Sulman Badshah
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Seeing Pakistan without old, hostile baggage
Tuesday, 5 May 2015 - 5:00am IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: dna | From the print edition
Born and brought up in a family which faced the wrath of Partition, leaving behind everything to save their lives, it was a pleasant surprise to visit the territory which would have been my homeland if India had not been divided in 1947.
Born and brought up in a family which faced the wrath of Partition, leaving behind everything to save their lives, it was a pleasant surprise to visit the territory which would have been my homeland if India had not been divided in 1947.
I was born into a family which had migrated from Rawalpindi. My forefathers had to abandon all their possessions to make a fresh start. I have grown up viewing Pakistan with a sense of mistrust, responsible for all the tribulations we faced. But the perception, built in my mind over the years, got knocked down during my 10-day trip to Pakistan that took me to Hindu and Sikh holy places. Also to Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Attock region, the last frontier of Punjab on the banks of Indus river. Trust me, I didn’t see a trace to let me believe that Pakistan is a failed State or it is about to crumble economically.
In fact, Partition is not just an Indian story. There are Muslims across the border who, too, have their homelands on our side and yearn to see it at least once. I meet Jawed Ali and his friends at a restaurant in Jinnah Market in Islamabad. Excitedly, he came up to my table. “Are you from India?” The next thing he tells me, “My mother was from Hyderabad and father from Meerut. They will be very happy to see you.” Apparently Hindus at a market in Islamabad are a rare sight.
The next day, I am having aloo paratha with at his house, with parents, wife and a six-year-old daughter. His parents are overwhelmed to see me. “We used to live in the Laad Bazaar Road near Charminar,” recollects Ali’s mother. Ali’s family breaks my preconceptions. We discuss India-Pakistan relations and the visit of the Chinese Premier to Pakistan over parathas. In Ali’s house, men and women eat together at the same table. In fact, there is more to Pakistan than the ferocious faces of Hafiz Saeed or Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
Both Lahore and Islamabad are cities bubbling with life. Dazzling Pakistani women drive cars, go to coffee shops, meet for kitty parties at restaurants and enjoy family outings for dinner. Women in Lahore have a better fashion sense than their counterparts in Delhi. They speak fluent English, spend a lot more money on clothes. And when it comes to speaking Punjabi, they do it better than us.
But we are way behind them when it comes to treating neighbours. I confronted many instances when strangers came out to help, whether at a marketplace or in a restaurant, as soon as they knew we were Indian. At a restaurant in Lahore, a family occupying a nearby table realised we were making lots of noise and so we must be Indians. The lady walked up to us, enquired and after we were finished insisted on paying for us. With great difficulty we convinced her to allow us to pay for ourselves.Then her husband insisted that we take their vehicle along, with driver, for sightseeing. We were overwhelmed.
I may confess, that in Delhi, whenever I encountered a Pakistani national at a marketplace, I used to look at him a terrorist or a spy or as someone representing India's biggest enemy. But be it Lahore or Islamabad, the common man there does not look upon Indians as an enemy, or even a rival.Their hospitality for an Indian guest is beyond comparison. The aam aadmi in Pakistan has a beautiful heart.
Just like I craved to see my ancestral place in Pakistan, but failed to gather the courage all these years, many in Pakistan too have some bond with India and want to travel to this side. But strained India-Pakistan relations prove a dampener. People from both sides crave to discover each other. They say, "Jis Lahore dekhiya nahi, O Jamiya he hain." (You are not born, if you have not seen Lahore). It is true not just for Lahore, but for every bit of Pakistan that I saw. I am reborn in the true sense and I want every Indian to take rebirth and see Pakistan without historical and hostile baggage.
Seeing Pakistan without old, hostile baggage | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis
Tuesday, 5 May 2015 - 5:00am IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: dna | From the print edition
Born and brought up in a family which faced the wrath of Partition, leaving behind everything to save their lives, it was a pleasant surprise to visit the territory which would have been my homeland if India had not been divided in 1947.
Born and brought up in a family which faced the wrath of Partition, leaving behind everything to save their lives, it was a pleasant surprise to visit the territory which would have been my homeland if India had not been divided in 1947.
I was born into a family which had migrated from Rawalpindi. My forefathers had to abandon all their possessions to make a fresh start. I have grown up viewing Pakistan with a sense of mistrust, responsible for all the tribulations we faced. But the perception, built in my mind over the years, got knocked down during my 10-day trip to Pakistan that took me to Hindu and Sikh holy places. Also to Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Attock region, the last frontier of Punjab on the banks of Indus river. Trust me, I didn’t see a trace to let me believe that Pakistan is a failed State or it is about to crumble economically.
In fact, Partition is not just an Indian story. There are Muslims across the border who, too, have their homelands on our side and yearn to see it at least once. I meet Jawed Ali and his friends at a restaurant in Jinnah Market in Islamabad. Excitedly, he came up to my table. “Are you from India?” The next thing he tells me, “My mother was from Hyderabad and father from Meerut. They will be very happy to see you.” Apparently Hindus at a market in Islamabad are a rare sight.
The next day, I am having aloo paratha with at his house, with parents, wife and a six-year-old daughter. His parents are overwhelmed to see me. “We used to live in the Laad Bazaar Road near Charminar,” recollects Ali’s mother. Ali’s family breaks my preconceptions. We discuss India-Pakistan relations and the visit of the Chinese Premier to Pakistan over parathas. In Ali’s house, men and women eat together at the same table. In fact, there is more to Pakistan than the ferocious faces of Hafiz Saeed or Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
Both Lahore and Islamabad are cities bubbling with life. Dazzling Pakistani women drive cars, go to coffee shops, meet for kitty parties at restaurants and enjoy family outings for dinner. Women in Lahore have a better fashion sense than their counterparts in Delhi. They speak fluent English, spend a lot more money on clothes. And when it comes to speaking Punjabi, they do it better than us.
But we are way behind them when it comes to treating neighbours. I confronted many instances when strangers came out to help, whether at a marketplace or in a restaurant, as soon as they knew we were Indian. At a restaurant in Lahore, a family occupying a nearby table realised we were making lots of noise and so we must be Indians. The lady walked up to us, enquired and after we were finished insisted on paying for us. With great difficulty we convinced her to allow us to pay for ourselves.Then her husband insisted that we take their vehicle along, with driver, for sightseeing. We were overwhelmed.
I may confess, that in Delhi, whenever I encountered a Pakistani national at a marketplace, I used to look at him a terrorist or a spy or as someone representing India's biggest enemy. But be it Lahore or Islamabad, the common man there does not look upon Indians as an enemy, or even a rival.Their hospitality for an Indian guest is beyond comparison. The aam aadmi in Pakistan has a beautiful heart.
Just like I craved to see my ancestral place in Pakistan, but failed to gather the courage all these years, many in Pakistan too have some bond with India and want to travel to this side. But strained India-Pakistan relations prove a dampener. People from both sides crave to discover each other. They say, "Jis Lahore dekhiya nahi, O Jamiya he hain." (You are not born, if you have not seen Lahore). It is true not just for Lahore, but for every bit of Pakistan that I saw. I am reborn in the true sense and I want every Indian to take rebirth and see Pakistan without historical and hostile baggage.
Seeing Pakistan without old, hostile baggage | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis
