My wife was working with the Customs department at Indo-Pakistan border at Wagah when we got married. A number of our relatives used to drop in at her office, primarily to be able to watch the daily Retreat ceremony at sunset. The drill was a celebration of aggression, but her visitors would mostly be trying to look towards the other side and watch Pakistani civilians across the gates who were there for the same purpose. You could look at Indians and Pakistanis looking at each other with the sole purpose of looking at each other. Every time, one or the other would exclaim, "They look exactly like us." How far from each other can two people be when they live next door? Browse through the pieces in this category to peep Across Radcliffe.
 

Cry Freedom, It’s Same-to-Same
August 14, 2005
Chandigarh: Mahatma and Quaid-i-Azam were as different as chalk and cheese and the divide was always over the two-nation theory....

Pakistan wants to trade? Fine, I have my half-brick!  When can we start?
March 23, 2005
Chandigarh: Unbeknown to Islamabad and New Delhi, Punjabis on both sides of the electrified fence are busy in a thriving export-import business...

Lahore and Patiala, same-to-same Janab. Khush'amdeed
November 23, 2004
Folks, everything has gone wrong. This morning, Punjab took off from Lahore, and was headed abroad. Instead it landed home. Surprised by the usual...

Pakistan delegate’s tourist delight: cremation grounds!
May 31, 2004
"Can I please see the cremation rounds?" Coming from a tourist, this was a highly strange request. But the interest was genuine. And as the tourist was a...

In Shahmukhi, In Gurmukhi, the message from WPC is same – We Love You
May 28, 2004
The tenth World Punjabi Congress, which took off today, is perhaps all about spilling out emotions, as the Shahmukhi and Gurmukhi writers met each...

Bindi goes with burqa, Sufi with Kaanta laga
February 8, 2004
She was in a burqa. I could only guess from her eyes that she was smiling as she approached me in the crowded Anarkali bazaar....

Kargil is History, now I want to meet all the Gills, Punjab-to-Punjab mission rides high on goodwill waves
February 2, 2004
How many times in the course of a day can someone have tea or meals with total strangers in a country which seemed most inimical only days earlier...

Mohali Musings: From the land of Luv-Kush with Moh of Ali

"Insha Allah, we will meet again if the Almighty so wills." Illumdin to Sajjan Singh in Sohan Singh Sital's Tootan Wala Khooh...