Atithi devo bhava? Ask the people of Pakistan. It seems they know the meaning of this line. More and more Indians coming back from Pakistan have one story to tell. ;They aren't charging us for food, soft drinks and medicines!! exclaims the ecstatic Pakistan-returned Indian.



The quartet of Rakesh Tandon, Vinay Mathur, Avtar Singh and Abhay Sharma, who were in Karachi for the first one-dayer, have this refreshing tale to tell. What brought tears to our eyes was not India's victory against Pakistan in this particular match. Pakistan's attempts to win us over was equally touching. Whenever we ate out, regardless of what we had, we were never charged by restaurants in Karachi,says Vinay. It was unbelievable. We were so overwhelmed by the hospitality. Even when some of us told our hosts we were from the Middle East, they said: as long as you are Indians, we will never charge you.


Amit Khanna was in Rawalpindi for the ODI there. A couple of friends and I went for a bar-be-que treat at a restaurant. The food was so good that we ordered more. And more. At the end of an almost two-hour meal, we asked for the cheque. To our surprise, the restaurant manager said: it's on the house; you are from India and are our guests.



But it's not as if Pakistani hospitality extends only to food. Dinesh Sharma, an avid cricket buff from Delhi, experienced a pleasant surprise at a chemist store. This happened in Peshawar. I asked for medicine and was about to pull out my wallet, when the chemist said, Sir, aap hamare mehmaan hain; paisa mat deejiye. Dushmani toh politicians ke beech main hai. Hamare liye, aap ek khas dost hain. I realised then that all this animosity and hatred is created by a bunch of people for personal and political gains.



Pakistani hospitality isn't restricted to monetary concessions. A group of Indians were unable to secure rooms at a hotel due to a managerial policy there... but this didn't stop the hotel authorities from walking that extra step to help out. The manager at this hotel said: Sorry, we have orders not to let out rooms to foreigners. But since we were new to the place, he sent his Man Friday with us to ensure that we got good accommodation, says Vineet Mathur, who is still in Pakistan, This aide made it a point to be with us till we found a room of our liking!

Pakistan Shining?

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