Mr. Singh said the only understandable thing he could when his government was faced with one scam after another: "I did not endorse...", "...all part of coalition dharma...". Let us humour our PM for one minute and assume he is truly being honest. If one believes as bad as one's friends are our enemies (i.e. opponents) are worse, would one not concoct any excuse not to let power slip away? Seems a s-t-r-e-t-c-h, but let's believe there is benevolence behind holding on to his chair. However his latest act bamboozles me the most!
India and Pakistan are once again locked in battle for the World Cup, this time the closest to the final match than ever before. Skeptics on both sides are reluctantly admitting to their opponents' strength and cynically analyzing the weaknesses of their own sides. The collective rise in blood pressures in the subcontinent warns of intravenous tsunamis. And as if displaying the text-book symptom, our Prime minister, in what can only be described as momentary disorientation, cordially invited the Pakistan Prime Minister to view the game. Hardly a genuine gesture of friendship, the hope is to play the cricket-diplomacy card again.
When we will learn? I admit I do not belong to the partition era, but I cannot understand this obsession with proactive peace-gestures that our leaders seem to have. This is as inexplicable as those saas-bahu serials where in the face of utmost animosity the protagonists sensibly tolerate the atrocities of the antagonists who are after all, "family". Even the Britishers accepted moral defeat in the face of non-violence in 40 years. By that stand we face an enemy worse than what our freedom fighters faced.
What frustrates me most is not that yet another time it is we who have extended a fig leaf--I'm proud that we have the bigger mind here. But what is the use of extending exactly the same fig leaf again and again despite receiving a blowtorch as an acknowledgement? Is there anything new that we are proposing this time, or is it the same rewound tape from 10-20-30 years ago? It is almost as if 26/11 did not happen. The defeat hidden behind the famous "Mumbai spirit" seems to be going national now, with every citizen expected to adjust to the new reality. Time heals all wounds, they say. We are witnessing a different time warp here where one side has expedited healing while the other side does not have one at all.
If we should not engage in active enmity, at least let us be indifferent. Why make a laughing stock out of us by acting like the overly good brother who just won't learn?
I feel really bad for both the cricket teams. As if having the expectations of their countrymen wasn't pressure enough, they are now being used as involuntary pawns to address an intractable problem. As usual one would get bouquets, the other would get brickbats (literally). India's loss would mean an instantaneous deletion of our past perfect record against Pakistan in the WC to the extent that people would act as if we never won against them. Pakistan's loss would mean the end of the World Cup tournament for many Indians (As Yuvraj Singh said, fans would say "win the semifinal, it doesn't matter if you win or lose the final"). Either way, predictably difficult times ahead for our cricket team of budding talent, and our governing team of mythical talent.
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