There’s no fear, it feels like home in Lahore : The Tribune India

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There’s no fear, it feels like home in Lahore

Sometimes invitations come unexpectedly from unusual places, and at interesting times!

There’s no fear, it feels like home in Lahore

It would be good if both sides reached out.



Sometimes invitations come unexpectedly from unusual places, and at interesting times! If you have been watching Indian TV channels over the past few days, you would imagine that for an Indian to visit Pakistan, at present, would be nigh impossible. But my experience (as a journalist and also as a TV producer) is that much of the news can be now regarded as entertainment. One should not take all those hotheaded pronouncements too seriously. They are merely a form of catharsis, where everyone places their personal angst and bias out there. The reality often is far, far different. 

And so, thanks to that sudden and unexpected invitation, we are now in Pakistan, almost overnight, enjoying the wonderful weather and great hospitality. 

In fact, when we received an invitation for Pakistan from the erudite and capable Ameena Saiyid of Oxford University Press, how could we refuse? She has, with a great team, over the years, nurtured three literature festivals — two in Islamabad and one at Karachi. We have always found that she is open to ideas, and serious about creating new readers in her country and abroad. And so, even though bullets had flown just a few days earlier in Gurdaspur, we found ourselves following her cheerful and positive instructions, and crossing the border.

The reality, of course, is that given the nature of our country's relations in the recent past, we were told by many not to talk about our plans till they actually fructified. So even though it was difficult, we took the sage advice, not even telling close family and friends! All the while, we kept hoping that everything would quieten down, and we would be able to make it to the other side of the border. 

For the first time, however, I wanted the experience of crossing the border on foot. Perhaps I am haunted by my favourite author, Saadat Hasan Manto’s astonishingly insightful and heartbreaking tale, Toba Tek Singh. Like the protagonist of the story, I wanted to stand on ‘No Man’s Land’, where the border vanishes before your eyes; where you could have one foot in India and one in Pakistan, and wonder where the real differences actually lay! I must admit that as in Manto's perceptive tale, I did feel disoriented because everything on both sides is the same, except on that one particular spot where I stood, in the middle. On one side loomed Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and on the other, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Their portraits adorn the large gates which seemingly welcome you into each country. 

But to be honest, as we had sped from the airport in the morning towards the Wagah border, I did ask the taxi driver (who does this every day) whether he felt a sense of fear. His stoic Punjabi answer no doubt would be echoed on both sides of the border: “The only thing to fear is fear itself.” He regaled us with the myriad theories that surround the latest killings in Gurdaspur, about where the terrorists were actually headed. But at the end, he smiled and said these attacks happened rarely, and so he was not going to give up ferrying passengers to the border just because someone was trying to frighten others like him. 

His calm analysis was far better than much of the jingoism we have recently seen on television... and one hopes that this kind of ability to deal with different experiences dawns upon those who would like to see a war erupt between the two countries. 

Even more impressive was the way in which passengers were queueing up at the border terminal before they walked across to Pakistan. We met some of the Border Security Force personnel whose entire life revolves around ensuring no untoward incident takes place. To our pleasant surprise, they too showed no anger or resentment. 

In fact, they spoke about the cooperation that both sides enjoyed and how they hoped, as they practically spent their entire life here, that there would be more positive initiatives. Being young, some of them wanted to discuss subjects like economics with my husband, and so, to my surprise, we passed some pleasant moments talking about the books that we were both going to be discussing in Pakistan. 

After that, we smoothly walked up to the point where the two sides perform their exaggerated high-kick parade every evening, and shortly afterwards, coolies from Pakistan arrived to take our luggage to their side of the terminal. 

On the other side too, we found only words of encouragement. And for me the best sight so far has been of the young mother who was also a visa officer. It was absolutely delightful, that as she checked our passports, she simultaneously dangled her child on her lap, and fed him whilst patiently asking us questions and answering our queries, with a smile. It was such a wonderful sight, and everyone around was so empathetic. I wondered why we did not see more mothers with their children in offices! Or even, just more women visa officers at any terminal. There are definitely some things to be learnt from our good neighbour! On a serious note, that mother and child by themselves ensured the evaporation of any tension. After all, a mother will only bring her child into an environment that she knows is safe. 

Even our drive into Lahore showed normalcy all around, and we are looking forward to the rest of our stay. So, sometimes, sudden and unexpected invitations bring rather pleasurable results! 

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