Throughout my childhood, I have always heard and imbibed the feeling that 'Pakistan' was the enemy country who wouldnt hesitate to harm our nation at the drop of a hat. Of course, the multiple wars and the hype surrounding Indo-Pak cricket matches alongwith Kashmir and Kargil did not help either.
However, in a world so far away from our own, here in Europe, Pakistan and India go together. If we see a person who may be looking like a desi, the probability is almost 50% that rather than an Indian, he could be a Pakistani too. While I have always felt offended in a strange sort of way to be called a Pakistani, I now realise that for the local people here, there is nothing to differentiate between these 2 countries.
Yesterday, I am waiting at one of the bus stops. This guy comes along with another guy (my first impression is that he is a Turkish guy) and asks me 'aap hindustani ho?' Then he tells the other person...'maine bola na ki ye hindustani hai. Hum sab ek hi hai. Main Afghani, ye Nepali aur aap Hindustani'....I was like..'wow, never have I thought in such a manner'.
I guess in the European world, we would all be classified under 'brown skinned Asians' (if I want to take a racist overtone). In fact I am realizing that not just the South Asians (Pakis, Indians, Sri Lankans, Nepalis) it is also the Middle East folks (Iraqis, Turks etc) who are in some way clubbed together. There seems to be an almost unspoken word of solidarity. Of course the feeling is much stronger between Pakistanis and the other Muslim communities.
To me, it is interesting to note this 'we' vs 'them' undertones..(the 'them' being the whites). But the fact is that these are all unspoken. We can sense them in many places, the fact that we are not 'them'.
So that brings me to the question, if we are so closely linked to the Pakis in the rest of the world, is there any point in the quite explicit hate campaign that happens (or rather used to happen) in India or Pakistan against each other?
This started off as a hesitant step, but the blog has grown and the journey has been enjoyable. These are just a collection of my ramblings and my views..a good reflection of what is running in my mind...
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- Bibs
- male, libran, movies, music, travel, analyst, IT, MBA gyan, foreign policy, globalization
3 comments:
In places like UK where South Asians form a significant chunk of the crowd, I guess they might be able to distinguish between South Asians (Indians, Pakis, Sri Lankans, Nepalis, Bangladeshis) and Middle Eastern people. In other European countries they might view us as one.
This could probably be called co-opetition. Pepsi and Coke might be fighting tooth and nail, but on a macro level, they might want people to migrate to carbonated drinks.
kaps...engeyo poyitte...what fundas...too much MBA gyan, man....:)I would havent have thought about Coke & Pepsi in this context
i cant believe this. not a single bit. not because i dont believe that south asians bond in foreign lands. but because no one can call u a hindustani. take a look in the mirror and tell me. people can only call u tambhi or mallu. this bonding is much more common with north indians due to shared language/cuisine/culture. i'm a strong believer in the fact that south india is an integral part of india, but i refuse to believe that it will ever be as close to other south asian countries (except lanka maybe), as north indians are.
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