Travel - The Nation We See
The morning sun spilled golden light over the gleaming spires of New Edinburgh, a city buzzing with promise and possibility. In two different corners of its sprawling urban tapestry, two young men stirred awake in their modest apartments. Shankar, an Indian student with a mop of unruly black hair, stretched in his cramped studio apartment, the walls adorned with posters of cricket legends and a small shrine to Ganesha. Across town, Rizwan, a Pakistani student with sharp features and a neatly trimmed beard, rose from his bed, his room decorated with calligraphy and a framed photo of the Lahore skyline. Both men, from nations long at odds, were bound by a shared rhythm—and a rivalry that had simmered since their first encounter at Edinburgh College. Their mornings unfolded like mirrored rituals. Shankar laced up his sneakers and jogged through a nearby park, sweat glistening as he pushed through his workout, his mind already replaying arguments with Rizwan. Rizwan, meanwhile, hit the...