Old Village Life in Pakistan: How It Was, How It Changed and What We Lost
I still live in the same village. The fields are still here, and so are a few of the old faces. But the village I remember? That one's gone.
When I was younger, village life in Pakistan meant something different. You walked into a neighbor's house without asking. Nobody sent you a bill for milk. It was slow and plain, and honestly, it was full of love. So what happened to it? That's what I want to talk about here: what old village life in Pakistan really looked like, where it still beats the city, where it falls short, and what technology quietly took away from us.
What Is Village Life Like in Pakistan?
Short answer: quiet mornings, fresh homegrown food, and neighbors who act like family. The price you pay is fewer hospitals, schools and jobs nearby.
Ask anyone who has lived in a village and they'll say it's calm. There aren't many factories or vehicles, so the air is cleaner, and you notice the quiet the moment you step out of a city. People also work with their hands most of the day. That keeps the body strong, and it's one reason many villagers cope better with cold winters and hot summers.
Food is a big part of it. Families eat desi ghee, milk and yogurt made at home, plus vegetables from their own fields. Most people are simple and straightforward. They don't play games.
And there are still a lot of us out here. The 2023 census by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics puts about 61% of Pakistanis in rural areas. That share has been sliding for years (it was roughly 67% back in 1998), which tells you something about where things are heading.
What Was Old Village Life in Pakistan Like?
Old village life in Pakistan was simple and close-knit: mud houses, open courtyards, homemade milk, yogurt and desi ghee, farming with bulls, and neighbors helping each other without payment. Elders settled disputes, and money played a much smaller role than it does today.
Let me take you back a few decades.
Mud Houses and Open Doors
Houses were made of mud, with wooden doors and big open courtyards. You didn't need anybody's permission to visit them. You just went. People were sincere and cooperative, and if you needed help, somebody was already on the way.
Milk, Yogurt, Lassi and Desi Ghee, Before Anyone Sold Any of It
Every home had milk, yogurt and lassi, and if a neighbor needed some, they simply took it. Free. Selling milk or yogurt wasn't even an idea yet.
This is how it worked. Milk went into a big earthen pot, a chatti, and got used all day long. Whatever was left at night was set with a spoonful of starter (the jaag), and by morning it had turned into yogurt. Early the next day it was churned by hand with a wooden churner to make butter, and a lot of it. We spread that butter on hot tandoor roti and ate it.
When enough butter had piled up, it went on the stove and became pure desi ghee, which nearly everyone in the village ate. Many people say that's why villagers were so strong back then.
The fields were different too. There was very little chemical spray or fertilizer, so vegetables, fruit and grain came out full of taste, and people hardly fell sick.
Ploughing With Bulls and the Meaning of Wangaar
Fields were ploughed with bulls. When the crop was ready, everybody helped everybody. There's a word for that, wangaar, and it means helping someone with their work without taking any money or reward. Doing a job only for cash wasn't really a thing yet.
The Barber, the Carpenter and the Imam
The village barber cut hair, shaved beards and cooked the big pots (degs) for everyone, and he never charged. The village carpenter did everybody's woodwork for free too. When the harvest came, people gave both of them their share of the crop, and that was that. No accounts, no arguments. Even the imam of the mosque took no salary. He got his share of the grain like the others.
Elders, Numberdars and Settling Disputes
Quarrels happened, of course, but rarely. And when they did, people almost never went to the police. The village head (the numberdar) or one of the elders sat both sides down and sorted it out, and everybody accepted his word. Afterwards they went back to treating each other with love, like before. If you're curious how communities like this grew into bigger societies, I wrote about that in Human Civilization: From Tribes to Modern Politics.
Free time meant sitting under a tree, talking and playing games. Nobody was in a hurry.
Charkha, Letters and the Village Mela
Women spun cotton into thread on a charkha, and that thread became khais (woven shawls), rugs, and the weave of charpai beds. If you wanted to send news, good or bad, you wrote a letter. It took weeks to reach the person. Then you waited weeks for the reply.
The melas (fairs) were the big days. People went in groups, and folk artists performed live and got their applause right there on the spot.
Looking back, it was a plain, honest, loving time. Envy, hypocrisy and lies hardly had a place.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Village Life in Pakistan
To be fair, village life wasn't perfect then and it isn't now. The good side is easy to picture: clean air, fresh food, cheaper living, neighbors who know your name, and plenty of open space for kids to run around.
The tough side is real, too. Transport is limited, and so are schools and health facilities, and the nearest hospital can be a long way off. Cleanliness isn't great either, and you'll see heaps of rubbish in some streets. There also aren't many jobs, which is why so many young people head for the cities.
How Did Technology Change Village Life in Pakistan?
Technology made village life easier through machines, phones and better transport, but it also made people busier and more competitive. Long visits, shared harvest work and evening gatherings faded, farmers began selling fresh produce in city markets, and many young people now spend more time on screens than with elders.
Scientific progress did make life easier here. Machines save effort, and mobile phones connect families across distances. But it came with a price.
Even people who ate pure food started learning how to mix and adulterate. Better transport meant farmers who once ate their own fresh vegetables began selling them in city markets. It looks like villages are slowly turning into towns, and towns into modern cities. In this rush of development, I see village life coming to an end.
Then came cars, television, LCD screens, mobiles and the internet, and competition crept in. Everybody started racing to get ahead of everybody else. Now hardly anyone has time to sit with four people, chat, and ask how they're doing. Guests used to arrive and stay for weeks, even months. These days they show up for a wedding or a funeral, stay a few hours, blame their busy schedule and go home the same day. I wrote about the roots of this race in Materialistic Concept of Life and Human Being Evolution.
Why Young People Are Drifting Away From Village Values
Young people today are lost in mobiles and the internet. Respect for elders, love for the little ones, good manners: these feel like stories from another time. Ask many of them what character means, and I don't think they'd know.
This is my own opinion, so take it as that. Much of what goes viral on TikTok, YouTube and Facebook is shallow, and it's shaping our young people in a way that worries me. Good content exists, but it sits so far down the search results that hardly anybody finds it.
Education Without Character
Our modern education hasn't helped. The books teach science, fine, but character-building has almost no place in them. Private schools and colleges have opened up like factories, and many parents feel the fees only go up while children are trained to memorize books, not to become people of good character. That has opened a big gap in society.
The old people in the village mostly had little formal education. But they had faith, and they held on to their values. Now, with all this schooling, I see lying, cheating, hypocrisy and greed for money more than anything else. I wrote about what education can really do for a society in The Revolutionary Power of Education: Leading Humanity to Peace and Dignity.
Village Life vs City Life in Pakistan
The simplest way I can put it is that it's a trade. In the village you get quiet, fresh food and people who know you, and you give up hospitals, good schools and jobs close by. In the city you get all of those and lose the quiet and the closeness. Which trade is better depends on what you can't live without.
If you want to see how the other side looks, I wrote about a planned city in Living in Islamabad: Places to Visit, Weather, Universities and Hospitals.
Can We Bring Some of It Back?
We can't turn the clock back. But we can borrow. Put the phones down at dinner. Go and sit with your grandparents and let them talk. Teach your children manners and honesty at home, not only marks. Help a neighbor and don't keep count. And when you can, buy your milk and vegetables from local farmers.
Final Thoughts
Village life in Pakistan gave us pure food, honest people, simple homes and neighbors who felt like family. Progress gave us comfort, and took away time, trust and a lot of character. Looking at the road we're on, I honestly don't know what our next generation's future will look like.
I pray that Allah guides us to the right path, so that our worldly life is full of happiness and the hereafter is peaceful too. If you want somewhere practical to start, try How to Live a Happy Life: 6 Simple Habits for Peace of Mind.
What do you remember most about village life? Tell me in the comments. Somebody from the next generation might be reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is village life like in Pakistan?
A: Quiet, slow and close to nature. Most families grow or make a good part of their own food, neighbors help each other out, and everybody knows everybody. The downside is that hospitals, good schools and jobs are usually far away.
Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of village life in Pakistan?
A: You get cleaner air, fresh food, cheaper living and a real community. What you give up is easy access to healthcare, education and work.
Q: How has technology changed village life in Pakistan?
A: Machines and phones made life easier, no doubt. They also made people busier and more competitive. Long chats, guests who stayed for weeks and working together at harvest are mostly gone.
Q: What is wangaar?
A: It's the old village habit of helping someone with their work, harvesting for example, without asking for anything in return. You helped your neighbor, and when your turn came, he helped you.
Q: How many Pakistanis live in villages?
A: About 61% did at the time of the 2023 census, down from around 67% in 1998, as more people move to cities.
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