Thursday, March 13, 2008

Splinters of the fragmented mind


“It is not easy to truly have the measure of those who live aslant to the rest of us”.

I told a friend yesterday about my wish to go to Pakistan and see a part of our heritage and a part of the sub-continent with unbiased eyes. She literally went into convulsions! How I would love to have the famous kebabs of Lahore, see the old Punjab, walk down the beach in Karachi, and see a life well removed from ours in NWFP!

She had been simmering with something for a while, her anger was not centered, and it had started to turn into rage off late. She had to find something new to do, a new place to go to, a new life… The restless soul can be unforgiving and in constant search of the unknown. She was walking down a street in the evening by herself and she saw a child sitting on the sea side. The effervescent woman can make conversation with anyone, literally. Anyone! She started talking to the urchin and there was an instant connection. They joked, laughed and chatted till late. She bought the child some food and water. Her anger started dispersing. You know what an aura is? Hers was huge, she had too much energy and despite working hard, she had lots left to spare. The restlessness began to fade away that night and she was able to write again.

1 comment:

Da said...

i have had the good fortune to visit lahore.. it's a lovely city with the warmest people.. being indian is the equivalent of being a celebrity.. i don't think i've received that kind of warmth from random people in the street here in india.. if at all, the instances have been very rare and mostly unremarkable.. it was funny actually.. in lahore, poeple were so nice and warm and eager to treat me as their valued guest (for free, mind you) when they heard i'm indian. yet, when i returned to india, and mentioned to a shopkeeper in amritsar that i'd just returned from lahore, he glared at me like the next bomb was in my backpack, traitorous scum that i seemed to him!!