Yeah, my heart throbs alike for the two lands
Yeah, my love is equally blind for the two places
Yeah, my voice sings songs in the two languages
Yeah, my eyes see identical dreams for the two people
Yeah, my lips whisper the same prayers for the two nations
Yeah, my mind worries for the peace between the two neighbours
Yeah, my heart aches on hearing the hatred screamed by the two faiths
Yeah, my tears roll witnessing the venom spewed by the two communites.
Yeah, I feel no difference between two names the world calls INDIA & PAKISTAN.
For, the hammock of my life hangs between these two HOMELANDS.
“My deep connection to the land that is Pakistan had been renewed. I felt lucky to have both countries; I felt that I’d been given what partition had denied many. For me, it meant the possibility of a different education, of embracing the three-tier history of India whole, perhaps an intellectual troika of Sanskrit, Urdu and English.”
~Aatish Taseer in his book ” Stranger to History”
INDEED IT IS BEING LUCKY TO BELONG TO BOTH THE COUNTRIES.
A feeling which you can ‘feel’ only if you ‘ live’ it. But mind you , it doesn’t come in easily. One has to rise above a lot of prejudices, a very many stereotypes and take a lot of crap from so called ‘patriots’ from both the sides before you attain this feeling.
P.S. Unlike Aatish I respect the reality and the existence of political border between the two countries but dream of ‘psychological’ borders’ erased between the two peoples.
I hope I live to see such a day.
Ilmana Fasih
17 January 2011
(Background: Am an Indian married to a Pakistani man, with two ferociously patriotic Pakistani kids who say:” We love India but we own Pakistan.” As for me I love and own both the places).
Blind to Bounds 
Comments on: "TO BOTH THE LANDS I BELONG…" (1)
Very touching piece 🙂