Book Launch – Chapter1 – Chapter5 – Chapter6 – Chapter14 – Chapter18 – Chapter20

“My granddad and dad were both farmers. They ensured that I went to school so that I could read and write English. There was a popular city near Faisalabad called Gojra and this was where most farmers would take their crops to sell them in the mandi (market). My dad took me with him when we opened our own wholesale shop there. We would purchase farm produce direct from the farmers and then sell it on to the public and retailers. We would receive commission for everything we sold. We also purchased a shop in Lahore where we bought and sold dried fruit. This dried fruit would come from many parts of Pakistan and from surrounding areas such as Afghanistan and Kashmir. ”
Fazal Karim

“My father was a police inspector in the city of Lahore back in Pakistan. We lived in the city of Lahore and grew up there. I was studying at school and was 18 years old when I decided to travel across to the UK. I was the eldest son in my family and had one sister older than me. In the 1960’s the process was very simple back then for travelling out of the country. I applied for a passport in Pakistan and bought my ticket to travel to England.”
Javed Akhtar

“I was born in India in the district of Jalandhar. My family moved to Lahore prior to partition where we had a textile factory. It was a wholesale business where we would supply materials to other retailers. We were based near the Azam Cloth Market in Lahore. This is a very famous market in Pakistan. I was educated at the Islamia High School in Lahore before coming to the UK.”
Mohammed Aslam