Divided by a line

The news of floods and the devastation followed by it in Pakistan, the displaced families, the kids, the women, the hungry mouths, the filth.....i just cried when i read the news of it, as i'm following it day in and out.

Whenever, i read such news, the image of pregnant women and her helpless kids and people in hospitals, comes to my mind, i wonder what i'd do if iwas ever stuck with my baby somewhere, what would i do, if dad was stuck in the hospital, the thought that some stranger helped in any way they could is comforting.

I think of all the strangers who helped us in the hospital when my dad wasnt well, in the airport when i was travelling with T alone, in Melbourne ALL the people who helped my sis.

I've made donations thanking all the strangers, but more so, because i have family there.

After days of not being able to reach them, when i finally did and spoke to my nana abbu, my anjum khala, some piece of mind came to me. I've met my nana abbu, naani and my other cousins only once in my life, but thru my nana abbu, i;ve been in touch with my anjum khala who lives in Harrisburg. Who is now visiting karachi after her retirement.

You see, we are a family separated by the partition, by politics, by something I dont agree with.

More than I, my mom, her siblings and her father (my grandfather) have seen it first hand. There is an entire generation of uncles, aunts, nana and nani, cousins, kids living in karachi and in different parts of pakistan. My badey nana abbu ( my grnadpa's older brother), is a darling of sorts. He calls all of us to check how we are doing, how our kids are, tried to even hook me up with a guy, when i was single hello!!! which ofcourse  didnt pan out.

If we all could help them in any way, we should, we must, to keep the humanity in our lives alive, to rest with the fact that we helped. Think Katrina, Think Haiti earthquake, Think Tsunami....think of the faces that were once safe in the cocoons of thier homes now just wandering for shelter....Think One life, One World.