Friendship Across Borders

The two neighbouring countries of India and Pakistan may be at daggers drawn, fighting each other for every inch of space where every political move is followed by a checkmate in retaliation. The governments also have organized propaganda against the other side, pumping the people with pure hatred in order to create an environment of mistrust.

The people, on the other hand, are pleasantly the same 'ol loving human beings inhabiting both sides of the border. How true it was when I met a fellow blogger from Mumbai, Amit Varma of India Uncut, who was in Karachi to cover the test match between Pakistan and India scheduled to start on Sunday. He has been touring with the team for a good 20 days and is planning to remain in Pakistan for another 10 odd days until the third one-day match. We happened to be co-bloggers on the Metroblogging network, Amit belonging to Mumbai Metroblog and myself (Teeth Maestro) taking an active part in Karachi Metroblog. Both, incidentally, happen to also be on the team at Desicritics.org.

You can say that one thing led to another and somehow we mutually decided on a dinner upon our arrival in Karachi. When meeting a complete stranger for the first time, it's normal to have butterflies wander in suspense but from the very first handshake he came across as an extremely friendly person and an accomplished journalist/blogger. His company was more than enjoyable and the dinner was very entertaining - not a moment went by where there was even a dull moment to the evening.

I was delighted, in fact honored, to have met such a fine gentlemen from across the border and feel a more pleasant interaction between the two nations should take place to further soften the hearts amongst the people and perhaps quicken a peaceful co-existence between the two nations. Thank you, Amit, for a lovely evening. It was heartening to have created a good friend across the border.

I would like to propose an initiative amongst all the Internet geniuses/bloggers representing both nations who happen to read this post, to somehow join hands on a mutual platform on the Web and work together for creating such Friendships Across Borders.