Border pointless among ''equals'', feels teenager at Wagah

Wagah/Attari, Oct 3 (UNI) The show of strength at retreat ceremony here between India and Pakistan may be a routine for 15-year-old Gurbachan Singh but he still considers the people on both sides of the border to be ''equal'' in every sense of the word and says the manmade divide is futile and an exercise in vain.

'' On both sides of the border the people lead the same life, their outlook is the same and I find no difference between us,'' he asserted.

While busy selling CDs of the retreat to tourists, who come from every nook and cranny of the country, he makes a fast buck by selling 6-7 of them everyday after the school, the prices of which varies between Rs 30-50 depending upon the haggling.

Mr Gurbachan, fondly called ''Happy'' by his family and friends, unabashedly says Railway Minister Lalu Prasad was the first Prime Minister of India.

Though he may be ignorant about the Railway Minister, his knowledge about the incumbent Prime Minister is not erroneous as he is aware that the PM is none other than Mr Manmohan Singh.

Asked how certain he is about the PM, pat comes the reply, ''He belongs to our (Sikh) community and I am proud, he is at the helm of the affairs of the country.'' A ninth standard student, like his other peers, enjoys meeting tourists pouring in here from various places and aquaint them with the exercise carried out on the border in his Hindi laced with chaste Punjabi, though hardly fathomed by many.

Also, unlike any other trouble-torn border sharing between the two countries, he says the atmosphere is more or less sedate and equable due to a large posse of Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and hence the palpable tension in the air never percolates to them.

Mr Gurbachan, blissfully oblivious to the world around him, says he loves his first village and aspires to follow in footsteps of his farmer-cum-bussinessman. At the same time he cherishes the hope that one day the border would open to all and will not be restricted to carriers of visas only.

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