Sunday, October 30, 2005

Is there hope?

I usually leave work at 7: 30 pm. I park my car (Joe) in this parking lot behind my building. It’s like a football ground. That’s the only place where there’s free parking in that area. You’ll find a lot of vehicles there from land cruisers and cars to pickups and trucks. It’s not very well lit, and you won’t find a lot of people there at night. So I try to park as close to the road as possible. This is not easy, since everyone wants to park there.

Yesterday when I got to work after lunch, I had to park somewhere in the middle of the ground, in between two trucks. And after work when I got to the parking lot I saw that my car was right in the centre, with the two aforementioned trucks on either side, a land cruiser in front and a pickup behind. How inconsiderate! What the hell was I supposed to do? There was some space to squeeze through by reversing to the right. But it would be difficult. I didn’t have a choice though. And I got into the car, went left, reversed to the right, went left again, reversed … and got stuck. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t see how far back I could go, so I had to keep getting out of the car to look. After 10 minutes, I was so frustrated that I went and kicked the tyres of the stupid pickup! That’s when 3 men walked by. I could tell they were Pakistanis, cos they were wearing the traditional shalwar-khameez. They were truck drivers. They offered to help; I thanked my lucky stars and said YES PLEASE! They took over. One of them got into the car and another helped him from the outside, telling him how far to turn, when to stop etc. They freed Joe. I was so thankful! They just smiled and left.

Having had the advantage of living in a multi cultural environment, I know that it is the people that matter, not their country or religion. I drove home thinking about how kind those men were, how I had trusted them to help me, how they could have harmed me but didn’t. I drove home thinking about how India was sending across aid to Pakistan to help the earthquake victims, and how good it was that the situation between the two countries was improving. Cos it was all just politics anyway, people and their attitudes never changed. I’ve had Pakistani teachers and friends. And they never hated me for being Indian. And now these kind drivers. I drove home happy, thinking that there was hope for humanity after all. When I got home I saw the news. Bomb blast in Delhi, Pakistani terrorists suspected. If that was true, all aid to Pakistan would stop.

Why do they ruin it for everyone else?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is hope.Hope is what the World lives on.I used to be very skeptical about people from Across the Border.But after comming to Middle East & meeting many wonderful people from THERE, It dawned on me that the hatred is propagated by the Media & Politicians from both sides for their own petty gains.Cheers!!

Rahul said...

These extremists are all in the same boat. They want relations to be strained, so they can whip up fervour. I dont think either of us can win or lose an all-out confrontation. But, in such an event, extremists on either side will surely rake it in...

n.g. said...

the people were never the problem. the people in power are. musharraf refused aid from india and wanted to buy f16s instead. it took the us to put him in his place and ask him to get his priorities right. the pakistani govt condemned the delhi bombings. but i refuse to believe that the LET can survive without support from the centre. Yes, i say stop all aid. India has always put the human face, and suffered. And Pakistan has always been vociferous in their stance, and gotten away with murder - literally. And we're sending them aid, even as floods have ravaged several parts of the country, there's a terrible train accident down south and some areas in bombay still haven't recovered from 26/7. There's an old saying that goes 'Save yourself before you save the goddamned tigers'. I second that. Esp when the tigers will swallow everything you give them and then some more, and then snarl and attempt to shred you to pieces.

Keshi said...

Wonderful post...very hopeful for humanity's existence....

Well the selfishness of Politics is making up some ppl's minds too...we shouldnt allow that to happen...heads above our shoulders will take us places...

Keshi.

Anonymous said...

Just yesterday i was thinking along the same lines- of how well indians and pakis get along here- in offices and where we live- yes i agree the moment you see things on TV you start to think very differently..

Domesticated Bachelor said...

true.. some idiots spoil things for everybody....

*SIGH*

xtremely_insane said...

all is lost without hope.yet while hope remains, we should try our best to resist this beastliness.
well written.

Anonymous said...

Bad News...I Had to tag you..sowwwwy!!

Rahul said...

Happy diwali sonia! and happy Keralappiravi!!! Have good fun...

Lost in trance... said...

Good guys are all over the place. But even they get "influenced". Sad. :)

Domesticated Bachelor said...

Btw, Happy Diwali Sonia. How did your diwali celeb'ns go? Hd blasti hope!?
*HUGS*

First Rain said...

Paint the world black and white! I am getting tired of the greys, or perhaps I am getting cynical... eeekkks ... Hewp!

Hope you had a super Diwali (errr.. inspite of working all day!)

Jagan said...

i hope the peace process doesnt get affected due to the blast .

first time here :-) .

Mirage said...

Indians and pakis get along well everywhere...there's no bad blood at all. Only a few rotten apples that give both the countries a bad name...

Rahul said...

sonia,
I tagged you pal! Now dont curse me ;-)