Abid Hussain’s life unfolded against the backdrop of a brick kiln—a family business that provided just enough to keep the family afloat. Having studied formally for only a few years, any upward mobility in the formal sector seemed impossible, it’s a myth like many other things that we are fed as people……

Fahid Mohsin spent his early years in one of the many houses in Mandi Bahaduddin that dream of sending out sons to journey to Europe via the dunki. Fahid, as the eldest of six siblings, had the responsibility of providing for his family weighing on his young shoulders. Mandi Bahauddin, with its slow-paced life and familiar faces, remained at the backdrop of his early years. He worked as a mechanic in his hometown as a young man. Upward social mobility would be an unlikely possibility, with his job as a mechanic. This was the pragmatic understanding of his reality. What runs parallel is hope.

The thing about hope and imagination is that it always keeps us hooked. We wonder and dream of what could have been and can be. It’s the impetus of so many of the decisions we m

At twenty one Reza and Bilal’s lives that lay before them were predictable. Bilal’s father was a landowner and he would get a piece of the property when it got divided between his eight siblings. Reza’s father was a small business owner. He would help him run the business and as the oldest sibling contribute towards the education and upkeep of his younger siblings. While studying at MAO college in Lahore in 1985, an idea struck them. What if we try to go abroad and build a life in another country. The lure of foreign places, dreams of green fields, cows and the beautiful swiss landscape was enough to make them adamant to go despite the constant opposition of their families. “On the VCR we would watch Indian films shot in Europe.” This charmed dream life was what got them to make the final decision.