Even I Have A "Khwaab"(Dream).

Dubai is a glittering city .And it has a glittering metro system .And in all that glitz –I was confused .I was at the Sharaf DG staion and wanted to board a metro to Burf Kalifa .I got my ticket ,swiped it and took to the escalator .Soon I was on the platform .It was amazingly clean and near empty .And it was supposedly rush hour -7.45 in the evening !!I was confused as to whether  I was on the right line or not .There are only two lines –but I did not want to board a wrong train .I wanted to confirm .I looked around to ask the question “Will this take me to Burf Khalifa”.?There was a coloured man who seemed totally smitten with his woman .They were clinging onto each other and looking into each others eyes .I avoided them .There was a Chinese guy who had his ears plugged and was obviously listening to music .There was  a group of ladies who were in burqas and I did not disturb them .Then I saw Munnawar .He got off the escalator ,carrying a small computer bag with him .He was about 45 ,balding and showing off his widows peak .He  looked tired and stressed .His eyes met mine .I talked in Hindi .

“Does this metro go towards Rashida ?(the last station on the way onwards toward Burj Khalifa.)

He spoke in chaste Punjabi

“Where do you want to go?”(Tussi kithe janaa  chandeh ho”)

My ears cocked up .A Punjabi in Dubai !!Wow !!It feels so nice to meet someone like yourself in a foreign land .

“From where in Punjab are you .I am from Hoshairpur”,I said .

“Our family is from Jullunder .We crossed over during the Partition”,he said .And then his eyes looked blank as he seemed to travel into space and time .He told me that though he had never gone back to Jullunder ,his father had grown up there .He also told me he had a Aunt who had migrated from Hoshairpur .I told him my side of the story .I told him that my father had studied medicine at the famous King Edwards Medical School at Lahore and that my father in law was from Gujranwallah .He was thrilled

“My wife is from Gujranwallah”, he said .

I asked him what he was doing in Dubai .He was working for a Security Agency in a senior position .He was a resident of Karachi ,and was living alone in Dubai .He did not like Dubai .He told me that he was prone to bouts of homesickness and had just returned back from Pakistan .I asked him the obvious question .

“Why don’t you work in Pakistan”?

It touched a raw nerve .He spouted venom at the political structure in Pakistan .He told me how unsafe it was for anyone to work or walk around in Pakistan .He also told me how shadowy people who claimed to be agents of the ISI or the Taliban extort money from ordinary people .He also told me as to how beautiful women are taken away at night and dropped back in the morning after being raped .He spruced it up with the choicest of Punjabi abuses .!!And then he looked at me and said,

“India is a heaven compared to Pakistan .It is a super power .If it has guns ,tanks ,nuclear missiles ,it also has tomatoes ,rice ,industries ,agriculture ,5 Star Hotels and Malls .You have a guy called Arnab Goswami .I am sure you have seen and heard him .My God –look at the way he talks to your politicians ,Army Generals ,bureaucrats ,anyone .You have democracy. Pakistan only has guns and a sham democracy !!”

I was quiet for a minute .I absorbed the praise .I realized that I came from a amazing country .I realized how important democracy was .More for the poor ,because even if injustice is being meted out to them –they can speak up .The Press will pick it up .People will rally around Durga Shakti .Or Nirbhay .There is always hope in a democracy like  we have in India .Not a single South Asian country started with democracy –be it Singapore ,Malaysia ,Pakistan ,SriLanka .No other country can boast of the right of people to slander anyone and get away with it .Everyone is a Arnab Goswami (if one chooses to be ),in ones locality,state or province .!!I realized all that at the Sharaf DG Station .

He looked at me .He spoke again – in Punjabi .He looked at the sparkling lights of Dubai .The Burj Khalifa jutted out into the sky in the distance .The skyline of the city looked like drawings of tall buildings in bold colors.In the station the crowd had swelled up .There were Asians ,Africans ,Chinese ,Arabs ,Europeans.The world seemed to be compressed into the metro station .Munnawar spoke as the metro pulled into the station .

“Sir ,I have a “Kwaab”(dream),that one day people from all over the world will come to India and Pakistan to take part in its economy .We should be giving them employment and not the other way around .But it is a “Khwaab”!!I know it wont happen in our lifetime .”!!

I had the final word just as the metro pulled in and the doors opened .

“Munnawar –even I have a “khwaab”.A “khwaab”  that one day India and Pakistan will become one .Your father was from Jullunder and my father and father in law were from Lahore and Gujranwallah .We got separated in 1947.I have a kwaab that one day it will change .But I know it wont in my lifetime “

The metro compartments doors opened .I ran towards one that appeared less crowded .Munnawar ran toward another .He looked over his shoulder and gave me a thumbs up .I clasped both my hands above my head –signifying unity and friendship .And the I lost him .We were separated .

Just like our families were in 1947 .We called it Independence .!!