The Garden of Eden and Balle Balle India!
Taxis stopped ferrying people around sometime before eight yesterday as they gravitated towards TV showrooms along the road. The roads looked as deserted as the aftermath of a village fair. The environmentalist in us took a resentful leave on Earth day - sorry Earth, but you should not have gone and done that weather drama all day yesterday! Halfway through, the Pizza Hut guy, who came over, found a spot in the living room and parked himself for a good half hour oblivious to calls from the next customer– sorry for the cold pizzas! This is India-Pakistan day!
The drama had begun to unfold over months before even the qualifiers commenced. After Pakistan, in a comical turn of events, feared for the safety of its players, political jingoism took over on this side of the border as political rivals BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur and Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh squabbled over Dharamsala. It was probably for the best that the match was shifted out of Dharamsala – despite the setting the place would have offered, this match needed to be away from the scent of politics. But, you are only a stone's throw away from one when you are in India. After the politicians, actors and businessmen extracted a few good minutes of screen-time, the real action began at the Eden Gardens. But not before the experts said India-Pak is bigger than the Ashes because of the three wars the nations have fought and pegged Pakistan as the favorites this time around. It all did not matter in the end, as India made it 11-0 against the rivals!
Yet somehow this time was different. Shahid Afridi landed in India and in a bit of a soup when he said that they get more love in India than they get back home. Understandably, he was soon buried under a barrage of public outcry from back home, led by the fiery Javed Miandad. There was even a case filed in court requiring him to apologize to the nation. Appears, we are not so different across that border. While Afridi could have had his reasons, a lucrative commentary position soon who knows, such an act would have been unthinkable a decade back. He had as well seek asylum in India if he had done it back then.
The women's team followed up in the act very soon. As much as the delectable dames were admired across the border, they never were so dear before the day when the Pakistan captain said Indian players, especially Kohli and Dhoni, were the dressing room favorites. A few years back, this would have been sacrilege. But, you could almost have cheered for them when they played India at the Feroz Shah Kotla yesterday afternoon.
The coup de grace, as usual, was reserved for Virat Kohli. Some gestures, even if only symbolic, can send a subtle nudge that silently transforms the collective psyche of a nation. Virat Kohli gifting his bat to Mohammad Amir was such a simple gesture – as simple as that German soldier passing the canteen over to his British enemy on the Christmas eve of 1914 amidst the WW-I trenches of Neuve Chapelle. However, he may have just paved the way for a fresh Indo-Pak equation, at least on the field. Beneath that brash exterior, he does possess a heart of gold and chooses to wear it on his sleeve. And, surprisingly he is turning out to be a greater statesman of the game than even Dhoni, in his own inimitable way.
The virtual space was as always ahead of the curve on the phenomenon. Facebook may have become a haven of the trolls, but for once it threw a curveball. As fans from both countries changed their profile pictures to support each other's teams, for once Zuckerberg also found something else interesting about India than internet.org.
However, the real change was happening in the living rooms. Before the sonorous rendition of the Indian anthem by Amitabh Bachhan, the living room was up on the feet for the Pakistan anthem as well. As we sat watching, almost half the crowd was cheering for Pakistan, and no one seemed to bat an eye lid. It was only as natural and normal as cheering for South Africa or for New Zealand when they played India.
Touchwood, both countries may still crash out of the tournament before the knockouts. But both nations may have already won something bigger – the hearts across borders. Cricket may have accomplished something that Prime-ministerial visits and high-level dialogues have not. Sport transcends – it transcends boundaries, cultures and colors.
Sania Mirza closed the night with a congratulatory tweet that read “Balle balle India @imVkohli you rockstar”. Balle balle India, indeed, sounds good – it is vivacious, unfettered, and devoid of baggage. To India, to cricket and to peace! Balle balle!
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