On one side of the Himalayas, a country’s economy is blowing up. India’s awakening is the new American Dream. Pakistan, however, is not exactly stretching to pat their prodigal brother on the back. While India beams over IT services and semiconductors, Pakistan is brick-and-mortared by fertilizer, cement speculation and steel surpluses. Meanwhile, their docks load chickpeas and tangerines and NY Giants Super Bowl hats.

But, even in the least dreamy of places, there is reason for hope.

In Lahore’s red light district, the son of a prostitute has a dream. Iqbal Hussain, 58, can envision a rich and prosperous Pakistan. For himself — and for the handful of stray children he calls family — he’s been making strides. Years ago, he accidentally learned the way to Pakistan’s heart was through its stomach. So he continued to feed, cooking up a cultural remedy for his condition, and an elixir for his community.

For the last decade now, Hussain has been the sole proprietor and resident painter of Cooco’s Den and Gallery, a startlingly successful restaurant that belies its morally barren surroundings. And he’s even doing his best to spice up the neighborhood’s looks. When he’s not cooking, Hussain is painting the women upstairs who are selling their bodies for survival. And showcasing it as art.

“I mainly paint sex workers because my family is from the singing and dancing tradition,” he recently told a Guardian Weekly interviewer. “My mother and sister were prostitutes.”

• The Guardian Weekly: Suffering for Art