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On my way to dinner, my car halted at the traffic light intersection that marked the end of DHA (Defence Housing Authority), defence as it is commonly called. This road has also of late been titled Khayaban-e-Jinnah. Car bumpers rested, rather vibrated with suppressed roars in perfect alignment. I suppose if my car shifted forward slightly – one bumper-space to be more precise – I could find myself out of defence, beyond the DHA stipulations. What began after DHA? Walton Road, Cavalry Grounds, a random strip of area that was previously known as LCCHS.
In the grander scheme of things or the far more intricately impassioned historical arrangement, the arbitrarily partitioned subcontinent flickers in my mind. India; Pakistan; and the strip of no man’s land, contained within barbed wire.
The signal changed and my car moved forward, but I didn’t stop thinking about India and Pakistan and the 2km or so strip of unclaimed land in between. Perhaps I’m reading too much into intersections and delving into symbolic interpretations that dissolve the minute they are touched by reality. Maybe it’s because I got back from India two weeks ago, and I still can’t stop thinking about going back. Or wanting to be back. Or making endlessly fantastical plans to hop onto the next plane to Bombay.
I was in India for two weeks (from the 19th of June till the 3rd of July), for a peace conference jointly organized by the Youth Initiative for Peace (YIP) movement and the Mahindra United World College of India (MUWCI). Aptly titled ‘Challenges and Opportunites in South Asia – A Youth Perspective,’ the conference brought together a multitude of ideas, beliefs, opinions, voices...it brought all of us together as people. The shared belief at the conference was that we would take each challenge as it came our way – regardless of the negative or positive vibes it gave off – transform it into an opportunity, replete with positive energy and send it back, into the world.
The ten-day long conference was held at the MUWCI campus, at Paud, near Pune. Atop a scenic mountain, surrounded by an abundance of vegetation, misty rainfall, and brilliant albeit rare sunshine – it was hard not to instantaneously fall in love with the place. Immediately upon getting there, we were given maps of the campus and assigned rooms (two facilitators and two participants to each room). Much of that day was spent in calling home, wandering around (getting lost), learning to identify names with voices and faces. (Prior to the conference, the participants and facilitators had already begun the process of getting to know each other through an online e-group.)
The conference was initiated with an inaugural ceremony on the 20th of June. Michael Shank from World Culture Open outlined the five C’s affecting conflict engagement and the solution of conflict through mediation and peace-promoting measures. Commitment, Communion, Creativity, Conflict, and Competence – these contour our life and fashion our existence – likewise, they gave shape to the conference. The ten days that followed next can (very) inarticulately best be described as a whirlwind; as an inexplicable moment; a flurrying blur of activity.
The conference schedule itself was gruelling, to say the least. Immediately after breakfast (which was at 8.00am), every morning, a theatre workshop cum trust-building exercise was conducted by Feisal Alkazi. These workshops were planned as a part of the morning exercises, taking place before intensive discussion forums, creating a high level of energy for the exhaustive activities that formed the core of every day.
Trust-building-exercises would work on a multiplicity of levels; from discussing ‘hopes and fears’ to sharing intimate stories, to ‘trust groups’ and ‘trust circles’ – the synthetic barriers seemed to melt away, inhibitions faded, layers of animosity and prejudice seemed to slip into obscurity as we grew to know each other as people; shared experiences and escapades; trusted each other; taught and were in turn taught; learnt and re-learnt; exchanged ideas and beliefs; argued; disputed; learned to listen; learned to let go of pre-conceived notions and rigid stances; grew together as people; as Yippies (Youth Initiative for Peace-niks); as comrades, for ultimately, Indian, Pakistani, Kashmiri, German, Mexican, American, Dutch – we all came together – as ‘citizens of the earth.’
A mesh of varied workshops were located at the heart of the conference, all working around different angles of focus, and demarcating diverse issues, yet the fulcrum of the conference remained Kashmir. A Kashmiri friend of ours said, “The violence in Kashmir can be likened to an ocean that spreads its waves along the shore, engulfing land and making it a part of itself – violence too spreads itself out and suffocates the region in its bleeding grasp.”
These workshops were spaces for (heated) discussions, endless debates, shattering of beliefs, and exposition of ‘history’ as misleading and false, juxtaposition of two polar views. And of trying to reconcile those two polar views of reaching common ground, reliable and dependable ground that wouldn’t reveal hidden mines, and concealed bursts of jingoism in the guise of nationalistic pride. Human needs were redefined and delineated; need for meaning; connectedness; security; recognition; action.
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Writer Profile
Hira Nabi
for one day, i want to be a paan wala. just for one day. i want to stand behind the makeshift stall/counter, and have a zillion Lil vials, vessels and caskets in front of me, filled with oddments, spices, colourful condiments, old world scents, and indigenous flavours =)
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challenges and opportunities nadeem malik | Dec 28th, 2004
hira nabi a good writer.she has full commanad and full pay concentration of that subject and scriptes.she contoral words and her dynamic idea.we apperceate and best wishes
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