After the third day of DrupalCon when we reached our hotel room in the Caliph Hotel reserved for us by Bhushan and Parth, there was a menu of the hotel kitchen and it was named Pakhtoon Hotel. Oh boy, as I and Tanweer both are Pakhtoons ethnically, it was a huge Wow factor for us. A saying in Pashto came to my mind “Che ze ze no amaazo la ba raazay” - it can be translated to an Italian saying meaning “No matter where you go or turn, you will always end up at home”. So we belong to the far flung corner of the Sub Continent bordering Afghanistan, and in Mumbai we ended up at a Pakhtoon’s hotel named Pakhtoon too.

I inquired the management of the hotel as to why it was named Pukhtoon, they said the owner of the hotel was a Pathan. Though after two days of our stay in the hotel, I had not seen either the owner or any Pakhtoon in the hotel. But on the third day, I saw a middle aged fat and tall man, dressed is pure white Shalwar Kameez, with a cap on his head coming in a typical Pakhtoon style to the hotel lobby. I told Tanweer, if I was not wrong, he was some Pathan. We met him, and asked him if he was a Pathan ,and yes he was. He said he was Munshi of Javed Khan ,the owner of the hotel. We talked in Pashto, and he was more than delighted to meet us. Munshi sahib said, that his family had migrated from Mardan district before Partition, and his mother would always instruct him and his brothers to always speak in Pashto so that it continued for the later generations. His pashto though was very much like the Pathans who have grown in Karachi. He though confessed that Javed Khan, the owner can’t speak Pashto, but he would too be delighted to meet us. Munshi took us to Javed Khan sb who welcomed us. He even pardoned us that he was not aware of our stay in his hotel and he couldn’t be enough hospitable.

Javed Khan told us that his maternal uncle also holds a hotel in old Mumbai, who can speak Pashto and he would love to meet us. He dialed his number and his uncle talked to us in Pashto. He invited us to his hotel for lunch. I remember the words he spoke in Pashto “ka taso rotai la raanalai no tagay ba patay sham – aw kana daa kho pukhtoon wali da” - If you guys don’t come for lunch, I will remain thirsty – yeah this is Pakhtoonwali(Pakhtoons doctrine of living) as you know. I told Tanweer that my record of accepting invitations regarding any meals had been 100% all my life, that invitation was far too much to resist, and thus we went to his hotel in Crawford Market, Mumbai. He had one of his servants waiting for us in the hotel gate, and the moment we reached there, he stood and asked us if we we were Sahab’s guests, I said yes and he took us to Aman Khan, the hotel’s owner and Javed Khan’s uncle. I asked the servant how he recognized us that we were guests of your boss, he replied “Sahb kay jitnay bhi guests atay hain family walay, aap ki tarah hee hotay hain” - “All the family guests of the boss who come here look like you guys so I recognized you”.

Aman Khan was over the moon meeting two guys from his Clan in Mumbai. He had lunch ready for us from Delhi Darbar Restaurant. Plenty of dry and wet fruits were on offer. We continued talking in Pashto for 2 or 3 hours with him. He had lots of stories to tell. His family migrated to Mumbai in 1936 from Rustam village in the Mardan district. His elder brother went back to his village during the partition days, and later married his cousin in his village. Thus his elder brother who now lives in Islamabad is Pakistani, and he is Indian.Twice he has visited his native village in Rustam, District Mardan. It was the last day before we were leaving India, we told Aman Khan sb that we would go for shopping. He had his servant with us who was guiding us all along. We bought Mithai(Sweets) and some kids garments. He was carrying them along with us. It surely was a special blessing that even in Mumbai we had someone helping us out carrying our shopping and guiding us through the markets of Mumbai. Our Pathan/Pakhtoon host didn’t leave anything undone reiterating the long and well known fact associated with Pakhtoons of being the best in Hospitality or (Mehman nawazy).

The garments shops we visited were 100% like those in Karachi saddar, and the shopkeepers mainly were Muslims speaking the same accent URDU. Some of them did tell us, that they had relatives in Karachi. In short, our meeting with Aman Khan resolved another life long suspense of mine as to whether Pashto speaking Pathans still live in India. I would make Google tired about the subject. The only clue I once got was that there were certain number of them living in Indian Kashmir.

Mumbai being so similar to Karachi, I could hardly believe I was not in Pakistan. Throughout all our stay in India, I had to constantly remind myself that I was not in Pakistan but in India. The traffic rules, the horns, the shops, hotels everything was like what we see in Pakistan.The muslim population in Mumbai is huge, and we went to Muhammad Ali street as well, where one can see Urdu written everywhere on shops and Urdu books,newspapers in shops. One incidence I can recall is, that it was Pakistan Super League (PSL) final and we were staying in our hotel room at night. Tanweer was watching live streaming of the match. The match started with Pakistan’s Anthem. I asked him to increase the volume and he replied in pashto “Sa kai zalima, India da(what are you doing, it is India)” and I replied ‘Oh kha kha,zama yair woo (oh ok, I had forgotten)’ . It is amazing that even after 70 years of separation, both the nations still have many things similar and alike, and give you the clue that these nations were once part of the same country.

One of the posts I made on FB while I was in India stating some of the differences.

Wherever we went, whosoever came to know we were Pakistanis, they welcomed us with huge hearts. From taxi drivers to security personnel in Airports, from Hotel staff to attendees of DrupalCon, we were dealt like special guests. I recall a Sikh security guy on our return at Mumbai International Airport, upon seeing our green passport and realizing that we were Pakistanis, he immediately said “oh mera piara Lahore kaisa hay? Hamaray liay tau aap bhai ho – I want to visit Nankana sahib but being in forces I can never get Pakistan VISA.”

Being patriotic and love of one’s country of birth is instinctive and very much the human nature. I think I am enriched with some sheer feelings of Patriotism which have driven me all my life.Whenever it is a new Dawn, my blood is greener than ever, the Pakistanism in me is more than the previous day, but the neighboring country I wished to visit all my life was very kind and welcoming to us. I won’t ever forget the love and respect given to us. I wish I can at least reciprocate all the love you gave me if not doubling it. We have Drupal camps across Pakistan and I will like the Drupal stalwarts from across the border to participate in them. Thank you India and Indian Drupal Community for the unforgettable hospitality. I now have many Indian friends and those Indian friends of mine have two Pakistani friends as well named Azmat Shah and Muhammad Tanweer. Thank you Drupal and Drupal Association for realizing my Dream come true.

WE reached Islamabad on 24th February in the afternoon after a long connected flight from Mumbai to Islamabad via Oman and since we had departed by 4 am from Mumbai, we had not slept again for the night.As a habit or custom of mine after returning from any international visit, with all the hand luggage in my hand, stepping down from the aeroplane, the first thing I did was to bend on my knees and kiss the sacred land I belong to and will die belonging to. As tired we were, while separating since Tanweer lives in Islamabad and I have my home in Peshawar, which is some 2.30 hours from Islamabad, I reminded Tanweer of a saying in Pashto that even it had come true. In Pashto, when we taunt someone who is really tired, we say “Sa da industan na kho na ye raghalay che dumra starhay ye”- “Have you come from Hindustan that you are so tired” - yeah we had come back from Hindustan and were really tired. A life long dream had just completed but in reality this time. I returned home taking along lots of memories for the rest of my life. Long Live Drupal – Drupal Zindabad.