Dear Bharat Mata, I’m Your Pakistani Daughter And I Love You. By Maliha Khan
NB: Thank you Maliha. Borders are artificial. Love and friendship are perennial. I'm sure your beautiful letter will touch many hearts. Here is a small essay for you. Please share it with your friends and family: The Almond Trees by Albert Camus - Dilip
Dear Bharat Mata,
I am not quite sure if
someone from across the border has written a letter to you before, sitting in
your beautiful land. But there is always a first, isn't there? So let me
introduce myself and tell you my story. I have had a long relationship with
you, one that spans generations. But more about that later.
My name is Maliha Khan
and I come from the hustling bustling city of Karachi, Pakistan. I was born to
your estranged brother, Pakistan. Although Karachi became the city of my birth,
you were already in my blood, Mother India, coursing through my veins. No, it
is not only because my far-removed ancestors came from your part of the world
when both you and your dear brother Pakistan had lived together happily. My
father too was born on your precious soil in a small village in Bihar called
Kahalgaon. My mother, unfortunately, couldn't witness your beauty because, by
the time my Nana and Nani got married, you and your dear brother had already
parted ways.
My mother was born in
that younger brother's land, who you helped stand on his own feet in 1971. You
were accused by your brother Pakistan for breaking up his home. But Bengal was
your brother too and you were perhaps trying to help him find himself. That's
what big sisters are for, aren't they? I have two younger brothers myself and strangely
enough, all three of us share a relationship quite like you and your two
brothers, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Why do families fight?
Don't we all love each other at the end of the day? I am sure you love your
dear brother Pakistan and he loves Bangladesh as you do. Then why did you all
have to separate? The bloody pages of history books have the answer to these
questions, yet none of those explanations satisfy me. Even when you and your
dear brother Pakistan were estranged, I tell you he never forgot you. Your
beautiful people were all over the television screens of our homes through your
films and soaps. That's how I learned about your distinct traditions and even
began to dream about celebrating them one day!
Growing up in your
dear brother's land, I never remember being told to hate you, despite the
popular notion your people might have. Maybe my father was right to ban the
television in our house because I was never exposed to the venom the media was
spewing against you. I remember I used to stay at my Nani's place for hours
when the elders would be watching those utterly gripping saas-bahu serials. I
wouldn't take my eyes off the television screen when the local cable
screened Kuch Kuch Hota Hai one evening. Years passed by but
you still remained with me and as Shah Rukh Khan says, "Pyaar dosti
hai!" I too began to fantasise about befriending you and your people and
sharing a bond of love that is bound to exist.
It was in 2013 that I
first met some of your spirited people in a conference in Islamabad and I fell
in love with them. We couldn't spend too much time with each other and even
though I wanted to take them to my home in Karachi, you and your dear brother
have made it practically impossible for your people to be together.
Nonetheless, I forged lifelong bonds. My next encounter with your people
happened not on your dear brother's soil but in a completely foreign territory,
Bangkok, when I worked with one of your talented artistes. It was such a
defining experience for me because all those Indians I met made me feel like I
was one of them! I had never felt so in sync with a group of people from my own
country and here I was thinking how well these Indians understand me as a
person.
That was when I decided it was high time I found an excuse to cross the
border and come to your glorious land. Ah! I wish both our people didn't need
to find excuses to visit each other. Here I am today, at
the end of my year-long Young India Fellowship at the Ashoka University. Your
people have really loved me because not only did they give me this opportunity
but also invested in me to come here. I know you and your dear brother Pakistan
can't seem to get along well but both your people have uninhibited love for
each other in their hearts. I was scared the authorities in your land might not
let me see your magnificence but as they say, when you want something, the
entire universe conspires in helping you achieve it.
Exactly a year ago, I
was informed about my visa coming through, and on 14th July last year I set
foot in this beautiful land. My cousins started teasing me that soon I would be
singing the lines of the famous Iqbal song, "Saaray jahan se acha,
Hindustan hamara!"
As I sit here writing
a letter to you, Mata ji, I want to tell you that I am in awe of you. I implore
you to let bygones be bygones and embrace your dear old brother Pakistan in
your warm arms as you have embraced me. I wish the siblings are able to give a
chance to peace, friendship and love. Both you and your brother are struggling
with the same problems for the past 70 years of your separation. I call on you
to work together with him for a better future of the people of Kashmir who have
been robbed of a peaceful life since decades. I beseech you to work with your
brother and eradicate the rampant casteism and oppression of lower caste groups
you both are plagued with. I know, together, you two can be an unstoppable
force!
Although I will always
love the land of my birth, Pakistan, my soul is truly yours, Mother India.
Ma,
tujhe salam!
Your daughter from
across the border,
Maliha Khan
The music of humanity: The force of love is the same as the force of the soul or truth. We have evidence of its working at every step - M.K. Gandhi
