So, Sam what are you doing next week?" I asked the tall burly photographer of Christian Chinese American descent as we trudged through rough terrain heading back to our vehicles at the end of yet another hectic day of photo shoot.

"I'll be in Singapore doing some hotels," Sam replied nonchalantly.

"And what about you Oni?" I turned to his producer, a young vibrant Indonesian Muslim.

"I have plans in China and maybe Hong Kong."

I got just the kind of reply I was afraid of. That was back in Indonesia where I used to go once a year for my work in advertising and marketing. I would spend a few weeks there working with some of the finest of talent in commercial photography and post production.

But then Thailand was no different in the sense, one fine morning during my numerous visits to the country I found a colleague of mine having a chat with the receptionist.

"She's from [the] Philippines," he told me. I was surprised. "I thought you were from Bangkok!" receptionist giggled "from Philippines," she asserted.

Now these are the kinds of Far Eastern encounters that would evoke spontaneously jealousy deep inside my South Asian heart where it hurts hard.

Won't talk about Europe where on one simple chengen visa I would hop merrily from Frankfurt to Barcelona quite like shuttling effortlessly between Karachi and Lahore back home. I wouldn't for that matter quote Dubai where there's special counter for GCC citizens at the airport.

But those Far Easterners living and moving around with the freedom of regional peace and harmony, they make me genuinely jealous. And there I was at an unceremonious corner inside Mumbai airport earmarked specifically for Pakistanis, filling form after form as people of infinite nationalities sailed smoothly through normal airport rituals.

It's not just about the distorted idea of travel between Pakistan and India yet it's probably the most glaring reflection of the animosity the two neighbours mutually nurture generation to generation.

There's a zillion and one complaints Pakistan has with India and vice versa. Misgivings abound, Kashmir, terrorism, water theft, separatist/ethnic unrest, trade disputes, customary border inflammation, smuggling, foreign arms deals, accusations counter accusations, rhetoric further rhetoric, dossiers, more dossiers, lashkars senas, et cetera, et cetera.

Maintaining the status quo

After all there are some big stakeholders concerned when it comes to maintaining the status quo of hatred between the two countries. Defence establishments, beefy budgets, juicy arms imports, ruling political entities that divert people's attention from their corruption and incompetence to the billion dollar bogey of cross border threat, religious fanatics whose plethora of intellectual deficiencies wouldn't let them contemplate beyond abusing religion as a tool to quick and easy ascension to power and popularity, media that derives positive ratings out of the negativity of enmity — it's a long, awesome list.

We thus need to respect this enmity between us, it's a well cherished popular culture on both sides of the border. Hence any hopes for a sudden reversal of fortunes for mass human relationship in South Asia may take us nowhere. So we'd have to be careful and calculated. We may go step by step to reach the final destination of a human-friendly and modern South Asia.

Talking about steps, floods in Pakistan provide an opportunity for hope in despair. India was gracious enough to offer $5 million (Dh18.3 million) of assistance. However, it is people to people help that counts more than the straight-faced government offers. Help from public figures, celebrities, show biz stars for instance.

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie made a personal contribution of $100,000 despite the fact that she comes not close to the magnitude of fans a lot of Bollywood celebrities have Pakistan.

So why not have legendary Bollywood stars stage shows in Middle East and Europe and donate the earnings to some veritable charities in Pakistan.

If the Indian media and government for once stood behind a good idea of friendship, these stars might be able to persuade themselves to show up for a cause and that would be a significant step — just what we need, a step by step journey to the destination where it won't hurt to be a South Asian.

 

Syed Moazzam Hai is a freelance journalist and marketing and advertising professional