Line of Camaraderie
Anjali Prayag
When Ayesha Nadir Ali and five of her students from the Lahore University of Management Sciences were offered a trip abroad, India was their obvious choice. Here they recount their experiences.
Fifty-seven years of hatred, violence and aggression has, indeed, taken its toll on the resources of both countries. But you see a ray of hope when you watch students from Pakistan and India exploring areas of mutual economic co-operation. We’re talking about a group of students from the cultural society of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) who were on a `goodwill visit’ to India recently.
While in Bangalore, they interacted with students of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM). Kehkashaan Beenish K, a B.Sc (Hons) student majoring in social sciences at LUMS, says she dreams of the day when both countries will co-operate in the business, entertainment, healthcare and educational sectors. “If we can do business jointly in Dubai, then why not here in our region,” she asks, adding, “And if we can come to terms with our differences with the West, then why not with each other?”
An IIM-Bangalore student agrees, “I think it’s a good idea to sell Indian-made goods in Pakistan.”
Ayesha Nadir Ali, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at LUMS, looks at more practical issues: “Getting a visa to India is much easier now, though there are still some hindrances.” She strongly feels that the visa restriction is doing a great disservice to both nations as it hinders friendship within the region. She urges Indian students to visit Pakistan “when the going is good, so that we can wipe out all the misgivings you have about the country”.
Nadir and five of her students were guests at IIM-Bangalore, after visiting Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and Kozhikode.
Kehkashaan recalls the `great experience’ they had in Mumbai when they met Bollywod stars Amitabh Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan. “But it’s not just these memories that we are taking back, but encounters with a lot of nice people.” Nadir seconds it, “Almost everybody we met has been extra nice to us and they can’t all be good actors, can they?” she smiles.
“You’re so lucky. You have so much to see and experience,” says Ayesha Nawaz, a B.Sc (Hons) student majoring in economics at LUMS. Her most memorable experiences have been the rides on Mumbai’s local trains and trekking in the wilderness near Kozhikode.
Why did they choose to come to India? Amber Rahman, also doing B.Sc (Hons) at the university, explains, “We belong to the cultural society of LUMS. When we were offered a trip abroad, India was the obvious choice.”
All of them feel that the friendship issue looms larger back home than it does in India. “For you Indians, Pakistan is not such a crucial issue, it is not central to your lives. Whereas in Pakistan, everybody gets affected by the India issue.”
Nadir concedes that though Kashmir is an important issue for people in both countries, “you still cannot wipe out the fact that we have 5,000 years of common heritage.” The students are highly enthused after the visit and feels it has been one of their most valuable experiences.
While students from both sides of the border agree that they have remained puppets in the hands of politicians and are “tired of the conflict”, one IIM-B student asks tentatively, “Can we dream of a united India like, maybe, the European Union or the two Germanies coming together?” Nadir replies immediately, “Why not? There’s nothing wrong in dreaming.”
Dismissing negative media reports in both countries, Kehkashaan feels Indians should watch some of the private Pakistani channels rather than PTV. “We, for instance, regularly watch Sony TV and Star Plus. Doordarshan is not our only source of information,” she says, adding, “of course Bollywood rules in Pakistan.”
Did they have any apprehensions before they undertook this journey? “Not really. But our families certainly did,” says Nadir, who lives just about 20 km from the border. “I think they were also envious of me as both my parents and my in-laws are from India and they have been waiting to cross the border for decades,” she adds.