What are ur personal experiences on India?

[ZZ]

I have a question.

How many of u have visited India ever? Do u have relatives in India? Have ur relatives visited India or relatives in India visited u?

Except partion riots, what are ur gradfather/ father's memories about India, if they lived there. NYA long back described very moving tale of how violence broke out in his village that time and how villagers managed to save Hindus and accomapny them safely to border. Perhaps, everyone was helpless during partition riots. So what do they say about partition riots and before. Do they find partition inevitable?

I stay far away from Pakistan and do not have any personal touch, though staying abroad I have met many Pakistanis. But maybe that is not enough to to write on.

if u dont have personal experience, but general statements, please start a new thread.

[realpaki]

Absolutely nothing, I haven't even visited India and/or Pakistan. I like to shoot some **** that's all, that's why people called me realpaki

[ZZ]

Don't shoot **** everywhere realpaki. I was thinking of writing idiots like u to stay away from thread. But I refrained from taking names.

[ehsan]

I visited Delhi in 1992 during a business trip. I found it no different to any other city in Pakistan, the same style of living, similar people, the same problems, etc. One thing which struck me was that when I visited Qutub minar, the various details given their regarding the minar and its surrounding made it quite clear that while the minar was built by a muslim ruler all the art and decoration was carved by hindus. I found that to be odd especiually in a country claiming to be secular. Could it not have just said that the minar was built by Indians and left it at that rather than bringing the religion into it.

[KK]

long long back ago, may be in 80,81 in my good 'ole days of childhood, I/we had visited some relatives in Bombay, don't remember much of that time, since I was probably 9/10 yrs old. A couple of vivid incidents I still remember, we were staying at a hotel in Bombay and I had a toy missile tank kinda thing which my chacha(uncle) had bought me in Sharjah on our way to India. I was playing with it in the hotel corridore and some people (may be hotel employees) started talking to me about it and I remember sayin' something to the effect that I'll rock India with this tank and the next thing I knew my mom had ducked my inside the the room and I still recall the face of my father looking at me....don't wanna say much about it
Second was when we were at some relative's house in India. One of their upper story room's window would open in the courtyard of a hindu family. I was peeking out there and there was some thing like a tree or some Bhagwan place in their courtyard and the residents were doing the pooja at the moment when I started shouting at them Oye hindu!! but it didn't go on very long, soon there was very tight shot on my head from the back....off course that was my father!....telling my amma G "He's goin' to get all of us in trouble, get him in control" again my mom came to my rescue.....tellin' ya....getting a pat from ur parents infront of other kids would be the last thing u'd ever want! N e way that was all I could remember out of that trip.
We do have quite a few relatives in India but honestly I don't feel any attachment towards them nor do I know them on any personal basis...just that "they'r my father's relatives and they'r my mom's relatives".....for me the story begins from Pakistan and its satisfying for me to know that Iam a born Pakistani and I take identity as being from Pakistan....even here in Amrika, if someone ask about my parental roots from India, I'd politely tell them that I don't care about my ancestral roots in India...its enuf for me know that iam from Pakistan.

[ZZ]

so much anti-india /anti-hindu fire in 9 yr. old. amazing. pls keep writing ur experiences.

[NYAhmadiX]

Dear ZZ,

I have never been to India. My experiences with India are mixed. As a young child during the 1971 War with India, I remember displaying proudly a bumper sticker that read “Crush India”. I also remember in my young teens to love Indian movies. Although through marriages, I have many relatives who have ties in Eastern Punjab, but I never had any strong feeling of Love or Hate for India during my boyhood.

It wasn’t until I went to England for studies that I had encountered Indians. I realized how much we were alike and how stupid we are to hate each other. English have long left, but our own political establishment has continued to divide us. I made everlasting relationships and friendships with Indians in England. I also had, and still do, many Indian professors.

In my undergrad anthropology course, I studied Southern Indian systems, and it remains one of my most favorite areas of study.

After moving to New York, I encountered yet a new type of Indians, those who were brought to Central America and the Caribbean by the English. They are very different from Indian Indians or British Indians. They have, however kept many of their inherited traditions.

Next summer we plan to go to Pakistan via Delhi. I hope that situation is peaceful and we are able to travel. One of my dreams is to visit DharmSala, as I have a kid there that I sponsor and I would very much like to meet her.

I have read many books about India, but one that comes to mind in regard to this post is a book that I read some time ago. It is “India by Rail and Road” by Dan Griffin. This is one of a very few books written by an American about India. Most books about India are written by Europeans. I find Europeans to be more adventurous and more perennial about travel. Although the impressions are now changing, but to an average American, India is still considered a place for Yoga and Meditation.

When I travel to India, Taj Mahal will be the last thing on my mind. I would like to see the walking monuments of India – its people.

[sabah]

I was wondering about the purpose of this thread, now I’m getting a picture. Anyways, I’ve never visited India, but after seeing Pak kya pata. I don’t have any relatives in India not that I know of, only some dead uncles of my fathers, near a village in Puna. My Grand parents, especially my Daddi Ammi used to tell us a lot about her journeys from Punjab (Pak) to Puna – pretty interesting stories.
About partion, we didn’t have any Hindu or Sikh in our village, but almost all of our neighboring villages had, and one thing that almost every elderly relative have told me, was that both Hindus and Sikhs had burnt their houses and other valuable stuff that they could take along. My Daddi Ammi lost two of her brothers, one of them newly wedded (3 days only) during that time. However I can’t recall any statement that would be really anti-Hindu or anti-India, for her India was just Puna, and nothing bad about that place

[KK]

yeah ZZ...thats rite!

and i'got another example on the counter side of the picture....just to keep the equation in balance...although it'll take us a bit off the track...but worth it...

A few yrs back, while I was student, living oncampus, a newcomer Pakistani student wanted to buy a used TV, it was the end of semester, a lot of graduating studnts start selling out their house stuff, so there was this ad for TV from a graduate Indian student, we went there, he's living in married housing with his wife and a kid, may be 7/8 yrs old. We were in the sitting room waiting for the guy, his kid started talking to us in his innocent childish american accent.....one of his question: "where u from?"...from Pakistan...."Oh...u know Pakistan is our enemy...we have to fight Pakistan.." Her mom came running from inside, with a sheepish smile on her face.... "shhhhh...oh...... he'just...." that was the response of a 7/8 yr old kid who was born and stayed in the US, far away from the domestic environment, where this kind of feeling is the norm.....so I guess I wasn't too bad either in my actions.....

[This message has been edited by KK (edited January 11, 2000).]

[Fata Morgana]

After beating India, the fast bowler of Pak, Shoaib Akhtar saved an Aussie boy's life from a speeding taxi. Aussies might be thinking now that his hands are legal enough to do the right bowling and saving lives. LOL

Fata Morgana

[ZZ]

Fata, thanks for sharing an immensely personal experience, Folks carry on, we are yet to see visits by gajam, mundayaa, mr, xtreme, nonetheless.

[Mr Xtreme]

I haven't been to India, don't have any relatives in India (none that I know of anyway) and don't plan to go either.

My experience with Indians is that they are very nice to your face but inside they feel very bad towards Pakistan. If India could show some sincerity in trying to sort out the outstanding points of conflict then it might be possible for some cross-cultural trips.

[Asif]

I have very mixed feelings about india. I have never been but i have a very good indian muslim friend from india and i might go to visit him later this year, insha Allah. Also, i tend to get on with indians from india a lot more than with NRIs; i also have non-muslim indian acquaintances and we get on well when we meet-although i never hide my views on kashmir etc from them (perhaps they respect me for being honest about my feelings?) anyway, my grandfather lived in Poona for about 20 years. I would love to visit india-primarily to relive the Mughal monuments and recall the past glories of the rulers of hindustan...and also cuz the culture is so similar...

..but another part of me says that i shouldn't go yet coz of the jihaad going on in kashmir; certainly if the kashmir problem is ever solved then i would have no problems at all with them...

a bit confused i may sound..but i guess over this matter i am...

[ZZ]

what is this poona connection coming all the time? My grandfather also lived in Poona for ten years.

p.S. But asif, visit poona if u go. U have not seen more crazy people in ur life, i bet.

[This message has been edited by ZZ (edited January 11, 2000).]

[Fata Morgana]

That is because the RAW's headquarter is in Poona.

Fata Morgana