Tuesday, July 17, 2012

How foreign is foreign?

What does "foreign" mean? What exactly is foreign about a foreign country? The instant answer is "distant", but distance is deceptive. The Indian middle class is far closer to America than it is to Pakistan. It takes less time to reach Tashkent from Delhi than it does to arrive in Trivandrum, but we know which one is the foreign city. Till partition ravaged hearts and minds Peshawar was part of the psychological home of the Punjabi living in Delhi and a Malayali so far away that he was called a Madrasi. Today Peshawar is part of either family romance or nightmare; and Kerala an Indian tourist destination.

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