We need to talk

We need to talk- you and I - without anybody to moderate our conversation. We need to talk about this border that separates us. About our history texts tarnished with lies to suit a section of the world. About how our hands were entwined so intricately with each other's that when they tried to pry us apart faster than we expected, we didn't have the time to let go of the other. Now we have a knot shaped tangled mass of fingers lining our border , some fingers scarred, some bleeding. 

I know that you have lost loved ones on the other side of your border. So have I. Maybe that is why as greedy hands of power try to pull us apart, tangling the knots further; even though I have now lost track of which finger is mine and which is yours , I refuse to take an active role in freeing my fingers away from you. How can I? We are family .

They tell me that it is a fight of religion. They tell me that my country hates your country and your country hates mine. Ridiculous. We haven't even met. Aren't we all individual genetic masterpieces? The question of whether we would like each other or not, should honestly be left to us. Generalising a country to be of a certain kind would be a showcase of ignorance. Differences of opinion can occur. That isn't a crime. War, however isn't the solution. We may or may not read the same books on 'religion' , but we recognize this, don't we- the need to keep our family safe, the prayer that they stay healthy and never sleep on an empty stomach, the hope that we get to see our children as they grow older and make their mark in the world, not haunted by the effects of acts of violence from our end.  This too, is a kind of religion, isn't it? 

We were victims of a crude plan of power hungry men willing to risk anything to rule. Even today, this hatred is being fed to us consciously by countries who benefit by this war. You see it too, don't you?

While my country hikes it's defence budget every year to get ready to fight you when the time comes; poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and lack of adequate Health care remain the pressing issues. I am sure that you have your own set of hurdles in your country.  

Here I am; extending a hand of friendship , silencing the voices around me that tell me that it will be chopped off; to instill in me fear that will turn into violence. They feed on our hatred, you see.. 

But I find that my hand is already

in yours, entwined as one at our border. They have buried it under years of bloodshed and hatred; but I can feel my fingers against yours. Can you?