Something about the time spent at BNU (UMISAA) and after.

The opportunity to study at BNU, Lahore amidst students from SAARC countries and faculty member from all over the world has exposed me to experiences that are one of a kind. This experiment by visionaries like Ambassador Madanjeet Singh, Professor Salima Hashmi and many others has provided students like me formal education embroidered with information, nuances and cultures of countries closest to us.

My stay in Lahore has not just benefited me but my colleagues, friends, parents, relatives and all people I know for they now know a different side to Pakistan. They are at least more open to the fact that what is portrayed of the country is also media manipulation and mostly our own prejudices.

GUFTAGU: GUTARRRGOON(2008) a book of conversations with rickshawallas in Lahore and Mumbai was a culmination of my experiences in Lahore and Mumbai.

I am very happy to say that Lahore and Mumbai are home me; Lahore, inspite and maybe because of the short time I spent there was a satiating experience. The sheer number of people I met, the novelty of of being an Indian and the readiness with which the city accepted me.

There are several questions that an educated, informed and aware individual must ask himself or herself when put into a situation like mine: An Indian in Pakistan. Being a victim of strong propaganda, and prejudiced with a completely different idea, and then to be able to experience the completely different side of Pakistan, though Lahore, can leave a person feeling lost.

So did I.

Then the need to learn, and re-educate ones’ sensibilities takes over, and to present the true picture of what and how things really are, becomes overpowering. I am surprised, no, appalled at how easily one believes at whatever (mis)information comes across through media, general psyche of people and ignorant opinions of people without feeling the need to crosscheck and validate, and how one is so easily satisfied with information that has so many gaps.

Any knowledge that I had of Pakistan before visiting Lahore has been purely limited to books and films or what the media portrays Pakistan as. The political thought prevailing in both countries misinforms and misguides.

Most of the information is because of the false propaganda.

As an Indian in Pakistan I closely encountered what India and Indian means to Pakistan and Pakistanis. I was an observer.

With the changing socio-political situation between India and Pakistan, it has become important as practitioners to present the human side, the details, and the fine print as it were, that define the societies here and there.

There is a need for an emotional evolution for the subject “India-Pakistan”.

The diversity of learning experiences and the time spent together enriches the mind and leads to projects and ideas otherwise incomprehensible and probably impossible. It leads to  projects that can be touched, felt, viewed and understood.

Vidhya

I just thought you like to take a moment to read a response of one of our Indian students. Vidhya is now back in Mumbai and is working in a gallery there.....

Salima Hashmi, SAF Pakistan Chairperson, Dean UMISAA

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