I am back. Withered and Weathered. The Pakistan visa has kept me busy all these days and have taken most of the energy out of me. I must say the high commission is palatial. Inside you'd find princely carpets and couches. Though equally beautiful outside you automatically get a feeling from within that says its the High Commission for Pakistan. The windows have the smallest of communication gaps with bullet proof glass. A long wait to meet the First Secretary precedes a long wait for a Visit visa.
Waiting outside the high commission, gorging on my apple I was wondering how strange things are between two countries whose people absolutely love eachother to say the least.
"Doodh meetha hai na " (trn. - The milk is sweet ) -- said the chai wallah bhaiya when I pointed out the flies in his milk. The only high point of the day was this hillarious reply.
Recently, I was invited to a TV show, no-no not a reality show about marrying a nerd woman, but it was a talk show and the topic of discussion centered around Jaswant Singh's ouster from the BJP and as a result, Indians being scared to revisit history. I was a priced catch as my grandparents hail from Pakistan ( i know its not a good reason to show off my priced catch status).
Apart from people claiming Jinnah was an outright communal man and a certain villain in India's history there were jibes from BJPwallahs to Congressites over Savarkar as well. Bringing back old ghosts is a profession here. And they say we are scared of revisiting history !
Would I like to revisit history ? Absolutely Yes. But only if I had the power to change its course.
Its time we, as a nation (including our respected and beloved politicians) accept the fact that India was partitioned 62 years ago. A lifetime in itself. And still Indian politics feeds on just one issue - Pakistan base, Partition sauce with toppings of Jinnah Jalapenos.
I believe we ( both the nations) should look forward to a better future. I cant help it. Its just the way I've seen things here. No matter how deep you are drenched in shit you can not stop hoping for the best. Its basically the same way as we have been hoping for an ideal, honest and a model government since forever. Improvement of Economic and cultural ties is a way to improve the ever fluctuating relations. Its a pity, not even Student exchange is allowed between the nations. So dont be surprised when I say there is no such thing as Travelling in India/Pakistan since both the sides do not issue travel visas at all.
If there was a magic wand and we could be one, literally though, there are certain things I believe every Indian would want to happen. Firstly,
We all would want to see Shahid Afridi and Sehwag open the batting. Not to forget it would give birth to
a cricket ( read sporting) superpower. Wonder what kind of quality music can Himesh Reshammiya and Abrar-ul-Haq create together. There'd be a constant tussle as to kahaan ke munde have more tashan - Lahore or Chandigarh.
The girls oh-so-obviously deserve a mention. I can bet that everyone here believes the girls are more beautiful on the other side.
For Pakistan, they no longer would have to import Fertilizers. Nor they would have to import computer hardware, bringing down the cost and increasing the market and productivity in this sector. The quality and cost of apparels would certainly improve.People here could certainly learn a bit of tehzeeb in language from the other side. The all important gas pipeline from Iran would be a certain reality.
More than the tangible things, I believe love would be exchanged from both sides which is far more important than any other thing. The whole thing looks far from reality, I know. But the same was the Freedom of India ( yes, pun attached) in say 1920s. The success of African-American civil rights movement and end of slavery in US was also a "Dream" which great men possessed. There are countless examples I can state but the point is - Are we willing ? Are we scared indeed to revisit history ?
I don't think so.
No comments:
Post a Comment