My award-winning blog – my entry wins the blogging competition held by the British High Commission in Islamabad

So way back in the April, the British High Commission in Pakistan held a blogging competition – which I won! The competition was part of their initiative “Celebrating Connections” between the UK and Pakistan.

As a British Pakistani who started off as a confused desi and is now proud of being both British and Pakistani, this is a subject close to my heart. I had great fun writing this piece and was totally stoked to be chosen as the winner. I was finally able to sync diaries with Mike Reilly, the Head of Mission at the Deputy High Commission in Karachi (what can I say, I’m a very busy person), and was able to enjoy tea with him and members of his communications team.

As you may have noticed Mike is VERY tall – at 5′ 6″ I’m no midget.

They presented me with a certificate and some lovely goodies including this fab flag pin with the British and Pakistani flags.

We chatted about life in Karachi, law and order, expat life and the like. The tea was “Brit-Raj” rather than “Great British Bake-Off” – chicken patties and mixed biscuits instead of scones and Victoria sponge. It would all have been very atmospheric if the gorgeous old buildings hadn’t been surrounded by barbed wire behind a host of security measures. Unfortunately that’s a sign of the times we live in. It was, however, a great experience and I got to meet some lovely people. I’m so happy to have won and would like to thank the judging panel for their kind comments. You can read my winning entry here.

Me – in Layla Chatoor pret with my Britain-Pakistan pin