Dream Match...

Oh, this is not a post about my “dream match” because that will happen with Sania one day for sure and I will let her beat me **wink wink*. This is about the “dream match” of every cricket lover, India-Pakistan final in a major tournament, Twenty20 World Cup. If a regular match between the two teams in exciting then this match will raise the testosterone level of every Indian and Pakistani cricket lover.

Shoaib Malik and M S Dhoni with the Twenty20 trophy under Nelson Mandela's statue

I wanted to write this post before the match rather than as an afterthought. It’s because after the match one team will be the loser while other will be celebrating the victory. This is the nature of sport; one has to lose for the other to win. In the preliminary match of this world cup, the game between India and Pakistan was tied and still it was deemed necessary to make one team the winner by silliness of bowl out.

It has always been about winning and losing between India and Pakistan. What people of both countries don’t realize is that one will have to lose for the other to win. If Kashmir goes to Pakistan then India loses and if it stays with India then Pakistan loses. Can’t we call this match a tie without a bowl-out? I think India-Pakistan have the right opportunity to make this a tie match. The relationship between the countries cannot be better even though both still keep on blaming each other on some matters like India accusing groups in Pakistan of supporting bombings in India and Pakistan accusing India of interfering in Baluchistan by arming the rebels there. I am sure there is some truth in all such cases but its time the people of both countries rise above such petty differences. How much progress both the countries would have made if they had not spent billions of dollars on weapons and nuclear bombs rather than spending the same money on education, basic healthcare, and infrastructure. More than 30% of population in both countries is living below poverty line and still we would rather spend more than a million dollars per day on a barren land of Siachien Glacier.

Serenity of Dal Lake is seen to be believed

I am not saying that solution to complex problem like Kashmir can be found easily but some solution has to be found soon. I went to Kashmir in late 1980s when militancy was raising its ugly head in the state but that is not what I remember about Kashmir. I remember beautiful Mughal Gardens, the majesty of house boats and shikaras in Dal Lake, skiing resorts to die for in Gulmarg, apple orchids spread all over the countryside, local people taking angethe inside their traditional clothes to keep themselves warm, smile of beautiful children running around through the narrow streets of markets.

Kashmiri kids with their innocent smile

I don’t want to go back to Kashmir where the Chinar trees of Dal Lake are dieing because no one is there to take care of them, where house boats have become ghost boats, apple orchids have become barren fields, local people are carrying guns to keep themselves safe and smiles of children is replaced by fear of the unknown.

I hope the Kashmir match is a tie for both the countries. I hope Kashmir becomes a peace region and model for every place in the world. I hope Kashmir becomes a melting pot where Indian and Pakistanis can move around freely and exchange ideas, thoughts, art, music and sports. I hope Kashmir becomes an inspiration for every person of the world.

Here is one such inspiration “Kashmir” by British rock-band Led Zeppelin :

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face
Stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race
This world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait
All will be revealed

Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace
Whose sounds caress my ear
But not a word I heard could I relate
The story was quite clear

Oh, I been flying... mama, there ain't no denyin'
I've been flying, ain't no denyin', no denyin'

All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground
And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land
Trying to find, trying to find where I've been.

Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace
Like thoughts inside a dream
Heed the path that led me to that place
Yellow desert stream
My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon
I will return again
Sure as the dust that floats high in June
When movin' through Kashmir

Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails
Across the sea of years
With no provision but an open face
Along the straits of fear

When I'm on, when I'm on my way, yeah
When I see, when I see the way, you stay-yeah

Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, when I'm down...
Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, well I'm down, so down
Ooh, my baby, oooh, my baby, let me take you there

Let me take you there. Let me take you there...