Blind in Hate!

It was a little past midnight, We had just reached Muzaffarabad and were on our way to Kuttan, a spot quite close to the border, we had been told. We didnt think there was anything to be afraid of or worried about, yet when we asked the way from a few people, a look of concern and contemplation filled their faces. 'You are going to kuttan at this time?'

'Yes, is something wrong? Are the roads bad?'

'No no, nothing like that, its just that its not that advisable to travel at this time and that too, with family.'

'Ahan', we said, not really understanding what he was trying to say but not so sure about our decision anymore. Still, continuing on our way, we started following a Mehran that seemed to be going the same way. Thinking that it would be safer to request the driver to act as our guide, we signaled him to stop. He was an old baba ge, white beard and all. When Usman told him that we were on our way to Kuttan at that hour, he was shocked.

'You are going at this hour? Aap nai mujh sai mashwara toh nahe kiya laikin mai aapko iss waqt uss rasstay pe janay ki ijazat nahe doon ga!'(his apnaiyat and owning up us was quite cute). Explaining why he thought it was a bad idea, he said,'The Indian army can fire at anyone and anything, especially at this time and then justify it as a probable threat they feared.'

It felt very strange to hear this. Would they or army on our side actually do that? Target innocent civilians without any proof or reason! Yet, that is what we were told. We had Indian songs playing in our car, some were sung by Pakistani singers.The lyrics , thoughts and ideas were universal; kindness, love, self discovery, passion, celebrating life. and yet, there was this parallel reality right before us, where all that we saw in each other was an enemy, a hateful entity! Does one really grow that blind in hate, and are we supposed to respond to it in the same way or our patriotism would come under question!

All these questions surrounded me as I sat in my car, baba ge guiding us to a hotel to spend the night in. They say love is blind, yet I couldn't help thinking how blind hatred can make you!