| Delhi-Lahore-Delhi. It's a plain metal signboard staring out
of the windshield of a slightly more than plain Ashok Leyland bus. But it is a sign that
shows the road ahead to two warring peoples united by their culture, yet torn apart by the
destinies they have forged for themselves. It is a sign that shows how anachronistic our
subcontinental mindset is in a time of worldwide reconciliation. It is also simply a sign
which gives you a tingling feeling when you are witness to a historic moment, a moment
whose reverberations are likely to be felt for generations to come. I certainly got that feeling when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee became
the first Indian prime minister ever in the lifetime that has passed since Independence to
drive into Lahore. It so happens I was born there. Although I have no recollection of my
early life since my family left the city three years after my birth at the dawn of
Partition, I have grown up with tales of nostalgia and friendship -- of an idyllic world
that we lost. There is no bitterness, just an empty feeling for millions on both sides of
the border who feel that their history has been wrenched from them. Since then I have
visited Lahore several times and always been overwhelmed by the affection and hospitality
of my family's friends.
It is a closeness that so many millions in our countries are
familiar with. When we meet as people, we bask in the sunshine of our shared history and
culture. It translates effortlessly into an exciting, indefinable bond when we mingle. Yet
there is no reflection of that warmth at the official level. It is a sadly ironic and
contradictory situation . That is why this symbolic meeting at the Wagah border, the buggy
ride through Lahore, this moment that so many want to dismiss as a made-for-the-cameras
event is so important. It could be the first step in bridging the yawning gap between the
frigidity of officialdom and the easy informality between our peoples.
As India temporarily swept aside the pangs of peace and the
protocol, so did we at India Today. We delayed our printing deadlines by a day and
deployed a battery of editors, photographers and correspondents on both sides of the
border to record this moment in history. Associate Editor Harinder Baweja, an old Pakistan
hand, flew into Lahore with Photo Editor Bhawan Singh and Senior Photographer Sharad
Saxena to meet politicians, experts and people on the street of the bedecked city.
Principal Correspondent Ramesh Vinayak took a welcome break from filing stories on
terrorism in Punjab and Kashmir to record the mood in Amritsar and on the Wagah border
with Deputy Chief Photographer Pramod Pushkarna. Deputy Editor Raj Chengappa and Senior
Editor Manoj Joshi tempered the euphoria with a look at realpolitik.
"Normalcy may actually be a far destination, but there
is no doubting the feeling that the prime minister's bus has begun that journey,"
says Deputy Editor Swapan Dasgupta who wrote the cover story from Lahore. Living as we do
in the nuclear shadow, for all our sakes, and our children's, I hope he is right.
(Aroon Purie) |
