Whenever I meet someone from Pakistan, I really get a warm feeling from inside of having met someone very close after a long time. You won't feel it till the time you talk to someone from the neighboring country. And obviously, me being from Lucknow, love hearing the perfect blend of Hindi and Urdu as it should be. And when we converse we somehow exchange a few words which directly reach the heart and make us ponder as to why the two countries still aren't able to be friends with each other!
So I went to an Indische restaurant in Munich a few days back for dinner with an old friend. It turned out to be a Lahori-Indische restaurant, the ones serving Indo-Pak cuisine. The owner came to us, very politely and gently, took our orders, and served us a delicious meal ( the food was a but expensive though, especially the water, but then, we from the sub-continent are known to make fools of even our own people really well). After filling the desires of the stomach and heart, my friend (who was giving the treat) was all set to loose some more euros. By the way, its not about the owner getting emotional and serving us free meals!! So the waiter came with the bill and while my friend was using his card, we started some small talk.
The guy asked us where we were from. He spoke in the typical tone spoken by an Indian Punjabi/ Haryanvi but with some polite words. Since I was the only one amongst the group who could speak hindi perfectly, I decided to take that question. I introduced everyone and then told that am from Lucknow and he was like, "O so you are from the city of Nawabs, tehzeeb ka sheher (city of Etiquettes)". As an etiquette, I too asked from him that where was he from. He simply said, that he belonged to Punjab. My immediate reply was, "The one in India or the on in Pakistan"? His reply was, and I would like to quote by memory, "Paaji kya baat karte ho aap bhi, kya India kya Pakistan, hum to bas Punjab se hai". I didn't have any words to reply to that!!
This conversation left me thinking again, what I have thought several times in so many years! Why are we still fighting, the people they don't see or imagine India and Pakistan differently. We have so much similarity in whatever we do, even then we can't be together. But I was happy somewhere. Happy to see and know, that even though we can't be friends on our own lands, we are at least brothers in a foreign land. The reason for being foes at home, is left for you and the bureaucracy to decide!!
So I went to an Indische restaurant in Munich a few days back for dinner with an old friend. It turned out to be a Lahori-Indische restaurant, the ones serving Indo-Pak cuisine. The owner came to us, very politely and gently, took our orders, and served us a delicious meal ( the food was a but expensive though, especially the water, but then, we from the sub-continent are known to make fools of even our own people really well). After filling the desires of the stomach and heart, my friend (who was giving the treat) was all set to loose some more euros. By the way, its not about the owner getting emotional and serving us free meals!! So the waiter came with the bill and while my friend was using his card, we started some small talk.
The guy asked us where we were from. He spoke in the typical tone spoken by an Indian Punjabi/ Haryanvi but with some polite words. Since I was the only one amongst the group who could speak hindi perfectly, I decided to take that question. I introduced everyone and then told that am from Lucknow and he was like, "O so you are from the city of Nawabs, tehzeeb ka sheher (city of Etiquettes)". As an etiquette, I too asked from him that where was he from. He simply said, that he belonged to Punjab. My immediate reply was, "The one in India or the on in Pakistan"? His reply was, and I would like to quote by memory, "Paaji kya baat karte ho aap bhi, kya India kya Pakistan, hum to bas Punjab se hai". I didn't have any words to reply to that!!
This conversation left me thinking again, what I have thought several times in so many years! Why are we still fighting, the people they don't see or imagine India and Pakistan differently. We have so much similarity in whatever we do, even then we can't be together. But I was happy somewhere. Happy to see and know, that even though we can't be friends on our own lands, we are at least brothers in a foreign land. The reason for being foes at home, is left for you and the bureaucracy to decide!!
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