Neighbours of Fanatics.

In the book Husband of a fanatic, the author, Amitava Kumar, cries out, "We aren't even given chance to swear at each other". He is talking in the context of Indo-Pak relations. Not political relations but men to men relations. It's a brilliant book and would not disappoint any one who picks it up. It talks about the rifts present between various religious communities in the sub continent. Kumar has taken pains to do meticulous research over the subject and his analysis is very deep. He has travelled extensively for the book & met numerous people.

The Indo-Pak scene is given ample importance in the book. Kumar, himself married to a Pakistani Muslim, travelled to Pakistan and cared to meet various people over there. He carried out a very interesting experiment:- he asked children from his school in Patna to write letters addressing their counterparts, studying in schools at the other side of the fence. He asked the same thing from the students of his wife's school in Karachi†. What came out of this experiment really shows how skewed and indoctrinated our views are. Many children though agreed that the children on the other side are just like themselves, they couldn't let go of the negative emotions fed into them since start.

If we think about this, what do we know about Pakistan & Pakistanis? All we get to know, and that isn't enough for sure, is hugely superfluous information. Considering the popularity of Bollywood movies (and lately, TV serials) in Pakistan, one would imagine atleast they have a fair idea about us. But we know how far from reality those movies are! So, is there any way to get to know each other better? Few years earlier, perhaps there wasn't, but with the arrival of internet, people are coming together like never before. And of course, the cricket series, with people crossing borders to watch matches and mingle with the "neighbours", are helping.

Take Orkut for example, it's a networking website from Google, with growing popularity worldwide. The users are allowed to maintain groups with other users can join and they can then discuss various topics of their interests. It has found sizable following in the sub continent too, just like the rest the world. Not to be left behind, many groups are formed with Indo-Pak relationship as the theme. There is India Pakistan Friendship Club and soon people fed up of it and formed IPFC SNOBS (India Pakistan Friendship Club Sans N00bs Or Borders). The Cricket community is hijacked by Pakistanis & Indians for all practical purposes. There are basically three kinds of people there; 1) Curious lot, 2) Friendly kinds and 3) Jerks or people with different opinions :). Curious ones are there to know more about the other side, they are interested only in questions, raising and clearing doubts etc. Friendly people "invest" their time in all sorts of silly games and general chit-chat ("Write something about the person above", "Suggest a future for the person above u...", kinds). They have lots of time and lots of bandwidth to waste and apparently it thrills them even more to find that there are like minded people on the other side. And we have jerks, these are real combative punks! They start all the "controversial" topics, they are interested in insulting the other party & picking up fights. There are lots of them from both sides. While most of them allege baselessly, some of them are really well informed over various conflicts and charges put on the other side, like the issue of Baglihar Dam, RAW & ISI, Kargil War, etc. Despite the venom they spew, some discussion turn out to be really rich in information and provide great insight towards what they know & think about the other side.

Then there are blogs. I don't know many Pakistani bloggers but there is this excellent photoblog, "Who Am I?", maintained by a Karachiite (The link also appears on my photoblog). Some more pakistani photoblogs are listed here.

Last time when Indian cricket toured Pakistan, first time many Indians crossed the border to watch the contests. When they came back, welcomed warmly & treated excellently, they brought along many "feel-good" stories about Pakistan & the Pakistani awaam. I remember, one write up from some one from Wipro was circulated in the software circles. It narrated the beautiful experience he had in Pakistan; shopkeepers would not take money from him, people would greet very warmly and all. I once met a Pakistani in a Paris subway (I was in Europe in Summer 2002 for my internship with few other batchmates). He told us, in Urdu with a heavy Punjabi accent, "Awaam aman chahti hai. Saale Politicians hi ***** hain". It was the first time I met a Pakistani. Now, I want to visit Pakistan.

† The Letters by Indian and Pakistani school-children collected by Amitava Kumar