"It felt really refreshing and it felt subversive, which is ridiculous if you actually look at the

lyrics," This was Kamila Shamsies’ statement on a very if not the most popular Patriotic song

of Pakistan. This statement on the surface shows the power and love for the music that

Pakistanis have but when we read between the lines and consider the time the song was

released it shows the desperation of the nation. It shows how the nation was oppressed by the

Dictator-esque rule of General Zia-Ul-Haq and other extremist Islamic groups.

Life had become black and white, and the Pakistani entertainment industry was at war with

this extremist rule.

Pakistan is a nation with people from all walks of life. People of varying creeds, caste,

religion and paths. But music was and has always been a thing that brings people together.

We can see the uniting quality of music in sporting tournaments for example the FIFA world

cup. In the world cup, the theme song for the year is played all over the globe in every

commercial and everyone from every country enjoys it. This was the same case for Dil Dil

Pakistan when a suffocated nation was brought together by a song that had very simple lyrics

and melody. Kamila was raised in this era of “oppression” and while growing up she like the

whole youth of Pakistan was bombarded with restrictions and had to navigate through their

youth trying to save themselves from being victims of people with extremist beliefs. These

pop idols like Nazia Hasan and Vital signs served as a beacon of hope for the youth of the

time.

When the era of Zia ended, and the Benazir era started music was finally catching traction

again in Pakistan and colour was being injected into the black and white lives of Pakistanis.

Other songs such as Disco Dewaaney which was sung by Nazia Hasan and her brother Zoheb
Hasan were a widespread hit and showed that the majority of the nation and the youth did not

want to live a life of extreme conservation by promoting the notion of women being able to

sing publicly.

I faced a similar dilemma when the topic of my marriage arose in the house. I, being the only

son in a Pakistani household, am expected to do a lot of things that I don’t want to do. So,

when my “Shaadi” was discussed both of my parents were in the favour of an arranged

marriage because they thought that it was the culturally appropriate thing to do. Arranged

marriage is when the elders of the guy or the girl “find” a partner for them and it’s usually

someone they don’t know from before. The idea of arranged marriage was against everything

I believed in. I am the person who loves the idea of love, Dancing in the rain with someone,

growing old with the person you love. In my opinion arranged marriage was disturbing the

timeline because you fall in love first then get married but in it, the opposite was happening.

Although Pakistan had progressed immensely since the time Kamila Shamsi was born into

but still love and choosing whom you wanted to marry was a frowned upon thing.

I always believed that love wasn’t and can’t be something that you would arrange between

two people it’s something that happens when you least expect it and then when you get it you

never want to go back to life without love. Love is also a lot like music. Because just like

how life without music is black and white the same is for life without love “life without love

is like a tree without blossoms or fruit” (Khalil Gibran).

I was relentless in my quest to convince my parents that I deserve my shot at finding love

myself. It was my relentless effort and the slowly but surely progressing culture of Pakistan
that I finally was able to convince them to let me choose my partner and I couldn’t be happier

that the one time I chose not to give up was this.