With the cancellation of NSA-level talks and regular ceasefire violations, tensions are high between India and Pakistan.
But at the people-to-people level, you still find heart warming stories of friendship and camaraderie.
We found some of those stories on Quora.
Parvesh Maheshwari is from Pakistan and studied in India.
I had a friend there, we were classmates, lab mates, lunch mates, and prank mates. She being a typical staunch Indian supporter and me being a Pakistani. We had our own word battles every day about who was the best India or Pakistan. She even discussed this at home and often ended up getting scolded by her mom for befriending a Pakistani. But despite the scolding and the harsh fights her mom always packed lunch for me and even catered to our weekly Pharmaish of Kheer, Halwa, Rasgulle. The friends I made there were and are just my friends. Even today we talk, we laugh, we fight not as an Indian or a Pakistani but as two friends who are separated yet united.
“Being given a bear hug (japphee) by an inspector at Indian Customs”, writes Usman Qazi, who was on a trip with a relative to locate his ancestral home.
Crossing into India, we had a chat with a gentleman at Indian Customs. He had grown up watching PTV, Lahore. He was on duty when we were coming back as well. So we got greeted Punjabi style. Quite amazing!
The previous day, a police ASI had treated us to milk and jalebis. We wanted to see the building where my grandfather worked as a functionary inside Sheranwala Gate, Patiala.
A little earlier, a certain Mr. Vinod whom we’d met randomly had made us have chaat. And the list goes on... I think if we went around waving Pakistani flags, we’d have been force-fed into unconsciousness. I have never experienced so much goodwill anywhere else in the world.
Seemal Zaman travelled to India five times. Here’s what she has to say.
I have no family in India but it feels like I am going to the home I never could call home. I can feel my heritage there as much as I feel it in Pakistan. All that history, that history made all of us (indians and pakistanis). The feeling of being awestruck each time I see Taj Mahal, the grandour of Amer Fort, the heart fluttering with spirituality at Ajmer and Golden Temple, the beauty of Lotus, the hustle bustle at Mathura, the high and mighty Qutub I could go on and on.
Abdeel Azhar, a part-time radio presenter had visited India for a workshop in 2014.
There can be so many stories to share but best story from India happens almost every weekday when the best friend i made in india tunes into my show every morning. My friend Navneet from Ajmer, whom i met in Chennai, has become a familiar name among my listeners and many of them are connected to him through social media. The beauty is that not matter how bad things go between the two “governments” nobody ever gets abusive or angry at him. Yea some friendly rivalry during cricket matches. This tells you about the power of relationships which goes beyond borders. Just this afternoon we had a friendly phone talk...just doesnt (sic) feel we are from different countries...
The above posts were in response to a question on Quora - ‘What is the best story that a Pakistani can tell about India?’
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