chapter three TEA AT NO-MAN’S-LAND TINA VACHANI 1 ws standing right across from him. I could see my father ‘wave at mewhile he pleaded with the Pakistani official to tll. 'e che Indians, tot me come us lle forwand. Bt hey woulda allow it: That was the lst time I saw him, fe ‘ching the Indian gate at Wagah A theage offourcen Tina was tom spatfiom her patents ‘he wat a Pakistani by bith, an Indian by her roces Lorn in Narachshe and ber sibings were brought up by her parenes ‘na’s paternal family belonged to Jalandkat and snetcrnal {omy had wtded in Deiat Partition, Buc tvas not enough \» have her history and heritage scattered berwcen the to ands Soon after she touched her teens she was to lene bind er family and home in Karachi for she wnfandice 0 Delhi. Unknowingly, elie wast become a jie ple reves and patches of laughter: memories and pain vezched "ether to makeher dhe woman shes today. As the brainchild wl founder of RoutesaRoots (RAR), 1 Delhi-based cultural, er-proit exgmnizaton dedicated 1 encouraging dale“ ‘rte rooreRinrs OF PARTITION imeraction and cukural exchange among SAARC counties, spocally beeween India and Pakistan, Tina's work has the bagpge of her past and the grief of separation entrenched in iT speck ther one morning while she a seated at her fice in New Delhi i “it had been years since 1 had seem sry Faily deaporate to catch a glimpse of them, to hug my mother and father, to sitwith them fr just ile while: We had eied for six or woven yous to geta visa or them to come to India orme to goto Pakstan, but nothing had worked out. Mestng atthe border was our lst reset" “Tind’sfacher, Jagdish Anand, had moved alone a» young nan from Jalandhae to what laterbecame Pakistan, Fascinated) ‘ith the film industry, he had set up Eveready Pictures in Karachi ja 1946, with the intention of yng in and out of ‘Mumbai and connecting withthe film fraternity there at is will, When Partition took place, he die fel that there ‘would be any major change in his lifestyle, Despite belonging toa Hindu fanily, he flemo noed to move. His business. hi ‘wile his friends and entre life was embedded on thar side the border India would remain wichin reach, criscrossing) ceverso easy, Andi the first few years, this proved tobe Tina tells me she would come to visit her grandparents a cssine, most of whom were settled in Delhi, during schoolsacation Travelling was ar cae at his time, pass nly requiring a permite crossover. Inaay cae, Jags tua contacts in the fn industry he could pall strings Twas Vaistanisancd Incins could not. 4 Fits olatives would welcosse her with open arms, exci ‘ot oly te weet Fi Fs als to hear stores about “dol receive the fore goodies she would briag with hee. IAAT NO-MAW'E-tAND « India had adopted a closed economy mode! in line with the Soviet model of development, imports were reiricted at the time. Foreign goods al thus becomea hunary. Mearhil, nt Pakistan, such goods were aplenty In fact.on the whole, Tina tells me that Karachi was far more afluent and developed as compared to the Delhi ofthat time “Lwould be treated as a special guest, thekind fromoverseas ‘America or England. The modem facilities we had in Pakistan a this sime weren't avaable in India so in away I fete looked up to by ny cousin’ I express my surprise. The PPakistan 1 have grown up in has store than often been stereotyped ss backward, un-modern dirtyand poor. Lia, in ‘comparison has been the nsing elephant, f aot the tiger, the neighbour that stands tll, aggressively shouldering a much smaller and less developed nation to its west. Sesing my. reaction, Tina laughs ‘You have ao ides how wonderful and vibran: Karachi was back then. Iwas ahappening andbazzing. place. I was studying at St. Jospch Convent School aad had ‘made so many friends... some of the closest ones that 1 ‘remember were Sabrina, Rubina, Lubna... I never mised not having our relatives or cousins in Pakistan. Karachites wore known to be fiendly and so even our acightours on ‘aig. Road—who by the way included the famous actor Waheed Murad had become mote like fail “Karachi was s0 cosmopolitan. with people from so many uiferen communities, There were nay exher non-Muslims, Gnjartis, Sindhi... we would celebrste Diwali and allocher ‘Hindu festivals and may Muslin ftends would come. they would be eceited they would light Grewooe and da with ne. Te was 2 very common thing... I never even thought much about being 2 minority. We've seen those days,* ‘re roorpaiers oF panrrrioN ech ve today is eet aoe of he sw epee and med ind eke Ua Donji whch far mre msn in ety, Sm eee cha tragic hat hese macsin cea yas cer ampel repent ding eller out hile the spat Ea Patna he Secor p ete ‘for grog my ot de careers wie te Ware tn et a smu shew wr serpet of |e suckhe in nds pee hi (aecicclrreeidsrcra ull meni oee.lrmmd terbl exe Tet how wn wang ohapen The Seieies yeas ‘from family and trapped away from home. Imagine not being, eet aiccapoee aramid Ee ie eee Suchet ay abf rence aha Tey ig tl kp ay yer Shure and oy moter rude fom he ier ie (heat gen es en ert ted secs vec pal hare ethnicities, igions and eases. ea at no-mar's land. [was so excked had so much to ea them, so much to ask... about home, about our neighbours, ny fiend er 1 cannot imagine the situation the get of being yanked: vay fom family. I gemember once when Teas studying in ‘Canada and the news about bomb blasts and insecuicy in Pakistan wae being broadcast on all the television channels there. [ was meant to etm home for summer vations and TIAA NO-MaN'SHAND, ” complete an internship at the Human Rights Commision of Pahistan. However, the administration t McGill Univesity, ‘where I was studying. wat afraid to let me go. ‘es unsafe we highly recommend you don't leave. We won't bear any responsibilty recall feeling fuseated; how could they sop ‘me fom going home, whatever conditions it maybe in? Later, ‘ny mother had to sign leter tha I would be ving ae home ‘with herand ifanyhing went wrong the university would not be held accountable. That was the eloeest Thad been to beng, forced to say away from home. I could thus certainly not imagine what Tina ha asked me to, ‘ask her why she coulda’ reuen, why she didn't go back after the war ended, when the situation normalized between the owo countries Ina couple of articles and interviews I had fead sboat Tina in the Indian media, I had come across Sifferene stories. Seme sal her parents ad sent her to india before the war deliberately. to avoid the unstable conditions in Pakistan; others sid she came here w avoid the poor ‘dtucation system in Pakistan. Yet others stated that she had «comet India to get marsied: that there ws no good Hindu ‘sts at home. The days of her arial were also all ove the place. some citing it before dhe war and others after When 1 ‘peak © Tina | eanunderstend where some ofthis confusion rises fom. As a young fourtcm-yearold, those initil years in tdi formed the most difieul time of he lif When U ask hor questions about thar peviod, she becomes confused, ‘uncertain, almost asifske isa young child again. Twas like 2 ‘het powsom inthis entire ocean of dhe unkown she sys ina frail voice and | orice tht hee ealer bubbly tone i gone She tes me she does’ remember the exact dates, the ‘et complications or what one may call the facts of that”° rite roorrausrs oF raxte7ION ‘die. That wasn't what was important to er, [ewas how hee lifewas unfolding in beeen those events that forever changed hier She tlle me she had ome to India foran ordinary visit. £0 imcet he grandparents as shed every year Butafier che wat she had to gi up hee Pakistani aarionafiry. she had to apply for the maturaizaton process wo become an Indian, wiih ‘ook approximately sven ight years and during which time she was not allowed to leave the country. She doesn't arf why she had m give up her Pakistani passport: she makes t sound like a bureaucratic hulle, aresul of the war Peshaps this tre, peshape ie was just a cas of red tape and idiotic laws. Or perhaps ber family had fle dis was the best decision for er at that me.I cannot be certain for Ting ‘Neve’ she anewers,‘T think the Pakistanis, take me as their own while Tndians think Pi one of them. T sming both ways! She lets out a heany lagh and then says, "When | meet poople in the Pakistnk High Commission in Inca they say." Oye ye sed ura” (She'some of eu gies}) tmalyenjy the love and affection from both sides. often ell Pakistan my maita (maiden bom) and India my srl (in- laws)’ her voice echocs with a contagious mirth, She has found peace. She doesn't want just India or Pakisen, she svants both and they bee want er, {cannot help but think ske has come fall circle: that this ‘waswhat her father had envisioned, That they woul have the best af both worlds. For many thi has filed to become a ‘ality, but inthe exception of Tina ve find both India and Pakistan, rupture and bonds, divide and reunification, Her story leaves me wondering whether other divided funica ‘would hive similar stores, whether they would have found venti pss me nonalyin the mi ofthe avardiy