Leaving government and atomic issues aside, Pakistani girls have something positive to say about India.My close friends have visited India and found Indian people very loving and hospitable.I also would like to visit some time but fables from there have frightened my mother insomuch that she would never let me.She thinks if I'm unlucky enough they might set me up, taking me as a terrorist or a secret agent from Pakistan.
hey India !..lemme know when I get lucky
@iloveF16
Dear Sir,
I have heard similar sentiments from Pakistani friends and it disturbs me very much. Let me share two opposite experiences with you.
The negative one first. Some time ago, my friend, a British citizen who lived and worked in Kuwait, wanted a visa to visit some of his off-shoring units here. Although he was backed very strongly and had extremely powerful sponsors, the fact that he was born in Pakistan made some idiot in Kuwait, in the Indian consular section, reject his visa. It was most mortifying.
Within months of that, a youngster was recommended to me, who lived in England and worked in Gloucester, who turned out to be perfect for a particular slot we had; the location for the job was initially to be in south India in Chennai, but was to be transferable to other parts of the world thereafter. He was himself a British citizen, but his parents had been born in Mirpur. I had a tussle with the Indian authorities in Britain to get him in, but he did come in, coped manfully with the shock of eating Tamilian cuisine, handled the milieu well, although 95% of the people around him outside office had no word of either Hindi, or Urdu, or English, and got himself a house.
The project went bust, and we had to wind up a lot of things, including this young gentleman's part of it, but as long as we needed to, we got him into the country legitimately, and he fitted in rather well - a bit snooty and British at the beginning, and a strict disciplinarian by Indian standards, but that was exactly what I was looking for, and his reactions to Indian IT were rather flattering and pleasing to hear. I had hoped to send him around a bit to see some more of India, but in the event, he could only get to see parts of Tamil Nadu. A great pity.
For your amusement, his father was quite nonchalant about his coming to India and working here for a couple of years, but his poor mother was in absolute panic. She couldn't believe that he wouldn't be lynched in the street by a mob of ravening bloodthirsty Hindus out to avenge themselves for, well, whatever timid mothers think need avenging by bloodthirsty Hindus (and Sikhs and so on). He had to call her daily for the first month or so after he reached India before she could bring herself to believe that he might survive the experience. Finally his father put his foot down and refused to let this waste of money continue. Mothers don't change their ways in different countries.
This is not just now a particularly good time to apply for a visa and to travel around the country, since everybody is in a bad temper: the news of Hafeez Sayeed being released came out only yesterday. But in normal times, you should have no difficulty in getting a visa (it takes time and it takes determination, and is easier from the UK and the US than from the Middle East or from Pakistan), and in travelling. There are tight checks on Pakistanis travelling here, since due to their extensive network of relatives, and the complete identity of parts of North India with their own background, it is tempting to stay on and not bother with the paperwork; in some of these cases, a very, very small handful, those 'disappearing' have turned up again in disturbing circumstances, and our bureaucrats have started suspecting the motives of everyone. However, this surveillance consists of reporting to a designated police station once a week (the police station is transferable in case of a shift in location), and nobody is normally harrassed.
There is a huge amount of curiousity of course, and people were standing around to watch my young friend's every move with round-eyed fascination, and more than some surprise that he was so similar to a North Indian or even a Hyderabadi (this was not a reaction of those who have been to the Middle East already, and were quite blase about his presence).
You may be interested to learn that young women working in the office seemed to be inordinately interested in his movements, and it was unfortunately necessary to be a little peremptory with them on occasion, in the interests of office discipline.
There is no question of a set-up.
I hope this gives you some flavour of the situation prevailing. North India and South India are practically two different countries, and East India practically a third, so don't please expect too much in common. A Pakistani would probably fit in well in the North Indian milieu, or in Calcutta, but as my young friend's experience shows, even in conservative, insular Chennai, there should be no particular difficulty. Except for the language. Chennai people hate being asked to speak in Hindi or in Urdu. It sets their teeth on edge. English is fine.
Please do not hesitate to enquire if you have particular questions, now or later.
Regards,
'Joe S.'
