I am most impressed that Pakistan?s Television industry is tackling Diaspora stories; in that, Jackson Heights on Zindagi is a must see. The stories of the Pakistani immigrants in the US are the same as that of an Indian immigrant. Can?t be any different, as we are cut from the same cloth. This set of tales certainly deserves a watch. Jackson Heights follows three sets of characters and their stories, intricately interlinked. Each story is ordinary, real and very identifiable with people we know of or heard about. Jamshed, a young Pakistani who is a fresh graduate, instead of settling for a sarkari naukri as his family wants him to, instead he arrives in New York on a tourist visa, to look for a job and settle down for good. His uncle, Imran had done just that years ago and now drives a cab, having married a domineering American single parent, who is his surety for staying on. An older Indian Muslim is trying very hard to woo a middle aged Pakistani Christian restaurateur, who wards off his advances and is happy to be a friend. Salma, a young woman who works in a parlour is trying very hard to keep the balance at home. Her daughter wants to learn Kathak and goes for classes; her mother-in-law and husband see that as a work of the devil and against their religion. The latter two want the girl to move out the school she?s attending and go to a residential madressa. Imran, the cabbie has a brother in Baltimore who snubs Jamshed as an illegal immigrant and turns his back on his roots. Imran, on the other hand lends a helping hand to fellow Pakistanis as he does to Salma. All the six characters live and work in Jackson Heights, a part of New York with a large concentration of South Asian immigrants. There are many other characters as well making this a true ensemble serial. Directed by?Mehreen Jabbar, and ?written by Vasay Chaudhry, Jackson Heights features an ensemble cast including Marina Khan,?Adeel Hussain,?Aamina Sheikh,?Noman Ejaz, Ali Kazmi,?Adnan Jaffar, Naghma Begam and Neelofar Abbasi. Jackson Heights was shot in Jackson Heights and Queens. It?s such an authentic recreation of Diaspora lifestyle, marked by some tender light moments mixed with a few harsher ones. When a Pakistani journalist asked Mehreen Jabbar: The Diaspora is a relatively new theme in Pakistani drama serials, though not a singular one: in the last two decades the Diaspora has dominated film and TV narratives across South Asia. How and why, in your experience, has this happened? She responded: ?I think initially when our TV serials started being filmed overseas particularly in the US and the UK, it was primarily for location purposes. Producers and directors wanted the stories to get out of rooms and houses and shoot on the streets, next to lakes, castles, shopping malls, hills, etc. And then that trend died down primarily because it is more expensive to shoot in the US and UK. Then places like Mauritius, Turkey, Thailand, etc become more common. Now, the majority of serials are shot in Pakistan with some being shot overseas.? The story is somewhat similar with Indian television shows. Despite all the latitude Indian television shows have the content kings, and queens haven?t really explored life with the Diaspora. They use the foreign locations as a plot relief or ploy, but to date there hasn?t been a single series based and shot in the US, UK or Canada The same can?t be said about our films, we have had English. Vinglis, Mitr, My Friend, etc. Now that Indian viewers have tasted Jackson Heights, I wonder if any local producer will venture out. Without a doubt there are stories waiting to be told among the Indian Diaspora. Do we have a taker?