Indian blog:  Building bridges with Pakistan
By DJ Varma

There is much to admire and emulate about India.  Perhaps one of its most admirable qualities is the motherly way in which she has accepted and assimilated all religions and cultures.   The foundation of such tolerance is built on the maturity of introspection and a respect of other viewpoints by its citizens.

Delhi-based Mayank Austen Soofi’s blog ‘Pakistan Paindabad’ is a practical manifestation of such noble ideas.  Enlightened by the best of Sufism, Mayank started this blog with the aim to show fellow Indians on how Pakistani’s share the same lives, hopes and dreams.   Just the way we say India Zindabad, Paindabad is a Persian word which roughly translates to ‘here to stay’.  His blog has a number of Pakistani contributors.

Naturally, the blog evokes strong responses from a few fellow bloggers.  While there are many admirers, a few accuse him of being anti-Indian and even a Pakistani spy.   Not unexpectedly, mainstream media in Pakistan were the first to profile the blog.  Indian media followed suit.  Perhaps in a first for any Indian blogger, there is now talk about Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali making a movie based on one of the articles in the blog.

Eventually, the two countries will have to live in peace and harmony.  Blogs like this on the net will be remembered as having played a small but important role in facilitating a better understanding of each other.

Techgoss spoke to Mayank Austen Soofi last week.

Q. Please tell us a bit about your background?  How did you get the idea to start a blog ‘Pakistan Paindabad ‘ which would explain Pakistan better to the people of India?
 
A. (Mayank Austen Soofi) I'm a book lover. That is what I understand of myself. I cannot live without Shakespeare and Jane Austen (No, really) Love of writing, I presume, is a logical graduation of the love of reading. Why did I start a blog on Pakistan? For Indians? There is a misunderstanding here. Many people confuse the site as an effort on my part to propagate India-Pakistan friendship. While I do want both the nations to be buddies, Pakistan Paindabad (PP) was started to show the world that there are more realties about the country. And not just mullahs, beards, and religious extremism. It’s not about India. When I visited Pakistan in 2006, I discovered that an impressive number of people are 'normal' like you and me. They go to parties, dance in discos, have lovers, visit art galleries, write novels, browse in bookshops, and even go to red light districts. In my own little way, I wanted to show to the world that this Pakistan also exists. The blog is not just for Indians. PP is for anyone who wishes to understand Pakistan. It is for Pakistanis also.

Q.   Do you think the mainstream media of both the countries have a fixed viewpoint and so the public does not hear both sides of the story in the two countries?  Ideally, everyone in the world should have both sides of a story to make up their own mind.
 
A. Yes, the media follows the establishment while covering 'enemy' countries. This is a norm. Indian newspapers, as well as foreign newspapers, always cover Pakistan in a negative light. Apart from occasional exceptions, they cover only the conflicts and skip the society trends. Perhaps the latter is not that newsy. But I feel even Pakistani newspapers can be unduly self-critical. That's dangerous.

Q.  How did you decide on your technology?  Did a friend recommend to blog?  Or did you look at first setting up a website before deciding to blog?
 
A. My friend Gaurav Sood was the inspiration. He is a Ph D student in Stanford. Why blog? Why not a website? Because blogs are free and also because they are more democratic.

Q.  What have been your experiences been traveling in Pakistan - good, bad and average?
 
A. It was all three. Good because Pakistanis were really nice. In Karachi, I was a babe in the woods. But strangers helped me out – from getting a hotel to getting a railway reservation. It was occasionally bad because there were moments when I had an urge to go to Quetta or Pehsawar but could not. My visa was limited to few places. It was also average because…well… Pakistan is quite like India. You do not get that kind of culture shock when you visit a nation which is actually foreign.

Q.  What was the response to your blog after the powerful media organization PTI (Press Trust of India) profiled you.  It was a very positive article.  How much did your readership increase after the PTI article?
 
A. Actually, PTI was the second powerful media organization to profile me. The first was Daily Times, one of Pakistan's most respected newspapers. Karachi-based author Bina Shah did a story on me. That suddenly magnified the visibility scope of the site. Earlier, I receive around 700 visitors each day. But after Daily Times and PTI, there were more than 20,000 hits per day.

Q. Can one every make money from such idealistic ventures?

A. I would like to work full time on such "idealistic ventures". Money is important for that. Let's see.

Q. Do you think someone in Pakistan should set up a similar blog to tell the Indian side of the story?  After all the more information people have, the less chance of any misunderstanding.  Extremist forces everywhere in the world can only grab power if people are not aware of facts.
 
A. I doubt if there is urgency for it. Please understand that Pakistanis are not as misinformed about India (or USA or any other part of the world) as we are about them. They watch Bollywood, Hollywood etc, listen to different genre of music, watch our TV channels and have a fairly decent idea the way we live and think. The problem is more on our side. We don't know much about them.