Goras in Pakistan - Indus News TV

Below is a message sent out by the UN Bulletin about a new show in Pakistan on the Indus News Channel. The subject of the show is us the foreigners of Pakistan and we have been invited to star in the show. I thought the Do's and Don'ts of the show might provide some insight into the culture here - or maybe you'll want to participate...

GORAS IN PAKISTAN

'Gora' is a commonly used word in Pakistan when referring to a foreigner and this show is based on the lives of foreigners in Pakistan. ‘Saying that we invite all the foreigners who are visiting, working, living or traveling through Pakistan and would be interested to come to this show and talk about their interests, their respective country, it's culture, traditions, life style and share their experience of Pakistan with the viewers. It’s a reality show starring YOU, so you can come up with any fun/lame/crazy idea for your show and just be yourself as much as you want to :P. We are open to ideas. You can name your episode and also invite your favorite friends, co-worker and pets to be part of your show.

Here are the Dos and Don’ts.

Dos:

*You are the star of your show so you can name your episode.
*Can invite your family, favorite friends, pets or co-workers on your show.
*Show your hobbies, for example, painting, crafts, paragliding, Rock climbing, cooking, shopping etc
*Add your favorite music to your episode.
*Add your pictures of Pakistan, family etc.
*Talk about any song, movie, book place, history, heroes of your country
*Share you stories, experiences (good/bad) of Pakistan.
*Show some special event like Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter, Party, live concert, exhibition etc.
*Talk about your country, culture, traditions, history, festivals, life style etc.
*Share anything fun, can sing a song or tell a joke or famous saying of your country.
*Cook a quick n’ easy dish, drink from your country.
*Discuss any other topic which you feel will be of interest to the Pakistani and International viewers.
*You can even talk about your work if you want to, but you don’t have to.
*Give a message back home or your friends here on your show.
Basically you can do anything interesting, fun or lame. It’s a reality show so you don’t have to act.

Don'ts:

*We can show anything fun as long as it’s not too wild for Pakistan :P
*Don’t discuss sex, politics and religion on the show.
*Healthy criticism is very welcome, jokes about Pakistan, people, living experiences etc, as long as they don't offend anyone or directly attacking anyone.
*Don't be offensive when pointing out shitty traffic, living conditions... :) in sugar coated way plz :)
*No F word on the show.
*Don’t talk about your work if you can’t. You don’t have to.

To give you heads-up, here’s the basic set of questions that we ask our guest, but you can always add to it. The questions vary from guest to guests as per their personality/interests/activities and their idea behind their show. If possible we do a quick sitting or (thru email/phone) brainstorm ideas to plan a shoot and build a script around our Gora guest. A typical shoot takes just 1 day, couple of hours and a very small TV crew.

Questions:

* Name. Where are you from? How long have been here, anything you wana mention about your country or place that it is famous for.
*What was you first reaction about coming to Pakistan? Any Cultural Shock, funny arrival/air port story. Or any memorable story to share.
*Favorite Pakistani food, restaurant etc
*Any favorite place to go, things to do while here.
*How do you spend your free time here, hobbies and interests?
*Travel around? Have you been to other cities, Lahore, North Pakistan? Any story from trips to share? Can also compare cities etc.
*What you like about people, place
*Any local, cultural experience of music concerts, exhibitions etc if you wanna share
*What you dislike about people, place
*Any message for Pakistani people
*Any message for people (family/friends) back home
*If you know any word/sentence of Urdu, plz speak that on the show

If you are a foreigner in Pakistan and wanna be on this show plz contact us at:

Fareeha Khawaja (Coordinator/host)
[Contact information deleted for privacy]

Rohail Khan (Director/producer)
[Contact information deleted for privacy]

The idea reminds me of another reality show called George Ka Pakistan. However, this show rather was about a British journalist coming to this country to learn how to be Pakistani in three months.
Here are a few episodes (only ones I could find):
George Ka Pakistan Episode 1
George Ka Pakistan Episode 2
George Ka Pakistan Episode 6