PMs open border, break bread, raise hopes

It was just a brief span of time, half an hour at best, but one that will leave its footprint on the subcontinent8217;s history. Wagha that has hitherto been synonymous with division, suddenly became its very opposite.

For 50 years, it was the scene of a carefully calibrated hostility, a hostility marked by the ceremonies of flag raising and flag lowering, the reveille and the retreat that marked the day from night. Today, it was something else.

At 3.45 pm, Nawaz Sharif emerged from his helicopterwearing a dark brown achkan. Joined by his brother, Shahbaaz Sharif, his information minister Mushahid Husain, and other dignitaries, he actually walked past the gates bearing the insignia of the Crescent and the Star, up to the gates bearing the emblem of the Ashoka Lions, and a little farther. Then he turned back and waited for his guests from India.

Twenty minutes later, the beige-coloured bus that has come to symbolise this effort to change gear and leave a painful past behind, appeared. At the Indian side at Wagha, the schoolchildren who had been waiting patiently all afternoon for this precise sight, broke into a frenzy of flag-waving.

Vajpayee explained to them and the other assembled to greet him, that he was carrying a message of peace and friendship across the border and whether they gave him permission to do so. A lusty 8220;yes8221; greeted his words. It could have been the voice of the nation. The bus then made its crossing, accompanied by bhangra dancers, who laughed and moved to the beatof the drum up to Pakistan8217;s doorway. What followed was a scene that was choreographed by the crowd of assembled mediapersons. As Nawaz Sharif went up to greet his counterpart from India, accompanied by two children holding on to floral bouquets almost as big as themselves, there was a loud demand that they hug each other for the camera, shake hands for the camera, smile for the camera. Every request was met with smiling compliance.

It required the appeal of a Dev Anand to divert attention from this demonstration of prime ministerial affection. The Evergreen Hero with his evergreen smile shouted: 8220;It8217;s a great moment. Generations will remember this moment.8221; And he was speaking on behalf of a generation that had paid the most bitter price of all: loss of a home, loss of friends, loss of identity, loss of their very history.

It8217;s 55 years since Dev Anand left this part of the world. There were others who came as part of thePM8217;s entourage. There was Jaswant Singh and Javed Akhtar, Parkash Singh Badal andKapil Dev, Kuldeep Nayar and A.M. Kushroo, Shatrughan Sinha and Satish Gujral , but it was Dev Anand8217;s show alright.

8220;How do you feel?8221; someone asked him. 8220;I8217;m standing here, isn8217;t that enough to explain how I feel,8221; he shot back.

Vajpayee, in a brief statement read out on arrival, said that he was conscious that 8220;this is a defining moment in South Asian history.8221; Then in the spirit of true Lahori hospitality, the prime minister and other occupants of the bus were treated to chilled watermelon juice and orange juice. A brief ceremonial guard of honour followed with the notes of the national anthems of the two nations flooding the skies awash with the colours of early evening.

Ceremonies of this kind, showcasing the pomp, custom and military precision of nations, are not unusual. What gave this tableau its articular spin was the hope for the future that it hinted at. It had the verve of a Punjabi wedding, complete with its 8220;band music8221; bhangra dancers and the large basket of sweets that theIndian prime minister had brought for his hosts. It had the gaiety of an Antakshri show on television, with the bands of both nations taking turns to display their talent and literally vying for the top honours.

Here, perhaps, it was Mohammed Aslam, who has been conducting the 100-year-old Lahore Police Band for 46 years, who drew the most applause.

As the big drums struck up and the clarinets called, it was easy to forget the shuttered shops and teargas shells of Lahore, where a group of political parties had decreed a strike to protest this crossing of bounds. Easy too to forget the vituperation of the Shiv Sainiks who tried their best to queer this pitch.

Then as the VVIPs departed, as VVIPs are wont to, in a haze of helicopter dust and the evening sun had moved a little further to the West, the barbed wire at the Wagha border came back into focus in all its ugliness. The magic was over.

Symbols and ceremonies constitute the easy part. The challenge and hope for the future really lies in being ableto roll back a tragic past and rigid, unchanging notions of 8220;national interest.8221;