It is another of those days when a game of Cricket is not just a game. The game surpasses itself. It is not a war but there is a people who have seen all what it takes to call a people a war hardened people. It is not just a bowler delivering the ball and the batsman hitting it, it is about the heartbeat of an entire people skipping a beat with every delivery. It is not just about 11+2 players battling it out at a particular time on the field, it is about an entire nation with a history linked to both the teams' nations letting out their emotions to express their sentiment. It is not about who wins the match that is important, more important thing is who loses the match. And this is the thing which satisfies the, may i borrow the term, 'collective conscience' of my nation in a somewhat emoticomic way.
It is not just a cricket match, it is a India versus Pakistan cricket match and Kashmiris root for the Pakistan Cricket Team in such a match.
KunanPoshpora, GawKadal, Zakoora, Sopore, Pathribal, Machil, Chittisinghpora, Tufail Mattoo, Wamiq Farooq. Maqbool Butt. Afzal Guru. Curfew, Crackdown, Encounter (fake?), Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF. Occupation.
Cricket is followed back home like the Champions League, here, in Europe or like the NBA in the US, if we need a comparison. Some people even say, "Cricket is a religion and da da da player is its god!" This is just to tell what Cricket means to the people in South Asia - India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka.
When India wins a Cricket match it generates a wave of nationalism and nationalistic pride across the country. When it wins against Pakistan all this is topped with an inexplicable happiness in the Indian fans, which may, in some cases, spill over into anti-Pakistan bigotry. On the other hand when India loses a cricket match, more importantly against Pakistan, Kashmiris see it as a perfect antidote which punctures this nationalistic pride of Indians. The same nationalistic pride of the same national interest which has served as a forever-young, collective conscience satisfying, blood-thirsty alibi to deny justice to Kashmiris for the past 67 years.
The joy is inexplicable. Well, i am not going into he details on how Kashmiris forget everything on this day and become cricket experts/commentators! Or how it feels like a Curfew, or what a friend called Cricket Curfew, on this day!
It is not just about the joy of seeing India lose on the cricket field (read battleground) to Pakistan. It is about how a cricket match brings Kashmiris across the world together, cheering for one team to win. People may argue that it is just a game of cricket but for a Kashmiri, it is much more than just a game. It is an opportunity, howsoever insignificant for some, to see the back of the collective conscience of a particular nation.
P.S. If Pakistan loses the match, we have an antidote for that thing as well. "Tum jeeto ya haaro, suno, humein tumse pyaar hai!"
Beautifully written and emotions most aptly conveyed, Tavseef. Kudos!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Burooj, for stopping by! :)
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