Young people bringing in the change

Dear Sheroo

It brings me so much joy to be able to write to you again. It has been almost a month since our collaborative blog has been parched for an update :p Before sitting down to write this, I read your last post again, and realized how much has happened between the writing of that post and this particular moment. And one of the most significant things that happened was that we eventually met, after all these months of corresponding over email, Facebook and Twitter, and having the occasional brief phone conversation.

I am glad I got the opportunity to visit Pakistan for the third time, thanks to the organizers of the Children's Literature Festival and the Teachers' Literature Festival in Islamabad who invited me as a speaker and workshop facilitator. And owing to the generosity of the Pakistan High Commission, I was also able to get city visas for Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi. There is so much that I treasure from this trip. I had the most amazing time there, interacting with children and teachers, meeting old friends, making new ones, and visiting places that I have been meaning to for a long time.

 I am glad we could meet so many times during the short period I was there for. It would not have been possible had you not been so flexible about your timings. Your work involves night shifts but you gave up a lot of your daytime sleep to be able to meet up. That meant a lot to me. There is something quite special about meeting someone in person, as opposed to online interaction, isn't it? I remember us saying to each other that it did not seem like we were meeting for the first time. It seemed like we had known each other for several years. 

I enjoyed being taken to some of your favourite restaurants, and also watching that film with you. Speaking of the film, Revolver Rani was crazy, wasn't it? We started off liking it, imagining that it would turn out to be a really cool spoof of sorts. However, it let us down terribly. Do you remember I told you I had a hunch that it wasn't going to be a very good film? Nevertheless, I did want to watch a Bollywood flick with you, considering how often we talk about movies. To be fair, the popcorn at the movie hall was good :p

 Before setting out for Pakistan, I was wondering what I would get you as a gift. A kurta maybe, a movie poster, a coffee mug with local motifs, a book perhaps. Those were the things I was thinking of but you said, "Chintan, bring me an Indian God." It is quite interesting that you said so. I knew what I would bring along soon as I heard that. The Ganesha I gifted you was bought years ago in Pondicherry, a seaside town I love going to every once in a while. I spotted it on a makeshift stall set up near a lovely temple called Manakula Vinayagar Kovil. That temple also has an elephant called Lakshmi right outside, heaping blessings on those who offer money that is passed on to the caretaker :-)

I loved what you gifted me - a tasbeeh. It is amazing how this particular object is used by people from so many spiritual traditions to build concentration or as an aid to chanting and prayer. Muslims use it, Christians do, and so do Hindus, Jains and Buddhists as well. This is precious, for three reasons: 1. It came from you. 2. Your ammi helped you pick this one for me. 3. I believe in the power of good wishes, healing intentions and blessings.

 Before I conclude this post, I feel like sharing something I was musing about just a few hours ago. It was a late Saturday evening, and I was watching the film Veer-Zaara
 on television along with my parents. This is a movie I saw years ago when it released in cinema halls, and I remember not being too impressed. However, my experience of it this evening was quite different. I have visited Lahore thrice, and that has made all the difference. Much of what I would have earlier dismissed as soppy really tugged at my heart. The violence of the lines that divide us, the suspicion in people's minds, the futility of our long-standing feuds, the suffering of divided families and innocent folks languishing in prisons on both sides - it hit me hard, once again. What really stayed with me is something that Zakir Ahmed (played by Anupam Kher) tells Saamiya Siddiqui (played by Rani Mukerji) at the very end - "Tum jaise naujawan in dono mulqon ki takdeer badlenge." (Translation: 'It is young people like you who will transform the destiny of these two nations.") So true! We are at it, already!