India Pakistan - an experience

It was summer of 1997. I with my wife Nita and 1.5 year old daughter Aanal were having vacation in Orlando, USA.
We had gone to visit Sea World on that day. Our host Rajesh was to pick us from Sea World after the visit. He had told us to be present at 8.45 PM near Sea World entrance. We were waiting as advised. Rajesh did not turn up till 9.15 PM. Suddenly the sea world gate was closed. We were all there with no sight of Rajesh. We waited for another 15 minutes. We decided to go to the exit but the walk was about 2 miles. We started to walk. In those days there were no cell phones. We could not contact Rajesh. We went to near by Ramada Inn. There was no vacancy. We tried to contact Rajesh on his home phone but there was only the machine.

As we started walking, a car stopped. The driver asked "Are you from Pakistan?" We said no. He asked if we were from India and we said yes. He told us he got to know that from our facial features and the cloth, dupatta, with which my wife had wrapped Aanal, our daughter. He introduced himself as Sajid Khan from Pakistan.

He requested us to sit in his SUV. We were reluctant. He explained us that it was the best alternative. We were still hesitant. He told us the area was not safe and told me "Bhaijan, meri bhabhi ki safety ke khatir beth jao" (Please sit inside for the safety of your wife).

We sat in his car. He tried to locate Rajesh at the exit. We did not find him. He took us to the near by gas station. He dialed from the public phone and left the phone number on the answering machine of Rajesh.

He also brought some snacks and soda for all of us. Soon we got a phone call from Rajesh. He had accessed the voice mail. He told us that he had met with a minot accident and could not contact us in time. Sajid explained him the location where we were waiting. Rajesh came after about 15 minutes.
We all thanked Sajidbhai a lot. We also took his phone number. We tried to contact him before we left USA. He had gone to Pakistan to visit his family.

Sajidbhai had a business of embroidery on the Florida T shirts sold in Orlando. I have now misplaced the phone number. I am sure, the world is so small, we will meet him someday!
When he helped us, he did so because we were Indian! Tell me should, India and Pakistan fighting when Indians and Pakistanis do not?

Sensex falling...

Sensex.... no I am not an expert and not an investor. The only time I invested in shares was to apply for Reliance Power. The market since then has been crashing and crashing only. I am not at all affected.

However, the psyche of people who have invested is understably distubed. They are all the time talking about the market, the crude prices and the inflation. All these are beyond our control. So is the nuclear deal and the stability of the government. The only thing we can do is to restructure our life so that we are better placedfinancially. We should then wait for the things to turn in our favour and keep going on. After all tough times do not last, tough people do!