The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

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Can poetry and fiction convey something deeply personal and achingly honest about our sensibilities on national belonging (or the lack thereof)? This quest began to morph into a research conversation very slowly, or as Roy (2017) put it so eloquently, taking almost a 'tree time'. Initially floated as a panel in an anthropology conference a decade ago, the question which grounds this special issue began to take shape as a quiet but resolute response to the testosterone-filled media interactions on nation and border where questions like 'so what do YOU want from US?' pricked every time they were hurled at panellists discussing bilateral and multilateral Southasianism. Their sting refused to go away. The 'you' and 'we/us' obviously refer to the respective citizenships of the two individuals in conversation. This particular performance of the script of the nation went uninterrupted most of the time, but there were occasions when signs of discomfort betrayed the belief about having to carry the Herculean burden of one's nation on one's shoulders as if fending one's emotional and corporeal territories so doggedly was the only way to be good neighbours, turning the nation into a monolithically matronised and deified unit (Ramaswamy 2008). Everyday nationalism often manifests itself in paradoxical terms, on one hand as an ideal for progress and pursuit of development, and on the other hand, the 'schmaltzy' way of crying, 'with the help of a little alcohol, over folk songs…' as Gellner (1997) once put it.