When faced with a challenge, a problem, the South Asians of the northern (problematic) part of the Subcontinent scratch themselves behind the ears and say, "aisa hi hai", adding, "kya karein?" The languages may differ, but the idea is the same. Translated, it refers to a fatalistic acceptance of things, and there is enough of that to warrant that at least this portion of South Asia should be called South Aisa. Nowhere is fatalism and willingness to suffer mayhem (as long as it is in the next state, city or mohalla) more obvious than in the easy acceptance of death due to political violence.
Look at the facing page, and study the incomplete list of political killings in our region over the course of October 2002. Do not bother yet about a full count, just check the column inches. Where do most South Asians die for a 'cause', get killed for fighting for that 'cause'? Jammu and Kashmir, that incredible haven of peace and tranquility of the 1960s where Shammi Kapoor and Sadhana used to cavort in the meadows of Gulmarg. J&K takes the skull and crossbones trophy for October as the place where the most South Asians died, and where Kashmiris suffer under the twin onslaughts of jehadis exported from Pakistan and the lakhs of Indian troops meant to lock the region into the union.
Next, the column-inches take us to Nepal – the kingdom that deluded itself into thinking it was the abode of peace only because tourism brochures said so and because the Buddha happened to be born here in a nondescript patch of the tarai two and a half millenia ago. For being a far smaller country than Pakistan or Bangladesh, notice how poorly Nepal stacks up against eternally violence-prone Pakistan with all its sectarian violence, especially in Karachi. As a columnist wrote in the Nepali Times, "Mahakal, the deity of death and destruction, is performing his Tandava in Nepal without bothering to take a break". The state and security in Nepal do not even seem to notice the dead and dying all around, and Kathmandu valley's cocoon is as yet intact from the brutality in the hinterland.
Sri Lanka would have been right up there, and even above J&K, for much of the last two decades. But it is at relative peace today, with discussions going on between the LTTE and GOSL across the waters in Thailand. Even the Indian Northeast seems to have tired a bit of mayhem, if you consider the consolidated inches for Tripura, Nagaland, Assam and Meghalaya. And could it be that we have missed out on Maoist activities in Bihar-Jharkhand and in the Deccan? Gujarat has gone mostly quiet, the terrible Mr Modi apparently unable to cause more harm.