Coverage in the Times of India

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/593785.cms

 

 

 

To India with love

RAJEEVA SATYAVADA

 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, APRIL 01, 2004 01:54:31 AM ]

 

When Deepak Sapra and his wife Ispita visited Pakistan recently, it was not just to catch the action on the cricket field. For Deepak, it was more about trying to trace his roots in Lahore — his parents had lived there once upon a time. It was something he had always wanted to do, but Pakistan had always been "so near, yet so far" for the globetrotting couple.

 

 

 

 

When the barricades came down for the cricket series last month, the youngsters used the opportunity to cross the border.

 

 

 

But the couple were unprepared for what lay in store. "After we won the match, people came up to me asking for anything Indian, so we gave them flags, caps, coins and even currency notes with an autograph saying ‘With love from India’," recalls Deepak, who is a deputy manager at Reddy Labs. That warmth was there even when they went to buy medicines. "The chemist didn’t take money from us and neither did the doctor," says Ispita.

 

 

 

Deepak even managed to map out his past during the trip. "My father had fled Lahore when he was five and my mother’s family moved away when she was barely two," he says.

 

 

 

Nevertheless, with the help of a friend they had met on the net, the couple located the areas where Deepak’s parents had lived. "Fifty-seven years had passed since then, but we found my father’s house in exactly the same way as he had described," says Deepak. The only difference was that the building had new occupants. The owner of the house was so overwhelmed by their visit that it took him some time to react.

 

 

 

"When he did realise that his mehman were Indian, he took out his watch and fountain pen and gave it to us," says Deepak.

 

 

 

Not just the owner, everyone they met in Lahore flooded them with gifts. "We were there for six days and not once did we eat outside. Wherever we went, we were given sweets and food or at least cool drinks," says Ipsita.

 

 

 

The most touching gesture of goodwill was at Deepak’s ancestral house. Says Ispita, "I was given a pair of shoes that a bride had worn on the day of her marriage.

 

 

 

According to the custom there, these shoes are given only to her best friend."

 

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