Sometimes when you return home after a long time, you begin to see things differently - you start to notice things that you didn't think were significant before.
This is a scene I captured today at Islamabad Airport, in the International Departure Lounge. It left me with a complicated mix of thoughts, feelings and emotions - simultaneously baffled and awed; proud and frightened; amused and intrigued.
We have a seriously turbaned and traditionally bearded guy; the urban Pakistani version of a yuppy/hustler wearing a cap and some sneakers on his phone; an oldish guy absorbed in his book; a youngish guy with a long (presumably Islamic) beard staring at the flight information screen; a young make-up laden girl, with her red-suitcase, being social on her phone; and a couple of "big" aunties in the background. People watching is fun - and it's really fun in a place like Islamabad Airport.
Now, these are some of the people who need to get along, understand each other, and agree on public policy. It's not going to be easy.
But it's amazing that these people do in most ways actually get along - at the very least, they do share the same airport.
But here's a question anyone who knows anything about diversity will ask - does this visual representation or superficial manifestation of diversity actually hold deeper salience? In this case it seems obvious to me that it does. Try taking this same picture in an airport in the United States or Western Europe.
