As we crossed the blood lined Waagah, after three hours of soul-destroying bureaucratic tangles and multiple forms filled in by the guardians of our borders, nothing changed. It was an eerie reminder of how the two Punjabs are but one. The roads were dusty and rural life remains as time-warped as ever. The street vendors were selling dirty, unhygienic food items wrapped in a thick cover of flies; and the money changers and CD-sellers attacked you with a frenzy that one is used to back home.
The road was still called the Grand Trunk Road and the traffic was a little more chaotic than that on the Pakistani side.
The over-loaded road space reminded one of the simple fact that India’s population is out of control There is simply an explosion of humanity in all directions. . . My companions and I stood on the roadside waiting for the Sardariji to return.
However, the general comment was that the lost side of the Punjab was more developed; and the images of women riding on motorcycles and scooters were simply astounding for first time visitors to India.
Six decades have passed since rivers of blood were unleashed by the tragic events of 1947, where an
unnatural division of a territory was imposed by a cabal of self-obsessed politicians of all varieties and faiths, in cahoots with their imperial masters. . . . Punjabis have coped with this trauma rather well.
On our side they have captured the entire country, held it to ransom and have not shied away from undermining other nationalities when need be.
On the enemy side, they have turned into mega-entrepreneurs, flourishing businessmen across North Indian urban centres and a huge diaspora with lots of money in the Western capitals. . . . The Muslims, of course, have left their saints and shrines in the Hindu kingdom, not to mention traces of a seven-century cohabitation with the Indian gods.
{See how even a more moderate and enlightened Pakistani is unable to appreciate the fact that India is not a 'Hindu Kingdom' and Muslims have not left behind anything in India and moved en masse to Pakistan because there is an equal number of Muslims in India as they are in Pakistan even after a frenzied process of procreation in that country just to show that Pakistan was the second largest Muslim nation on earth}
At sunset, we were closer to Chandigarh - city beautiful - a city that had to be built anew to refresh the memories of Lahore. A project that Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru was extremely proud of, Chandigarh became the first prototype, well-planned socialist experiment. It is a shame that five decades later, it is nothing like Lahore, as it still gropes to find an identity and it has turned into a testament of India’s deep-seated inequality across class lines. Having said that, it is a model city, with big boulevards, wide pavements, multiple educational institutions and mercifully, lots of green spaces.
We arrived at Himachal Bhavan, a government owned rest house of sorts built like a socialist castle. Very soon, we merged into the streams of visitors from other countries. The bauls, fakir followers of Lalon Shah in Bengal, the singers from Nepal, Kashmir and dancers from tribes of Bengal and Maharashtra constituted the delightful mosaic of South Asian folk universe
{Many brilliant instances of Pakiness comes out here. Chandigarh was built to refresh memories of the loss of Lahore ? No, not at all, sir. And, Chandigarh has turned into a city depicting class lines ? Pray, how ? Again, except for Nepal, the folk artistes are all from different states of India and the author prefers to call them as ' from other countries' ?}
The syncretic roots of our folklore are difficult to miss. As I narrated in my paper on the myths of Indus river that,
even today in parts of Sindh, there exists the practice of wrapping the holy Quran in colourful cloth and cradling it, the way Hindus have worshipped the birth of Lord Krishna.
Nehru’s land reform, industrialisation and the spread of education at all levels have made these states distinctly different from their mammoth counterpart: the Pakistani Punjab. A large middle class has transformed the cultural ethos and democratic traditions have ensured that citizen voice is given its due in governance on the Indian side.
Chandigarh, for instance, has an impressive literacy rate of nearly 82% and its per capita income is also the highest for the service sector flourishes here. Guess who can boast of a
parha likha Punjab? On the other hand we have a small, populous strip of central Punjab that has the promise of prosperity; otherwise, southern Punjab is the poorest of regions in Pakistan. The
barani north is also impoverished with limited citizen services and entitlements. With our indoctrinated India-hatred, we often tend to overlook these developments in our immediate neighbourhood. How come the infidels, those scheming
banias and stumbling Sikhs achieve this? A question that must be addressed by us all.
Mr and Mrs Ghuman live in a peaceful house within the university, grow their own vegetables, and are raising two sons who are acquiring state of the art education. I was offered baisan ki mithai, kachorees and barfi with lots of affection for Pakistan and the Punjabis. I did not feel as if I was in a hostile territory and the conversation and its tenor reminded me of my family on this side of the border.
Ironically, the same day another former Professor of Chandigarh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a son of Chakwal was trading allegations against Pakistan for spreading terrorism. Politics can deplete cultures and destroy common bonds. {Ahh. . . it is all just politics and that is why India 'trades accusations' against Pakistan ? There are no Hafeez Saeeds, Ilyas Kashmiris. Masood Azhars, Khalid Sheikh Mohammeds. Ajmal Kasabs etc ?}
Raza Rumi is a development professional and a writer based in Lahore. He blogs at http://www.razarumi.com and edits Pak Tea House and Lahorenama e-zines
