During the challenging and stimulating four years of my PhD, the support and motivation of the following people have been highly encouraging and enabled me to complete this book:
Foremost, I would like to express my respect and gratitude to my mentors and supervisors, Dr Emily Gray, Professor Peter Kelly and Dr Elise Hunkin, for their untiring support, motivation, guidance and patience. Their supervisory meetings, discussions and feedback enhanced my knowledge, skills and intellectual capabilities. I will always be indebted to their professionalism, generosity and kindness.
My heartiest and special thanks to RMIT University for providing me with the opportunity and funding to do my PhD. This leads me to thank the Australian government and the generous Australians, who made it possible to undertake and accomplish this study through the hardest time of the COVID pandemic.
My very special gratitude and sincere thanks to the research participants for their time and candid discussions during the field interviews.
My love, gratitude and thanks to my parents, whose dreams and incessant sacrifices have always been an inspiration throughout my life and career. Their incredible encouragement to take on this challenge has been a continuous source of energy and motivation for me.
I can never forget the darkest moment during the last lap of my PhD research when my father-in-law passed away. He was the kindest and loveliest person; his support and memories will always be in my heart.
All my love and thanks to my wife, Amber, who never left me stranded during the most difficult and stressful moments. Thanks to my loving sons, Meerain and Rahmain, for their compromises, thankfulness and understanding of my situation. Many thanks to my dearest brothers, sisters, cousins and other family members for their moral and emotional support during critical moments.
Lastly, I would like to thank the Government of Balochistan for the grant of study leave, allowing me to undertake this study.