READING a news item in your daily of Sept 30 about ‘who wins’ amongst Nawaz and Modi in New York, I am reminded of my youth. I would do the same to a pretty damsel in a family crowd. If she returned the same it was fine. If a complaint was lodged with the elders I would get away with that “I did that to caste away a fly from my face and smiled at the fly to show my friendly gesture”.

Controversy has erupted in NY as to who initiated. Does it matter? Dr Maleeha Lodhi and the Pakistani media held a press conference in Roosevelt Hotel to explain as to what did the PM do? And who wins?

Since we can settle serious disputes or otherwise with such gestures, then let us put Kashmir on a smile table and settle the future of Kashmir in a Dubai hotel (New York is expensive). Then Dubai has another advantage, most of the escaped political leaders are there. They can sit in the gallery to watch the smile-winning contest.

As for me, to remind your readers, that my smile often worked and eventually landed into four decades of companionship. Kashmir too will have many prosperous decades of the fruit of the smile-war.

A citizen

Lahore

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2015

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