What's up guys? This is Peter.
I got back from India and Pakistan a few months ago.
Made video series on both countries
and the number one question I've received is,
"What are the differences and the similarities between India and Pakistan?"
So that's what I'm gonna get into here in this video.
One caveat, I'm a foreigner.
I'm not from either country, haven't lived in either country.
I was two weeks in each country.
So let's start with the differences.
Police.
I have no idea what happens psychologically
when an Indian policeman puts on that tan police uniform.
Something happens with ego.
Some weird complex comes to the surface
because typically, the Indian police aren't the best to deal with.
Now I had no issues, no problems, but they're not so approachable, I'd say.
Now this isn't everyone, I'm sure there are some great cops in India.
But the over reaching theme was police are not that cool.
Pakistan, totally different.
This was really interesting
that the police would go out of their way to help.
The Rangers, which guard the borders for the most part,
super friendly, super approachable.
So completely different vibe with the police in both countries.
Color, India's so much more of a colorful country.
So I think part of that comes from Hinduism.
You see a lot of reds, you see a lot of oranges,
you see a lot of greens.
Also in the women, because they're colorfully.
Pakistan, of course there are colors but just not as much as India.
Lot of green, lot of black.
Women, many more women on the streets in India than Pakistan.
And this really changes too
when you get to the KPK, up in the northwest territory of Pakistan.
City of Peshawar, really very few women on the streets.
So it's regionalized but as a basic rule of thumb,
many more women on the streets in India.
Scams... Scams exist in both countries.
I got ripped off in Pakistan by a taxi driver.
Also a guy at the hotel borrowed some money,
didn't seem too keen on paying me back, but that was it.
India is a different story.
India in the tourist places is a much different story.
So I guess it's because of years of tourism.
I don't know what it is but it just seems
you have to watch your money closer in India.
There are people...
There are all sorts of touts, there are all sorts of little games
to get money out of you and...
Not everyone, I was in Jaipur, some sweet guy gave me some desserts.
It's not all Indians, but much more scamming going on in India.
Homeless, both countries have homeless people.
I'd say that India has many more that you see out in the streets
and also more stray dogs.
Wealthy, both countries have a minority that is very wealthy
but it's very different.
So in Pakistan, it seemed like the wealthy were
far removed on the outskirts of the cities.
High walls, barbed wire, motorcades going by
creating traffic for everyone else as these so called "VIPs" went through
and I think Pakistan...
You know, you take a city like Karachi, six years ago was
the fifth most dangerous city in the world.
So they say.
There are a lot more danger factors I would say for the wealthy in Pakistan.
I don't know if that's that way now or not.
But in India they intermingle more.
It's not like they're hanging out in the streets with the average person but
you take Mukesh Ambani, the richest guy in India.
His skyscraper home is pretty close to a main street.
Of course it has security, tons of security,
and a wall, and all that stuff but you see that in India more.
You see, you know, not all the wealth is pushed out.
It's sort of intermingled in the cities.
Religion.
India is 80% Hindu but there are also 182 million Muslims in the country
plus many other religions.
Over 10% of the world's Muslim people live in India.
There are almost as many Muslims in India as there are in Pakistan
where roughly 95... 98% of the people are Muslim.
Those were the big differences that stuck out during my travels.
Let's go into the similarities.
Interest in one another.
Both countries seem to be very curious about the other.
In my comments from my video series,
there are two types of people that chime in
"Thanks for the nice video, Peter."
"Lovely people, I'm Indian."
"Love to see a lot of smiles out there."
"Sadly, lots of negativity between the two brotherly nations."
"Wish one day will come when we can explore each other."
"Loads of love."
"From India, and peace."
So you get these types of messages
or you get these types.
"F*ckistan, hai, hai."
"Terrorist country."
In this video, guaranteed, when you finish watching it
go down into the comments and check this out.
You'll see exactly what I'm talking.
It's either on this far end of the spectrum,
"I love my brothers."
"I hope one day... Can't wait to see them."
"Love to Pakistan." "Love to India."
or...
The opposite.
Nothing in the middle.
Cricket...
Enough said.
Cult-like followings in both countries.
Hospitality, both cultures are very cool towards foreigners.
It's very easy to meet people.
Not a problem, either country.
India's much more accustomed to tourists.
So maybe you're not as much of a novelty there
but in Pakistan, depending where you're at, it's...
People are gonna come out more, I would say.
And then there's a place called Peshawar.
Peshawar is in the northwest part of Pakistan
and that is hospitality at its highest frequency.
There's nothing like it.
I've never seen anything like it.
Take two steps, someone brings you in for tea.
Two more steps, someone says, "Have some of my fresh bread."
Two more steps, a kid comes out and says,
"Thank you for coming to our country."
CHILD: Thanks for coming.
-Thank you.
Thanks for being so cool.
So Peshawar has been the gateway to the Indian subcontinent.
Lots of conflict has come through the area.
So I was told the people are very...
They're passionate.
They're lovers if you come in in a friendly way
but they're ruthless warriors if you come in a not so friendly way.
So come in to Peshawar with love
and you will see love and hospitality like no other place on the planet.
Regionalized, both countries are very much regionalized.
So in India, you have Kerala in the South.
You have Dehradun, you know, the foothills of the Himalayas.
Two completely separate worlds.
Same with Pakistan, Hunza Valley and Karachi.
People are totally different.
Culture is totally different.
Everything's different.
What's super interesting is...
You'll see in the border region, sometimes the cultures bleed a little bit.
They bleed together, for example, Lahore, Amristsar.
All Punjab people and the people in Lahore have, in ways,
more in common with the people across the border in India
than they do with another city in Pakistan like Peshawar.
I found that to be really cool.
So regionalized within each country but then also
regions of each country that have a lot in common.
Alcohol, drugs.
I know we're in the similarities category but let me explain.
So in India there are states like Goa.
Goa, there's plenty of alcohol.
Everywhere there are nightclubs, whatever you want.
And then there are dry states like Kerala.
Where I don't think you can buy it in markets or on the streets.
In Pakistan, the whole country, you can't buy it
in markets or on the streets anywhere
but the similarities are it does exist
and there are underground party scenes in all the big Pakistani cities.
That's for sure.
It exists.
People are gonna say it doesn't.
They don't want it to exist, but the reality is it does exist.
At what level, I don't know.
I didn't spend a long enough time there.
And more interestingly was...
Were the opiates.
So I saw in India, in the villages, people...
It was like a mild form of opium I believe.
They were drinking.
And then hashish on the streets in Pakistan.
Now these are only two instances I saw.
I don't know how frequent this stuff is.
Architecture, so where I saw the similarities were in Punjab.
You have Mughal architecture.
Lahore, beautiful, stunning, Mughal architecture in Lahore
and that also carries over to Delhi, Taj Mahal.
Beautiful Moghul architecture.
There are some common threads depending where you are in the countries.
Complex.
You could spend a lifetime studying the cultural nuances,
the history, geography, the politics.
There is so much going on in each place.
Cut off from one another.
Most Pakistanis cannot go to India, most Indians cannot go to Pakistan.
There are some exceptions.
Some visas for family members, or business men, but it's not easy.
Most people will never see the other side.
That benefits the politicians.
That benefits the media.
It doesn't benefit the people.
'Cause if the people actually got to intermingle more,
they got to hang out, a lot know this already,
but they'd realize how much common ground there is
and there's no need to really fear each other.
Easy for me to say, I'm an outsider.
I'm not talking about the bloody history, I'm talking about 2020
and the fact that most people are cool on both sides
and the fact that they can't intermingle
does not help either country in the long run.
Patriotism, pride.
There's a lot of pride in both countries.
Very strong pride on both sides.
The best manifestation of this is the Wagah border crossing.
It's this crazy dynamic of machismo, ballet, patriotism.
It's super interesting, I made a video on it actually.
But yeah, both sides have a super patriotic element,
nationalistic element too,
and then there's a whole other demographic
that just really does not care about the political tension
or if they think their country is better than the other one.
India and Pakistan, some of the gems of Planet Earth.
If you have the chance, go to both of them.
It's really interesting to do a compare and contrast.
I'm just scratching the surface with this video.
I know it.
If you want to see more about both countries
then go down below into the description.
I made series.
I have links for series on both countries
and also if you want to support this channel
please go, again, down into the link below, description below,
and you'll see links there to support the channel.
Hope you enjoyed that.
Hope you get to go.
If you're from either one of the countries I just mentioned, India or Pakistan,
loved it, thank you so much.
Fantastic experiences.
Hope to see you in the next video.
[children giggling]
MAN: Thank you, sir. Thank yo so much.
Sir, thank you so much.
PETER: Thank you, thank you, bye-bye.
-You guys are so cool. -You are so very cool.
-You guys are very welcoming, very friendly.
-Thank you.
-Big hearts.
-Yeah, big mountains, big hearts.
[hands slap]