When An Indian Meets A Pakistani

Yesterday I came across a question on Quora asking about the feeling of an Indian when they meet a Pakistani citizen in person.

I immediately felt moved to answer this question because I had an experience to share. This was my answer:

_________________________________________

It was the 28th of January 2014 and the time was about 21:05 Central European Time. I had set foot in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport after having traveled for about 20 hours starting my journey from Hyderabad, India. It was the first time I had ever left my country so you can guess I was totally bewildered not knowing where to go but at the same time feeling all the more excited to finally be in Europe.

Everything was so new to me - the people, the language, the feeling. I kept following the herd that came out of the Emirates EK149 flight from Dubai - the same flight I was in. I had tried my best to remember the faces of some co-passengers who I presumed would go through the same set of landing formalities and eventually out of the airport in perhaps the same train that my friend had asked me to board. God! I was so naive! Anyway, the immigration formalities completed real quick and then I had to scurry to the designated conveyor belt to gather my baggage.

After what seemed like a good half hour of careful peeking I finally got hold of my bags and started to walk towards the exit. To my horror, I couldn't find any of those 'remembered faces' anywhere. I had finally descended into reality. Quite perplexed, my eyes started scanning the place for any brown-skinned person whom I could approach and ask for help. And that's when I found him!

He was a frail, young man in plain clothes that resembled the workaday Indian attire. Moreover his appearance put him in one of the four countries and since roughly 3 out of 4 South Asians are Indians I had to think of him as one (In reality, I assumed in panic!). So I ran up to him and greeted him. I had huge expectations that he'd be acquainted to the place. Alas! he turned out to be exactly like me. And guess what, he was also in the same flight as me.

We exchanged casual hellos but spared the names. His accent was very similar to regional North Indian accents. Once I knew he was in the same waters, I had no other business but to casually continue the conversation without much obligation. It was then I asked him where he comes from (while asking within my mind "which part of India do you come from?"). The reply was clearly unprecedented and unexpected. When he said "I am from Xyz, Pakistan", I was clearly a little shaken from within. A voice in my head might have told me to "steer clear of him". But it was not until he replied to my next question that I actually found myself at a loss of words.

After acknowledging his reply I said to him in a cannot-go-wrong sort of way "then we can switch to Hindi. isn't it!?". With a puzzling look on his face he replied, "I don't know Hindi. I speak only Urdu". I stared at him with blank eyes and then a moment later I said "but they are very similar to each other you know like..." and then I stopped. I figured if I start giving examples then it will be a prolonged conversation and would serve no purpose as clearly he seemed to have no knowledge about India beyond the most obvious.

We had got our train tickets. Our trains were different but from adjacent platforms. He seemed to have some trouble reading the ticket and he could tell from the look in my face that I knew what I had to do next. So he was reluctant to let me go. He insisted me to stay until he boarded his train. Suddenly I had become the experienced one! Much as I wanted to stay back and help him, the timings on the display suggested that my train was going to arrive before his. So I showed him his train on the list and picked up my bags to walk. We shook hands and wished each other the best.

Before I boarded my train we waved each other a final goodbye. Perhaps we had exchanged names eventually but I don't remember anymore. To me, he will always be 'The first "Indian guy" I met in Amsterdam'.

_________________________________________

So is there a point in all of this you might ask. There certainly is. It's us who have marked borders and built fences around our countries. The reasons are historic and geopolitical. But what makes us who we are is our inner being. And it really doesn't matter who comes from where as long as you're connected with them through your inner being. All it takes is a smile and a little effort to break the ice with a stranger and you never know that stranger might turn out to be the best companion you've ever had in your life. And if you're cheated or betrayed, you'll know better.

Love thyself. Love thy neighbors.

Happy New Year 2016!