From a 'Patriotic Animal' to a 'Patriot'

Even though the pain and sorrow of leaving my homeland hits me every now and then, I look back and see on what I have gained rather than regretting what I have lost in these two years. My dad had always lectured about gaining positives and discarding the negatives like a ‘swan’ that could separate milk and water. In the days of being a casual teenager and having the special aura and arrogance of being an engineer, I hardly could realize how important these words were.

From being a kid with no background knowledge of the real world, the wisdom of words and the length of this journey have made me to think, understand and have added a new dimension in learning the world and the people.

I used to be a raging patriot till I was 21! Used to hate our hostile neighboring countries and never accepted that we were below par to them in any aspect. I still remember the days when people like me used to weep like kids when we lost a cricket match against Pakistan (although we had a gala time when we rocked the stadium with our drums, props and swearing at the opposition). Meeting new and special people in the United States has made me regret and realize how stupid I have been throughout all these years.

Recalling the stats that I got to read before a few months, I found that only less than 3% of the Indian population gets a chance to go overseas to either work or pursue their further education. From what I observe, roughly only 1% of this 3% get to blend and get to know the people from other countries and cultures. I was one of the fortunate individuals among that 1% mentioned.

Since India hasn’t had very good relations with Pakistan for more than five decades right now, I would like to focus more on the people of the two countries. I do agree that both the nations have had the discrepancies in the past and some of the policies would unsurprisingly stir up emotions and anger inside any individual in both of these countries. But ultimately, the case boils down to influence of media upon the hatred among the civilians in both the countries. Most of the time, the media makes a ‘mountain out of a molehill’ and in this case, it has simply injected poison into the minds of people.

Two years before in Morgantown, West Virginia I was introduced to one of the guys from Pakistan. He was probably one of the first Pakistani’s I had properly met.( I have met a few in some international airports where we would give strange looks at each other) With inhibitions in mind and having a crass attitude influenced by the media still revolving around my mind, I was forced to introduce myself to this guy. This looked like Russell Crowe shaking hands with Denzel Washington at the Oscar’s, when both of them were nominated for the same award.

In a course of time with some really long conversations, I began to realize how humble and a knowledgeable person he was. I began to learn more about his country and developed high respect for him and his country. We did have our share of divisive and sensitive topics, but both of us seemed to agree and discuss more on what had to be done rather than what existed.

Even though we were good friends, I still wasn’t totally convinced! The acquaintance with him made me feel he was one of the few exceptions that any group would consist of. That’s when I was proved wrong again! I got to meet several people from Pakistan through him. I was surprised with the way they respected me and moved along with me. In fact, I had the rare honor of being invited to Pakistan to attend my friend’s marriage.

Now after two years of knowing these special people, I trust some of my Pakistani friends more than some of my Indian friends. We both realize that ‘Everything that is good has to come to an end’ and I know that this special friendship of ours in Morgantown will come to an end pretty soon. And looking at my inner self in the mirror now, I realize that I'm still a patriot but not a nationalistic animal. I do want India to win in Cricket, but I definitely wouldn't weep if India lost in a cricket match against Pakistan.

But, we need to realize that the friendship and intermingling of Indians and Pakistanis outside their countries is not the permanent solution for total peace among the two countries. The public need to pump out the poison injected in their minds. The media need to realize the effect of their blunders and should stop blowing things up. And most importantly, the youth from both the countries need to think of new ideas to counter the dirty politicians who are the root cause for these problems. It’s only when the roots are destroyed, can we destroy the whole creeper of poison around the people.

Coming to the end of the blog reminds me of one of my very favorite quotes which goes like this:

“Low minds discuss people, Middle minds discuss events and Great minds discuss Ideas”.

The permanent solution for Indo-Pak peace lies in the third category of the quote aforementioned!