Toronto, Canada   Aisha is here to talk to us about poetry, among other things. Aisha is a published writer and last year she released a book called Zamana, under her pen name Anaa Gulzar. We talk to her about her inspiration, why poetry is important, what are the habits for creativity, is rap real music, and a dissection of one of her poems. You can find her book Zamana via Amazon :  pakcord.com/zamana  (contains the link)orhttps://www.amazon.com/-/en/Anaa-Gulzar/dp/1796772070Follow Aisha on Instagram: @akhancept (personal) and @anaagulzarHere's the synopsis of the book , on the back cover: "Zamana is a collection of poetry about time and the world. It is a realization of self told through the prism of time, revealing the multiple facets of existence, love, and culture. It embraces south aisan language and identity through its creative and clever use of Urdu and English. The words await and nothing is more patient than the world's clock always ticking forward in the same w

This group discussion features 4 guests, with the topic being Cricket, especially with a focus on PSL 2020 which was suspended on March 17, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.   We discuss the progression of PSL, the T20 cricket format, the status of the Pakistani international cricket team and memorable moments of victory and disappointment from the eyes of hardcore Pakistani cricket fans. At the time PSL was suspended, the order of teams by points looked like this: Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars, Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators, and Islamabad United. The first semi final would be Multan Sultans vs Peshawar Zalmi, and the second semi final would be between Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars. Let's hope that the matches can be resumed sometime in 2020! Guests: Sarah Malik from U.S., Hamza Qureshi from U.K., Hassan Raza from U.K., and Hamza Farooq from U.S. All big Cricket fans!

Our guest is 24 year old Adil Ghani from London, UK. Adil is the older brother of our previous guest, Aqil Ghani. He is also disabled, and in this episode he walks us through his life story – being diagnosed with Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy at age 3, not being able to walk since age 9, and going through other very difficult transitions in his life. He also shares what it's like to be disabled in the desi community, and his beliefs on how disability should be interpreted by others. A must-listen episode!How did you like this episode? Email us at hello@pakcord.com or drop a comment at pakcord.com/desibilityAdil's Contact: adilghani95@gmail.comMusic Credit : C418 - Beton

"Coconut": brown from the outside, white from the inside. Often used to describe desis living abroad who are not as near to or aware of desi culture, as they are to their local culture.Today's guest: Aqil Ghani, 18 years old British-Pakistani brought up in South-east London. Many of you might be wondering what is life like for youngsters who are born and raised abroad, have Pakistani parents, but are not surrounded by a Pakistani community. Aqil gives us some insight into that. He was born in England, grew up in Beckenham, which as he describes is the whitest town in the whitest borough of London. and had no Pakistani peers in most of his school life. Naturally, that situation for Aqil and many others can bring about an identity crisis. Aqil described, "I used to dislike being Pakistani but as I've learnt more about our history and culture, I think I've finally begun to accept who I am".   During the first 30 minutes of this podcast, Aqil shares his life with us, with several personal stories thrown in. After

Continuing our 2-part discussion with Hamza Farooq, Myrah Shafiq, and Manahill Shafiq. Episode #48 contains part 1. Previously we analyzed the highly successful and controversial Pakistani drama series - Mere Paas tum Ho. This episode continues that discussion, but not so much about Mere Paas Tum Ho. This time we dive into other topics starting from Pakistani media and culture, to various social issues and our thoughts around them. 

For this episode you need 2 things - familiarity with Pakistani dramas, and a grasp of Urglish - that is Urdu + English. This one is a group discussion, all about Pakistani dramas and it is Part 1 of a 2-part discussion. We have 3 very enthusiastic drama-watching guests. Our main focus was to discuss Mere Paas Tum Ho, which was a major hit drama that recently finished in early 2020. We also dove into many other dramas and topics including the state of women in Pakistani society and other controversies in our media.   Our 3 guests for this episode are Myrah Shafiq, Manahill Shafiq, and Hamza Farooq. Hamza is a returning guest - born and raised in Miami, U.S. but very close to his Pakistani side- and first appeared on Episode #41 - Sea View in Miami. Myrah and Manahill are both sisters and both new guests on the podcast. Myrah is living in Germany, and Manahill is living in the U.K., and both are born and raised in Pakistan.

Today’s guest is Ignacio Artaza - Resident Representative at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan.He has more than 20 years of experience in development cooperation and humanitarian aid. He has served as the UNDP Country Director in Egypt, and has held various positions in UNDP since 1999 - including in New York, Moldova, Sudan, as well as in the occupied Palestinian territories.Before this, he worked with Doctors without Borders in emergency relief operations in Ecuador, Iran, and Mozambique. Based on all this, it’s safe to say he is extremely well-travelled and brings an incredible amount of experience to his post as Resident Representative at UNDP Pakistan.Ignacio has been living in Pakistan for a number of years. We will be asking him questions about his experience during his time here, and Ignacio will also give us insight into what UNDP is contributing for the betterment of Pakistan.Global UNDP website: hdr.undp.orgPakistani UNDP website: pk.undp.org

This episode is Part 2 of our 2-part series with Ali Rizvi, 37 year old from Washington D.C., U.S. (born in Pakistan) In the last episode (#45) Ali told us about how his search for identity lead him to atheism. In this episode, we ask him for specific questions to understand his mindset - questions like how did he explain this to his family and friends? What if Islam was the right religion? Where do you get your morality from, if you don't have a religion? Disclaimer - this episode may not be suitable for the easily offended, as some content may be sensitive for Muslim listeners. However, our goal with Ali was to keep the conversation as respectful as possible, but also allowing him to express himself and to share his thoughts of various Islamic concepts.

This episode is Part 1 of a 2-part series discussion with Ali I. Rizvi, 37 year old from Washington DC, U.S, but born in Pakistan. Ali is a documentary filmmaker and video journalist - he also was one of the few journalists who worked on the Panama Papers story. Ali is also an open Ex-muslim and Atheist, originally born as a Shia Muslim.  In this first part of the series, we talk to Ali about his life story, and how he became the person he is today. He especially discusses how 9/11 impacted everyday Muslims and Pakistanis like him, especially those living in America and the west, and how the years after 9/11 instigated a search for identity afterwards.  See more of Ali's work on his website: https://www.airizvi.com/To see the Library of Congress report regarding the apostasy laws by country: https://www.loc.gov/law/help/apostasy/index.php#pakistan

Iqra, 26 year old from Brampton, Canada, speaks with us today about her various weird and unfortunate encounters on Muzmatch, a popular Muslim dating app used by Pakistanis. Apps like Muzmatch and Minder are quite powerful and often useful, having helped many people find their significant other and get married. However, a lot of 'bad' folks are on these apps too. Married people (usually men), trying to hide their first marriage. People looking for hookups. People looking for time pass.   The other podcast mentioned in this episode is 'Serial' - a true-crime podcast that covers an entire nonfiction story over one season. The first season of Serial covers the case of Adnan Syed, a Pakistani American convincted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. 

Nosherwan Abbasi is 20 years old currently living around Barcelona, Spain. He moved to Spain earlier in 2019 for his studies. About 5 months before this episode, Nosherwan reached out to us on Instagram and shared a voice note about how his homesickness for Pakistan brought him to this podcast, and he wanted to discuss and share his life with us on Pakcord.We discuss our individual stories living life away from home and getting on our feet, and of course we spend some time discussing Spain and the lifestyle there.References:https://www.inc.com/business-insider/study-reveals-commute-time-impacts-job-satisfaction.htmlSong Credit:Spanish Summer by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Artist: http://audionautix.com/

Today we shed more light on a highly important and underrated topic in the desi community: depression and mental illness. Our guest: 32 year old Israa Nasir from New York City. Israa has worked directly with patients in a mental health clinic, and now works within health tech to make an impact in the world of healthcare.  Timeline of Discussion:0:49 - Introduction7:43 - Israa discusses her mental health background10:39 - Israa talks about the mental health clinic where she worked, and adds a desi context.17:04 - Israa discusses some common barriers or reasons why there is reluctance in the desi community to seek help for mental illnesses.19:46 - Does 'imaan' or faith have to do with mental illness?24:42 - Common desi misconceptions of mental illness33:50 - How does speaking to a counselor actually help with mental illness?36:52 - Israa's final note about depression & mental illness and what to do if you or your family member may be affected

24 year old Hamza Farooq from Miami is our guest today. Born and raised in the U.S., Hamza brings us a purely Pakistani American perspective.Timestamps of Conversation1:28 - Introduction2:00 - Hamza discusses his time going to a Catholic high school6:18 - Growing up in Miami, and the Pakistani demographics of the U.S.10:03 - Hurricanes and weather related disasters in the U.S.18:44 - Hamza's connection to Pakistan25:20 - Hamza shares the importance of knowing Urdu even when being born and raised abroad28:00 - Issues with Pakistani American crowds in the U.S.37:21 - Impact of 9/11 and gun violence

Our guest for this episode is 22 year old Hassan Raza from England, U.K. (previously lived in Wales)Hassan moved to UK at the young age of 13. He passionately talks about his Pakistani background and adjusting to life in the UK while maintaining his love for the Motherland.Timestamps of Conversation:2:40 - Intro & adjusting to life in the U.K.17:35 - Would you move back to Pakistan?25:00 - Political Talk, why do people simply follow their parents when voting?31:13 - Racism in the UK / US, and how racist are we?

Our goal with this is simple: to scare the poop out of you and out of ourselves. And laugh while we poop. Mostly just laugh! Guests: Muskaan (Night Owls), Noshirwaan from LahoreTopic: Jinns, Bhoots, Churails, Possessions, Pichal peris, you name it.Time Recorded: 1 AM in Pakistan. Reference:"The Chilling Exorcism of Anneliese Michel" on YouTube by Buzzfeed Multiplayer.

Today we bring our special guest, Sabina from Michigan, U.S. Sabina works extensively to promote and market Cannabis based products, and teach their value and benefits to the community. Follow Sabina on Instagram at @drcannabina!Resources shared by Sabina for your research:  Instagram: @sagelynaturals, @hempsleyhealth, @leaflySites: greenflowermedia.com, healer.com, leafly.com

Welcome back! What is life like for Pakistanis in Paris? In his case, 23 year old Saad was born and raised there. Saad gives us his perspective and insight into French culture, especially valuable for Pakistanis and non-French westerners.   Since Paris does not have an extremely large Pakistani community similar to London, Saad is open to use this podcast as a way to meet others! If you are Pakistani living in Paris, contact us via email (hello@pakcord.com) or Instagram and we can definitely connect you with Saad!