India Pakistan Ice-cream Burger

 

The prospect of a ice cold chocolate ice-cream on a hot summer day, and a melting cheese vegetable burger for a hungry palette both evoke similar reactions, the expectation of something tasty, a hunger that needs to munch on something, and then the first taste as the tongue rolls in appreciation of having torn into a delightful mouthful. The cardinal sin has been committed but the taste buds have been satisfied. The tongue does not stop at that, Yeh Dil Maange More. An India Pakistan encounter in a sporting arena has a similar effect, it creates an unending desire and when one encounter is done with, the heart desires for more. So the title of this Blog is India-Pakistan, Ice cream- Burger

Sports has a magical effect of bringing people together of unifying geographies beyond boundaries and borders In essence Sports can do that which perhaps Politics and Backroom diplomacy cannot do. Cricket is such a huge influence in the subcontinent. People across India, Pakistan,Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, more recently Afghanistan and even Nepal have produced match winners in the recent past.

This blog is about the fact of kindling or reigniting that fire, that Indo-Pak rivalry which has been missing for quite a few years now. Would you not love to see Shahin Shah Afridi bursting in to bowl to Virat Kohli or for that matter Ashwin breaching the defences of a Babar Azam. The thought itself is so very enticing. According to me even IPL can be of huge popularity if players from across the border could play in our league. Someone commented that the media rights for Television Broadcast in the near future could go up to Rs 50000 Crore. I feel that with the players of the sub continent participating in it, even this number could sound minuscule.

Even in Pakistan there is a huge demand for a tournament like IPL but sports enthusiasts there are not able to follow the game. I belonged to a generation lucky enough to witness the iconic India Pakistan encounter at Chennai. What a game and what a sporting standing ovation that the Pakistan team received from a knowledgeable Chepauk crowd. If the policies are realigned for the two countries to open up relationships much more can happen. For one I know that the effect of playing each other more often would remove the bitterness of losing to each other and more TV sets will be up for entertainment and not for breaking at the end of the match

I am sure that the game of cricket stands to benefit immensely with schools, colleges, state teams and maybe even franchisee teams going across the border to participate in tournaments. Our cultures match, our food habits match, our languages are the same, the problems that we face are similar, why not be in it together. Lahore is just forty minutes drive from Amritsar. Its that close. Would it not be exciting for people to drive across the border to meet their friends over a weekend. I would love to explore the cities in Pakistan while I am sure that citizens there would love to come over to India. 

Trades would improve, economies would be much better, Onion that much cheaper. We could buy from Pakistan whats not easily available here and vice-versa. People in Pakistan would be having a conversation like "You know what last weekend I saw the latest SRK movie in Amritsar" I am sure that citizens of both the great nations want peace and quality of life to improve. Physical Borders are man- made but so are relationships. Let us for once strive to cement these relationships

I feel its time to create a sub continent of peace and sporting relationships, one that citizens of both the nations have been dreaming about. Food Tourism, Health Tourism, Student Exchange Programs, Culture work groups and so much more can happen if the two nations come together. It is a question of forgetting our egos, setting aside our differences and giving peace a chance. Will we continue to swallow the Bitter Pill or can we make way for Ice Cream - Burgers, only time and our leaders can answer this question