Beyond the Boundaries

Zoya meets Maahi

Zoya wasn't a big fan of train journeys. She often found them slow and boring.

'What I hate about this train is it's slow and uneventful and what I love about it is YOU.' She texted Maahi while on her way towards her. The Samjhauta Express is also known as the friendship train between India and Pakistan and was the only reason Zoya was thrilled sitting on it, something she had never even imagined doing before this one year.

The train was started on the 22nd of July, 1976, following the Shimla Agreement and ran between Amritsar and Lahore, a distance of about 42 km. Following disturbances in Punjab in the late eighties, due to security reasons, Indian Railways decided to terminate the service at Attari, where customs and immigration clearances take place. On the 14th of April, 2000, in an agreement between Indian Railways and Pakistan Railways (PR), the distance was revised to cover less than three km.

It was a daily train when the service started, and changed to a bi-weekly schedule in 1994. Earlier the rakes were returned to the home country the same day, but later in 2000 the rake remained overnight at that location.

Its terminals are at Lahore, Pakistan and Delhi, India. The border crossing takes place between Wagah in Pakistan and Attari in India. Originally, this was a through service with the same rake going all the way between the termini; later the Pakistani rake stopped at Attari, at which point passengers had to change trains.

During her train journey she was reading a book, Isolated Incident, and a thought struck her: how many people in her country and Maahi's had the opportunity to interact and build a friendship like theirs? What if they could find a way to make that happen for people like them? Why not use it to build a platform to bring young men and women from India and Pakistan together, to talk, learn, evolve, share and exchange, and deconstruct stereotypes? Why not extend what they found in our sisterhood to places beyond us, to envelope lives beyond their own? And with the thought and a smile on her face she dozed off to sleep, excited to see Maahi's face first thing in the morning.

Maahi was so excited to receive her. It was like a dream come true, she couldn't sleep that night. It all felt like surreal to her, as if a fairy godmother suddenly granted her dear wish when she needed it the most. Everything happened so quickly that they still couldn't believe that it was only 12 hours until they both would meet in real life. When she was a child, her earliest recollection of anything to do with India and Pakistan had to do with her history teacher at school. She was in Class Two, and the film 1942 – A Love Story had just been released. Aside from the revival of the vintage charm, the film generated a lot of curiosity, at least for her. Her teachers, especially the amicable and indulgent ones, were often the target of her curiosity-driven questioning. Plus, she loved their dressing, sharara's were center of her admiration.

Back then she didn't understand much, but one thing was clear to her: that India and Pakistan were two siblings, and truly, that the people of both countries were, well, people. In the years that came, she noticed that some people chose to call one the enemy of the other. Some believed in that more than others. She learned that some communities thrived on the hatred that one built against the other – all without giving the other a chance. She wanted to prove the world wrong and tomorrow was her day.

As someone who was often (and was still attempted to be) silenced, she realized the value of avoiding every prospect of being misconstrued. It occurred to her every time – especially when there were those cricket matches and exchanges-of-fire across the border – that the people of today might be blindly building on the skewed perceptions of the people of yesterday. In the process, they were continuing to stereotype as if it were a traditional hand-me- down.

In the course of a year, she had bonded with Zoya, from Pakistan, whom she called a sister and nothing less. When she broke the news to Abhay, he showed minimal excitement, but she got a big hooray from Oliver, who sounded more excited than she was herself. He wanted her to journal every moment of their meeting for him to read and live their experience.

Finally, the sun rose and the train stopped at Wagah Border. Zoya could feel the chill taking over her as she stood there waiting for Maahi, the fact that she had only seen her on video calls and Facebook pictures, made the meeting surreal. There was a Pakistani crescent and star on one hand and the portrait of Gandhi amidst the orange, white and green of the Indian flag on the other.

Borders cannot restrict communication and emotions, and there is a lot more in every culture for the other culture to learn. Intercultural sensitivity can break prejudices and connect hearts. The world needs the concept of integrated diversity; more than identifying the diversities, which is but the first step to a solution. It can be as simple as sustaining a healthy dialogue. It is all about celebrating the differences and finding similarities in the diversity.

'Omg is that really you?!' Maahi shouted at her as she saw a petite girl walking in a bright red top with a white cotton pants. She had a small bag in one hand and some papers on another.

'It's freaking me!' Zoya screamed and threw herself on Maahi to hug her. They hugged for a long 10 minute before breaking away still looking at each other in disbelief.

Zoya had to report to The Sehr Foundation and finish her documentation. She had already registered Maahi as her Buddy in India and she had to be with her, learn the heritage ad submit a report after a two week stay in India. Maahi had booked flights for them back to Bangalore from Punjab the next day. They finished the documentation and stayed at a hotel. Maahi spoke to Zoya's parent's assuring them of her safety. They liked Maahi and were in peace knowing that their daughter was in safe hands.

Maahi had drawn out the entire two-week plan. She had arranged for their visit to Taj Mahal in New Delhi and then a short trip to Rajasthan. The first few days went in conversations and all they did was sit, watch movies, talk, write about it, and speak with Oliver.

In their conversations on India and Pakistan, they realized that they need not be similar for their friendship to blossom further. They only had to hear each other out. As the nights deepened, so did their conversation.

They talked about men and marriage as they sank deep onto those red rexine sofas, while talking about life, about the past and the future, about their disappointments and their dreams.

Sure, they had their differences to respect, and experiences that made them different, but to any observer, her parents included, who were a part of some of their conversations via Skype (ahh, the joys of technology!), they clearly had a bond deeper than most..

One thing Maahi couldn't help but notice was a glimpse of pain that Zoya seemed to be hiding. She always felt like there was more to her then she would let on. She was still a mystery to her. She allowed everyone to consume parts of her and yet still had something untouched inside of her.

'is there something that's bothering you?' she would often ask Zoya

'Why do you ask?'

'It's just that whenever I read your blog I feel like there's something going on with you that you don't say out loud.'

'Oh,You know me, they are just pieces of writing.'

'I wish I could believe you', and they both knew she was right. Zoya threw her arms around her in a tight hug.

Two weeks went by in a blink of an eye. It was an experience of a lifetime for both of them, something that they were going to cherish for the rest of their lives.

'We will meet again soon' they promised each other as Zoya made her journey back to Pakistan.