“Pakistan is a terrorist state”.
Her new class teacher yelled at her when she introduced herself proudly as Pakistani. She was in shock and sensed her antagonism but said nothing. She noticed the mocking eyes of her classmates but pretended Tranquillo. She aimed to explore the truth before responding to her teacher.
She was annoyed but suffering too when she returned home. She rushed to her Dado and dejectedly said, “Is Pakistan a terrorist state?” Dado read her face surprisingly and replied instantly, “Pakistan is just Love as I enlighten you daily with chronicles of my beloved homeland”. She sat by her side and requested again, “No Dado! You, Mama and Baba always say this. But tell me the truth today. I want to hear the reality”.
Dado cuddled her and kissed her forehead. “Come here, Dado’s Ronaq. Who forged this doubt in your mind?” She looked into Dado’s eyes to scrutinize some treachery. “But Dado, I am no more your infinitesimal Ronaq. We just celebrated my 13th birthday. Now I can swallow the truth”. Dado sighed again and said, “Okay! Listen. Pakistan is not a terrorist state. Pakistan is just Love”. But Dado noticed her in distress. “I want to be the adjudicator of this reality”. She said decidedly.
After a few months, all four family members landed in Pakistan. She continued staring outside the window. Her Dado, Mama and Baba kept her examining for this whole period that she had lost her twinkle about Pakistan. They decided not to enforce her with their views anymore. They deliberately stopped telling her the fairy tales about their homeland. They felt indescribable grief in her eyes.
For the whole month, they continued their expedition and explored different regions of Pakistan with her. She captured and saved every moment of her journey. She kept hoarding faces, eyes, attitudes, landscapes, rivers, mountains, forests, flowers, foods and the whole lot into her memory and camera. Today they are flying back. She is packing a traditional dress and thinking, “I will gift this to my teacher with all these pictures. She would be astonished to know that Pakistan is not a terrorist state. Pakistan is just Love”.
(PC: Google Images)
