repertoire and artistes from Pakistan.
I had the privilege of working with
the legendary Farida Khanum and
interacted with Abida Parveen and
Ghulam Ali. Around 2007, I got an
opportunity to work with Shafqat
Amanat Ali and ended up as his
manager later. From Farida-ji to
Shafqat-ji, they had all invited me to
Pakistan, especially Lahore, many
many times. So in 2012, when friends
from an NGO that was taking students
from India to Lahore for an exchange
programme, invited me, I jumped at
the opportunity.
Indians and Pakistanis have had a
policy of making life difficult for each
other by issuing visas to only specificcities. We had what is called an
‘on-foot’ visa for Lahore. On reaching
Amritsar on a nippy February day, we
learnt that the border would close at
3 p.m. After a 45-minute bus ride from
the station through the countryside,
we reached the gateway where the two
lands meet.Like a Dream
As I got my first glimpse of the blue
board marked ‘India–Pakistan border’,
an unexpected lump formed in my
throat and my eyes welled up. For
a moment it felt like my heart had
stopped beating. A huge wave of
love and sadness washed over me at
that precise moment. Knowing thatreadersdigest.co.in 95PH
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