Comments - Pakistan Opens Indian Visitors' Eyes - PakAlumni Worldwide: The Global Social Network 2024-03-29T12:43:05Zhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=1119293%3ABlogPost%3A87790&xn_auth=noI can cite plenty of examples…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-07-20:1119293:Comment:4257992023-07-20T23:50:18.720ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>I can cite plenty of examples of Indians visiting Pakistan who differ with Prof Ishtiaq Ahmad view of the two countries. </span></p>
<div><br></br><div>Here's one: <span> </span><a href="https://www.southasiainvestor.com/2023/02/javed-akhtar-saw-no-visible-poverty-in.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">https://www.southasiainvestor.com/2023/02/javed-akhtar-saw-no-visible-poverty-in.html</a></div>
<div><span>Famous Indian writer and poet Javed Akhtar told his audience at a conference in…</span></div>
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<p><span>I can cite plenty of examples of Indians visiting Pakistan who differ with Prof Ishtiaq Ahmad view of the two countries. </span></p>
<div><br/><div>Here's one: <span> </span><a href="https://www.southasiainvestor.com/2023/02/javed-akhtar-saw-no-visible-poverty-in.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.southasiainvestor.com/2023/02/javed-akhtar-saw-no-visible-poverty-in.html</a></div>
<div><span>Famous Indian writer and poet Javed Akhtar told his audience at a conference in Mumbai that he saw "no visible poverty" in Lahore during his multiple visits to Pakistan over the last three decades. Responding to Indian novelist Chetan Bhagat's query about Pakistan's economic crisis at ABP's "</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/pZ5e81ysKGQ?feature=share" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ideas of India Summit 2023</a><span>" in Mumbai, Akhtar said: "Unlike what you see in Delhi and Mumbai, I did not see any visible poverty in Lahore". This was Akhtar's first interview upon his return to India after attending "Faiz Festival" in Lahore, Pakistan. </span></div>
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<div><span>Here's another one: </span><a href="https://www.cntraveller.in/story/an-indian-in-pakistan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.cntraveller.in/story/an-indian-in-pakistan/</a></div>
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<div><span>The drive from Lahore to Islamabad is stunning. Across five hours, the lush farms along the Chenab and Jhelum Rivers transform into the green hills and mountains as eye-catching trucks and buses dot the scenery. Tucked along the way in the Potohar Plateau, I find myself lost in the Katas Raj temples. This complex is one of Pakistan's most fascinating mythological sights. As legend goes, the temples surround a pond created by the teardrops of Lord Shiva, who roamed the Earth in grief after the death of his wife Sati. The temples themselves play significant roles in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. In the present day, these structures are extremely peaceful and well-maintained. I can't help but ask my guide if their presence has caused problems with locals after Partition. He eloquently surmises: "Why would [the temples] cause problems? Ultimately, it is a place of worship and people respect that. We lived together before 1947."</span></div>
</div> PAKISTAN, THROUGH INDIAN EYES…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-07-20:1119293:Comment:4257982023-07-20T23:38:06.783ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>PAKISTAN, THROUGH INDIAN EYES<br></br><br></br><a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes" target="_blank">https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes</a><br></br><br></br>Ms. Nitupola Sharma writes an account of her first encounter with a Pakistani and her visit to Pakistan<br></br><br></br>After what seemed an eternity, we finally arrived at our destination just as the sun decided to take a break and the evening chill to bare its claws. Murree was a hill…</p>
<p>PAKISTAN, THROUGH INDIAN EYES<br/><br/><a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes" target="_blank">https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes</a><br/><br/>Ms. Nitupola Sharma writes an account of her first encounter with a Pakistani and her visit to Pakistan<br/><br/>After what seemed an eternity, we finally arrived at our destination just as the sun decided to take a break and the evening chill to bare its claws. Murree was a hill station choc-o-bloc with jostling stalls displaying tempting woollens and Kashmiri jewellery. My mind was engrossed with this feeling of déjà vu after I saw a huge photo hung on the wall of the restaurant where we had supper. The painting was a faded replication of the Mall Road as it was during the British Era. And then it dawned on me. It was the Mall Road in Shimla, with the church, the downhill road, and the small culvert. The British had left the signature of their homeland in all the places they touched and adopted. Because of the dim light of dusk, I could not see much of Murree’s Mall Road or a church or a culvert.<br/><br/>The jostling crowd of tourists, the smell of roasted groundnuts in the air and the colourful cotton candy added to the festive atmosphere that enveloped us. Tiredness eluded us as the children enjoyed a screaming pram ride uphill before we proceeded into the darkness of Ayubia. Roads were not too familiar for Saad, and before we realised the road ahead turned into a misty darkness as we fumbled our way through. Children had dozed off, happy and content with full tummies. We finally made it to the hotel safe.<br/><br/>I cannot for my life recall the name of the hotel, but the view of a deep ravine, depths of which played hide and seek with my eyes, with golden streaks of sunlight piercing through thick trunks in the early morning is a mental image I will treasure forever. Sunrays seemed so alive with millions of dust particles swimming against a clear blue sky. That early morning welcome sight more than made up for the bone chilling water that greeted us when we went inside to take our baths.<br/><br/>The previous evening had ended with us sipping sweet, brewed tea out of glasses as we discussed world politics, India, Pakistan, and the future of our region. Children added spice with frequent appearances as we tucked our toes into our chairs, trying to keep them warm in our long coats. There seemed to be a univocal agreement on the worthlessness of the enmity of our two countries, and wastage of time and money whereas competitiveness should have been solely concentrated on the cricket field. We talked about the huge fiscal wastage on arms, whereas the same money could have done wonders if spent on the development of the region. It was as if we were nothing but puppets in the hands of powers that wanted to maintain a certain status quo and were slaves to profits at the immense cost of human lives, peace, and development.<br/><br/>Nathiagali greeted us with a sumptuous breakfast of hot parathas and fluffy masala omelettes in the fresh, crisp, mountain air. As we feasted, I shared the story of my arrival in Karachi with my overwhelming emotions of instant despair, fear and then warmth in the first two hours of landing in Pakistan. A concerned and protective Shaista kept shushing and warning me on my choice of words — I was using the word Indian too much — as she gestured to a group of men in grave discussion at a nearby table, with their rifles casually leaning on the side of the table pointing upwards. I could not help wondering if they were the Taliban!<br/><br/>After breakfast, we splurged on some quick shopping and curio hunting. I mused on the prices I had paid for my shopping; things were unbelievably cheap. Saad explained that the priority of those shops was to sell their wares so they could have food at home. It was inconceivably sad.</p>
<p class="comment-timestamp"></p> PAKISTAN, THROUGH INDIAN EYES…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-07-20:1119293:Comment:4257352023-07-20T23:37:36.857ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>PAKISTAN, THROUGH INDIAN EYES</span><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes" target="_blank">https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes</a></span><br></br><br></br><span>Ms. Nitupola Sharma writes an account of her first encounter with a Pakistani and her visit to Pakistan</span><br></br><br></br><span>A very strange thing happened to me in the Badshahi Masjid, which will stay a mystery for me forever. I somehow feel it was…</span></p>
<p><span>PAKISTAN, THROUGH INDIAN EYES</span><br/><br/><span><a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes" target="_blank">https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes</a></span><br/><br/><span>Ms. Nitupola Sharma writes an account of her first encounter with a Pakistani and her visit to Pakistan</span><br/><br/><span>A very strange thing happened to me in the Badshahi Masjid, which will stay a mystery for me forever. I somehow feel it was God’s way of showing me that that He was there. As our group of six adults and seven children went inside the mosque, right outside the gate was a man sitting with a basketful of what looked like sweetmeats packed in cellophane paper. There was another person standing beside him, and as we passed by, the gentleman standing next to the seller picked up a packet and offered it to me. I declined politely. He shook his head and said, “Prasad [food and water offered to a deity during worship] nahin lena?” [Don’t you want prasad?] Astonished, I immediately accepted. My group had already gone ahead, and I had to run to catch up with them.</span><br/><br/><span>Prasad at the doorstep of a mosque? How had this stranger identified my religion? I was dressed no differently from the other women. Or was it the mosque offering sweets? After doing a tour of the masjid, we came out, and I noticed that both the seller and the gentleman were gone. I showed the packet to Shaista, my colleague’s wife; she was convinced that it was either drugged or poisoned and forbade me from sharing it with the children. She also enlightened me to the fact that mosques do not offer any sort of prasad like temples do.</span><br/><br/><span>I went ahead and opened the packet of soan papdri sweets. I vouch by their crispy fluffy texture and I live to tell the tale. When nothing happened to me, we, the adults, shared the rest of the sweets, but no one could figure out who those men were and where they went. We went back to the place the next day to see if the men were there again, but no one was there. I could have sworn on my life that the person looked like a Pathan and could not have been anyone else.</span><br/><br/><span>It was past midnight when we finally headed home after celebrating Ryan’s birthday. Lahore was still awake, and life outside seemed like it was still early evening. Midnight on the eve of Eid was another discovery for me when Shaista took me shopping. At that hour of the night, I would not have expected Pakistani women to do finery shopping. There seemed to be a lot of activity all around. Mehndi stalls, shopkeepers not being able to keep pace with demands of specific shades of lipstick and nail polish, and jewellery of every kind. My favourite amazingly beautiful glass bangles in a myriad of colours, ready to be matched with any outfit. It was a scene straight out of a Bollywood movie, only this was real, and I was relishing every minute of it.</span><br/><br/><span>The next few days were spent enjoying amazing hospitality and savouring great food. Days went long into night, and I realised that the Lahore society was used to late nights with even children being wide awake while Ryan and I walked around like zombies. Lahore was another incredible experience for us, and we could not wait for more.</span><br/><br/><span>Where the straggly pine treetops reached out to the sky in hope of a whisper of sunlight, and the hills wore a deep red hue. That is where my friends took us next. We drove on serpentine roads by the deep gorges of the Kallar Kahar Salt Range to Murree and Ayubia in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The scenery changed frequently, sometimes barren hills greeting the eye and sometimes bountifully lush green hillsides. The road was colourfully decorated at places with shawls hung out for sale and salesmen lounging by the roadside, staring longingly with soulful eyes at the passing cars, willing them to stop. In some places, the road was lined with trees in full bloom as the yellow blooms competed with the fresh green leaves.</span></p> PAKISTAN, THROUGH INDIAN EYES…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2023-07-20:1119293:Comment:4255542023-07-20T23:37:08.194ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>PAKISTAN, THROUGH INDIAN EYES</span><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes" target="_blank">https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes</a></span><br></br><br></br><span>Ms. Nitupola Sharma writes an account of her first encounter with a Pakistani and her visit to Pakistan</span><br></br><br></br><span>Arriving at my friend’s home, I could sleep only for an hour, totally excited at the prospect of seeing my old friends and…</span></p>
<p><span>PAKISTAN, THROUGH INDIAN EYES</span><br/><br/><span><a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes" target="_blank">https://tribune.com.pk/story/2389418/pakistan-through-indian-eyes</a></span><br/><br/><span>Ms. Nitupola Sharma writes an account of her first encounter with a Pakistani and her visit to Pakistan</span><br/><br/><span>Arriving at my friend’s home, I could sleep only for an hour, totally excited at the prospect of seeing my old friends and exploring the country that I had thought I would never be able to see in my lifetime. Saad had a beautiful, spacious bungalow in DHA. At breakfast, Saad shared a humorous story of how his friends had cautioned him against having me, an Indian, stay in his house in a defence housing colony. Filled with worry, he had been wondering what to do as I was already planned to arrive in a day. He received a call from an unknown number. Saad nearly had a heart attack when the voice on the other side asked if he was Saad Iqbal, and on confirmation asked him if he was having an Indian visitor. Barely being able to squeak out a yes, Saad waited with bated breath as to what would come next. He was pleasantly surprised when the voice introduced himself as a relative of the ambassador, and that he would like to have all of us join him for dinner in Islamabad. This trip of mine was getting more and more eventful and memorable by the minute.</span><br/><br/><span>The afternoon found us meeting another ex-colleague, Nauman, and going together as a huge group of mischievous children and adults to the walled city of Lahore. Children made so much of a din that it was impossible for the adults to have any sort of a conversation. I felt a familiarity with one part of the city with its high walls, wide clean roads, and bungalows with its similarity to Gurgaon. Interior Lahore was more like Old Delhi with its abundant share of historical relics and cosy small outlets selling curios, antiques and artifacts, and snack sellers competing in their persuasive methods to entice you to stop by their colourfully decorated stalls.</span><br/><br/><span>I fell in love with Cooco’s Den with its beautiful stained-glass windows, narrow dark and dingy spiral steps, abundance of antiques, its secretive air, its gorgeous paintings, and open veranda giving you an amazing view of the walled city. The narrow building seemed to be bursting with stories and secrets of forbidden romances, having been the house of a lady infamous for her different lifestyle in a conservative society. Her son had converted their home into a restaurant. Soulful music accompanied our food, an experience that I will never forget. Never have I ever tasted karahi chicken that was so tasty that Ryan practically scraped off the handi and could not stop gushing about it.</span><br/><br/><span>The sight of the Badshahi Masjid, sharing its walls with the Ranjit Singh Gurudwara, and the Shahi Qila with the Minar-e-Pakistan standing guard in the front like a torch to these three precious historical treasures, was an exceptional experience worth its weight in gold. Shahi Qila with its paintings framed in precious stones, sadly most of them scrapped out. There is a huge step that was created for elephants to carry their royal riders directly inside the fort.</span><br/><br/><span>Inside the Badshahi Masjid, children enjoyed themselves the most as they ran around in the open area. The sight of the normally shy and self-conscious Ryan lying down in abandon on the carpet, busy with his new cell phone, completely oblivious of his surroundings, was a new sight to me.</span></p> India woman's post on Pakista…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2022-08-11:1119293:Comment:4098142022-08-11T14:28:34.900ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>India woman's post on Pakistani friend wins hearts on social media</span><br></br><span>Published</span><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62501687" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62501687</a></span><br></br><br></br><span>An Indian woman's post about her friendship with a Pakistani classmate is being praised on social media.</span><br></br><br></br><span>The two are students at Harvard Business School, and the post shows them holding the national…</span></p>
<p><span>India woman's post on Pakistani friend wins hearts on social media</span><br/><span>Published</span><br/><br/><span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62501687" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62501687</a></span><br/><br/><span>An Indian woman's post about her friendship with a Pakistani classmate is being praised on social media.</span><br/><br/><span>The two are students at Harvard Business School, and the post shows them holding the national flag of their respective countries.</span><br/><br/><span>Sneha Biswas wrote that her friendship with a Pakistani student broke the stereotypes she knew about the neighbouring country.</span><br/><br/><span>The two nations have shared hostile relations for decades.</span><br/><br/><span>India has banned Pakistani artists and cricketers from performing and playing in India. Pakistan has banned Bollywood films.</span><br/><br/><span>Celebrating the sentiment of unity depicted in the post, one user commented "we built walls between each other and thus it's up to us to bring it down." Another user hoped that the two women would "share a lifelong friendship that may bring changes across the borders for girls on both sides".</span><br/><br/><span>Ms Biswas, who is also an entrepreneur, shared the post about her friendship with her Pakistani classmate on LinkedIn. She did not name her friend.</span><br/><br/><span>In the post, she said that growing up in a small town, her knowledge about Pakistan and its people was limited. She got all her information through books and media, which often espoused narratives of hatred and rivalry.</span><br/><br/><span>She met her friend, who is from Islamabad, on her first day at Harvard and the two have developed a close friendship since then.</span><br/><br/><span>Over many chats enjoyed with tea and biryani (a flavourful rice dish), she discovered her friend's similar background - that of growing up in a "conservative Pakistani backdrop" but having family that supported her dreams.</span><br/><br/><span>"I realised that while pride for your individual nations stand strong, your love for people transcends geographies and boundaries," wrote Ms Biswas.</span><br/><br/><span>Her post championed unity between the people, saying "boundaries, borders and spaces are built by humans." She talked about "breaking barriers" not just between the two countries, but also for little girls from India and Pakistan who are "scared to shoot for the stars."</span><br/><br/><span>The post has received social media attention in the week running up to India's and Pakistan's independence anniversaries, celebrated on 15 and 14 August respectively. Both nations' independence is also linked to the Partition in 1947, which led to the division of India into India and Pakistan. The partition was one of the bloodiest events in history, and one that experts say laid the seeds of animosity between the two nations.</span></p> An Indian CEO shared a beauti…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2022-08-11:1119293:Comment:4099042022-08-11T05:27:54.542ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>An Indian CEO shared a beautiful story from her Harvard days.</span><br></br><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/indian-woman-s-story-of-her-friendship-with-pakistani-harvard-classmate-is-viral-see-post-1986517-2022-08-11" target="_blank">https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/indian-woman-s-story-of-her-friendship-with-pakistani-harvard-classmate-is-viral-see-post-1986517-2022-08-11</a></span><br></br><br></br><br></br><span>The post gives a description of a…</span></p>
<p><span>An Indian CEO shared a beautiful story from her Harvard days.</span><br/><br/><br/><span><a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/indian-woman-s-story-of-her-friendship-with-pakistani-harvard-classmate-is-viral-see-post-1986517-2022-08-11" target="_blank">https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/indian-woman-s-story-of-her-friendship-with-pakistani-harvard-classmate-is-viral-see-post-1986517-2022-08-11</a></span><br/><br/><br/><span>The post gives a description of a blooming friendship between Early Steps Academy CEO and her Pakistani friend.</span><br/><span>She shared a picture with her Pakistani friend.</span><br/><span>An endearing post shared by the CEO of Early Steps Academy has won the hearts of netizens. The LinkedIn post by Sneha Biswas gave the perfect example of friendship that broke all barriers. Biswas wrote about one of her classmates from Harvard Business School who happened to be a Pakistani citizen. The beautiful story of friendship received a thumbs up from people.</span><br/><br/><span>The post gave a detailed description of the blooming friendship between Biswas and her friend from Pakistan. “Growing up in a small town in India, my knowledge about Pakistan was limited to cricket, history books and the media. All revolving around rivalry and hatred. Decades later I met this girl. She is from Islamabad, Pakistan. I met her on my Day 1 at Harvard Business School. It took us 5 seconds to like each other and by the end of first semester she became one of my closest friends on campus,” Biswas wrote.</span><br/><br/><br/><span>---------</span><br/><br/><span>Growing up in a small town in India, my knowledge about Pakistan was limited to cricket, history books and the media. All revolving around rivalry and hatred.</span><br/><br/><span>Decades later I met this girl. She is from Islamabad, Pakistan. I met her on my Day 1 at Harvard Business School . It took us 5 seconds to like each other and by the end of first semester she became one of my closest friends on campus.</span><br/><br/><span>Over multiple chais, biryanis, financial models and case study preps, we got to know each other. Her stories of growing up in a conversative Pakistani backdrop, but blessed with supportive parents who gave her and her younger sister the courage to break the norms and chase their dreams, resonated with me. Her stories of fearless ambitions and bold choices inspired me.</span><br/><br/><span>I realized that while pride for your individual nations stand strong, your love for people transcends geographies and boundaries. People, fundamentally, are similar everywhere. Boundaries, borders and spaces are built by humans, and while it all might make sense to the head, the heart often fails to understand them.</span><br/><br/><span>Look at us on the famous flag day at #harvard - flaunting our flags and smiling away at the joy of “breaking barriers” - not just literally between India and Pakistan, but also for the countless little girls from India and Pakistan who are scared to shoot for the stars.</span><br/><br/><span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6962611099334557696/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6962611099334557696/</a></span></p> A passage to #Pakistan by @dh…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2020-02-08:1119293:Comment:1627032020-02-08T06:13:48.221ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>A passage to #Pakistan by @dhume: #Indians may have a distorted view of their neighbor, but Pakistanis don’t quite get #India either. #Delhi’s Pakistan policy is a disaster..it's based on a combination of hubris and hatred that are the opposite of realism…</span></p>
<p><span>A passage to #Pakistan by @dhume: #Indians may have a distorted view of their neighbor, but Pakistanis don’t quite get #India either. #Delhi’s Pakistan policy is a disaster..it's based on a combination of hubris and hatred that are the opposite of realism <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/a-passage-to-pakistan-indians-may-have-a-distorted-view-of-their-neighbour-but-pakistanis-dont-quite-get-india-either/" target="_blank">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/a-passage-to-pakistan-indians-may-have-a-distorted-view-of-their-neighbour-but-pakistanis-dont-quite-get-india-either/</a></span><br/><br/><span>Cliches about the warmth of Pakistani hospitality are true. But you can also encounter kindness among ordinary Pakistanis that has nothing to do with a culture of looking after your guests. At the Pakistan International Airlines counter in Lahore, a young man helpfully suggests that i check my carry-on bag at the gate to avoid paying for excess baggage. In the Indian imagination, particularly on the Hindu Right, Pakistan brings to mind only fanaticism and violence. But a visitor can experience it instead as a land of many small kindnesses.</span><br/><br/><span>The Indian view of Pakistan is increasingly shaped by a kind of national hysteria, an inability to view the country dispassionately as a geographical space that happens to be inhabited by a kindred people whose ancestors were Indians. In general, educated Pakistanis are less ignorant about India than their Indian counterparts are about Pakistan. (They are alarmingly up-to-date on Bollywood gossip.) But here too distortions abound. For Pakistanis, India is north India. Indian politics is the politics of the Hindi heartland.</span><br/><br/><span>----------------</span><br/><br/><span>On television, Indians are fed a diet of jingoism that is detached from reality. For instance, while Pakistan’s global influence may have declined precipitously – in large measure because of its sclerotic economy – the idea that India can isolate a nuclear-armed nation with more than 200-million people is preposterous. As things stand, Pakistan enjoys a strong relationship with China, has largely repaired its once strained relations with America, and is open to overtures from Russia.</span><br/><br/><span>Perhaps one day the politicians who run India and the generals who run Pakistan will feel secure enough to allow Indians and Pakistanis to visit each other freely and experience each other’s countries for themselves. Until such contact becomes commonplace, the odds of South Asia becoming more like Southeast Asia – united by economics rather than divided by politics – remain vanishingly slim.</span></p> #Indian Author/Activist Harsh…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2019-02-11:1119293:Comment:1238132019-02-11T00:39:11.906ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>#Indian Author/Activist Harsh Mandar: "I have travelled to many countries in the world in the sixty years of my life. I have never encountered a people as gracious as those in #Pakistan" <a href="https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/book-extract/never-encountered-people-as-gracious-as-in-pakistan" target="_blank">https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/book-extract/never-encountered-people-as-gracious-as-in-pakistan</a></span><br></br><span>.</span><br></br><br></br><span>Taking a chance, we knocked…</span></p>
<p><span>#Indian Author/Activist Harsh Mandar: "I have travelled to many countries in the world in the sixty years of my life. I have never encountered a people as gracious as those in #Pakistan" <a href="https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/book-extract/never-encountered-people-as-gracious-as-in-pakistan" target="_blank">https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/book-extract/never-encountered-people-as-gracious-as-in-pakistan</a></span><br/><span>.</span><br/><br/><span>Taking a chance, we knocked tentatively at the door of the house. A middle-aged man opened the latch, and asked us who we wanted to meet. My mother said apologetically, ‘We are so sorry to trouble you, and intrude suddenly in this way. But I lived as a child in Gawal Mandi, before Partition, when we had to leave for India. I think this maybe was our home.’</span><br/><br/><span>The house-owner’s response was spontaneous and immediate. ‘Mataji, why do you say that this was your home? It continues to be your home even today. You are most welcome’. And he led us all in. Before long, my mother confirmed that this was indeed her childhood home. She went from room to room, and then to the terrace, almost in a trance, recalling all the while fragments of her childhood memories in various corners of this house.</span><br/><br/><span>For months after we returned to Delhi, she would tell me that recollections of the house returned to her in her dreams.</span><br/><br/><span>Half an hour later, we thanked the house-owners and said that we would be on our way. But they would not hear of it. ‘You have come to your childhood home, then how can we let you go without you having a meal with us here?’ They overruled all our protestations, and lunch was prepared for around eight members of our party, including not just my family but also our Pakistani hosts. Only when they were sure that we had eaten our fill, and more, did they allow us to leave.</span><br/><br/><span>After we returned to India, news of our adventure spread quickly among family and friends. The next year, my mother-in-law, a wheel-chair user, requested that we take her also to Pakistan to visit her childhood home, this time in Gujranwala.</span><br/><br/><span>Given the joys of my parents’ successful visit, I was more confident. But then many elderly aunts and an elderly uncle joined the trip, and in the end my wife and I were accompanying six older people to Pakistan.</span><br/><br/><span>Our experience this time was very similar to a year earlier. The owner of their old ancestral haveli in their Gujranwala village took my mother-in-law around the sprawling property on her wheel-chair, and after we had eaten with them asked her, ‘Would you not like to check out your farmlands?’</span><br/><br/><span>On both visits, wherever my wife visited shops, for clothes, footwear or handicrafts, if the shopkeepers recognised her to be Indian, they would invariably insist on a hefty concession on the price. ‘You are our guests’, they would say. ‘How can we make a profit from our guests?’</span><br/><br/><span>As news of these visits travelled further, my associates from an NGO Ashagram for the care and rights of persons living with leprosy in a small town Barwani in Madhya Pradesh—with which I had a long association since its founding—demanded that I organise a visit for them also to Pakistan.</span><br/><br/><span>Once again, the Pakistani High Commission granted to them visas and they were on their way. There was only one catch, and this was that all of them were vegetarian. They enjoyed greatly the week they spent in Pakistan, except for the food.</span><br/><br/><span>Every night they would set out looking for a wayside shop to buy fruit juice. Each night they found a new shop, and each night without exception, the shopkeeper refused to accept any money for the fruit juice.</span><br/><br/><span>‘We will not charge money from our guests from India,’ they would say each time. This happened for a full seven days.</span><br/><br/><span>I have travelled to many countries in the world in the sixty years of my life. I have never encountered a people as gracious as those in Pakistan.</span><br/><br/><span>This declaration is my latest act of sedition.</span></p> #India writer Yoginder Sikand…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2016-12-19:1119293:Comment:1120972016-12-19T16:05:52.784ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>#India writer Yoginder Sikand says in his book "Beyond the Border" that he was taught to hate #Pakistan at age 4.…</p>
<p>#India writer Yoginder Sikand says in his book "Beyond the Border" that he was taught to hate #Pakistan at age 4. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xoJICgAAQBAJ&pg=PT6&dq=Beyond+the+Border:+An+Indian+in+Pakistan+yoginder+sikand&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbp--kuf_QAhVP0GMKHcn2AEYQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=Beyond%20the%20Border%3A%20An%20Indian%20in%20Pakistan%20yoginder%20sikand&f=false" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=xoJICgAAQBAJ&pg=PT6&dq=Beyond+the+Border:+An+Indian+in+Pakistan+yoginder+sikand&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbp--kuf_QAhVP0GMKHcn2AEYQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=Beyond%20the%20Border%3A%20An%20Indian%20in%20Pakistan%20yoginder%20sikand&f=false</a> …</p>
<p>Indian writer Yoginder Sikand in his book "Beyond the Border":</p>
<p>When I was only four years old and we were living in Calcutta (in 1971)...it was clear that "Pakistan" was something that I was meant to hate and fear, though I had not the faintest idea where and what that dreaded monster (Pakistan) was.</p>
<p>What I heard and read about the two countries (India and Pakistan)--at school, on television and over radio, in the newspapers and from relatives and friends--only served to reinforce negative images of Pakistan, a country inhabited by people I necessarily had dread and even to define myself against. Pakistan and myself were equated as one while India and the Hindus were treated as synonymous. The two countries, as well as the two communities were said to be absolutely irreconcilable. To be Indian necessarily meant, it seemed to be uncompromisingly anti-Pakistani. To question this assumption, to entertain any thought other than the standard line about Pakistan and its people, was tantamount to treason.</p>
<p><br/><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xoJICgAAQBAJ&pg=PT6&dq=Beyond+the+Border:+An+Indian+in+Pakistan+yoginder+sikand&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbp--kuf_QAhVP0GMKHcn2AEYQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=Beyond%20the%20Border%3A%20An%20Indian%20in%20Pakistan%20yoginder%20sikand&f=false" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=xoJICgAAQBAJ&pg=PT6&dq=Beyond+the+Border:+An+Indian+in+Pakistan+yoginder+sikand&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbp--kuf_QAhVP0GMKHcn2AEYQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=Beyond%20the%20Border%3A%20An%20Indian%20in%20Pakistan%20yoginder%20sikand&f=false</a></p> An #Indian's Act of #Sedition…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2016-08-31:1119293:Comment:1102422016-08-31T15:06:43.206ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>An #Indian's Act of #Sedition: "#Pakistanis are the most gracious people in the world". #India #Pakistan #Modi #BJP</span><br></br><span><a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1280722" target="_blank">http://www.dawn.com/news/1280722</a></span><br></br><br></br><span>A warm welcome</span><br></br><span>Our flight landed in Lahore, and our friends drove us from the airport to their home in Islamabad. I noticed that my mother was initially a little tense. Maybe it was memories of the violence of her exile;…</span></p>
<p><span>An #Indian's Act of #Sedition: "#Pakistanis are the most gracious people in the world". #India #Pakistan #Modi #BJP</span><br/><span><a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1280722" target="_blank">http://www.dawn.com/news/1280722</a></span><br/><br/><span>A warm welcome</span><br/><span>Our flight landed in Lahore, and our friends drove us from the airport to their home in Islamabad. I noticed that my mother was initially a little tense. Maybe it was memories of the violence of her exile; maybe it was just the idea that this was now a foreign land, and for many in India the enemy land.</span><br/><br/><span>I watched my mother gradually relax on the road journey to Islamabad, as she delighted in hearing my friends and the car driver speak the Punjabi of her childhood, and as she watched the altered landscape of her journey. Islamabad, of course, did not exist when she lived in the Punjab of her days.</span><br/><br/><span>In Islamabad, my friends invited to their homes many of their associates with their parents. They organised evenings of Punjabi poetry and music, which my parents relished. Our friends drove us to Murree, the hill-station in which my mother spent many pleasant summers as a child.</span><br/><br/><span>My mother had just one more request. Could she go to see the colony in Rawalpindi where she was born and spent her childhood in? My father also wanted to visit his college, the famous Gordon College in Rawalpindi.</span><br/><br/><span>A homecoming</span><br/><span>My mother recalled that the name of the residential colony in which she lived as a child was called Gawal Mandi. My friends knew it well; it was now an upmarket upper middle-class enclave.</span><br/><br/><span>When we reached there, my mother tried to locate the house of her childhood. It seemed impossible. Everything was new: most of the old houses had been rebuilt and opulent new structures had come up in their place.</span><br/><br/><span>She located the building that had housed their gurudwara. It had now been converted into a health centre. But we had almost despaired of actually finding her childhood house. We doubted if it was even standing all these years later.</span><br/><br/><span>We were leaving when suddenly my mother pointed to the filigree work on the balconies of one of the old houses. My mother said: “I remember it because my father was very proud of the designs. He said there was none like it in the neighbourhood."</span><br/><br/><span>Taking a chance, we knocked tentatively on the door of the house. A middle-aged man opened it, and asked us who we wanted to meet.</span><br/><br/><span>My mother said apologetically, “We are so sorry to trouble you, and intrude suddenly in this way. But I lived as a child in Gawal Mandi, before Partition, when we had to leave for India. I think this maybe was our home.”</span><br/><br/><span>The house owner’s response was spontaneous and immediate.</span><br/><br/><span>"Mataji, why do you say that this was your home? It continues to be your home even today. You are most welcome.”</span><br/><span>And he led us all in.</span><br/><br/><span>Before long, my mother confirmed that this was indeed her childhood home. She went from room to room, and then to the terrace, almost in a trance, recalling all the while fragments of her childhood memories in various corners of this house.</span><br/><br/><span>For months after we returned to Delhi, she would tell me that recollections of the house returned to her in her dreams.</span><br/><br/><span>Take a look: Why my heart said Pakistan Zindabad!</span><br/><br/><span>Half an hour later, we thanked the house-owners and said that we would be on our way. But they would not hear of it.</span><br/><br/><span>We were told: “You have come to your childhood home, then how can we let you go without you having a meal with us here?”</span><br/><br/><span>They overruled all our protestations, and lunch was prepared for around eight members of our party, including not just my family but also our Pakistani hosts. Only when they were sure that we had eaten our fill, and more, did they allow us to leave.</span></p>