ABSTRACT
Pakistani migrants hold strong views regarding the duties of friendship, and distinguish clearly between close or true friends and more distant friends and acquaintances. Cultural standards of what constitutes the behaviour of a true friend are strictly defined. It follows that the granting of loans follows certain basic rules, although the details vary from person to person. Compared to other Pakistani migrants in Manchester, most of these migrants, and especially the wives and children, were newcomers to the city. Moreover, they came from relatively underdeveloped barani (rainfed agriculture) areas of the Punjab, especially by comparison to East Punjab, the Canal Colonies and the cities whence most other Pakistanis in Manchester originate. The families in Iftahar's network led a distinctive lifestyle, recalling that of Pakistani migrants in Bradford and Rochdale. The genesis of the present lifestyle of these migrants, and the type of networks associated with it, lies in the relationships developed between men, most often before arrival of their wives.
