Stuck between a question and a statement from my friend: So today India? A pleasant wind was unfurling peepal leaves as me took it sitting under the tree. For years have seen Gavaskar, Sachin Sehwag put down Pakistan greats Imran, Wasim, Waqar; Javed Minadad and Inzamam returning the favour. Me has enjoyed the bat and ball Tests in Pakistan and India. Always had a problem taking sides; when West Indies under Frank Worrell and Garfield Sobers served divine cricket me was a West Indian fan; when India beat West Indies in 1983 World Cup, felt sad for Viv Richards. Richards, Holding, Lara .... for me they are tops. It is another matter in those times me could wave a foreign flag in fervour. Today, me has to become the Tricolour and me finds it hard, really hard. Have TV viewers in India to stand up to the National Anthem when the India-Pakistan match starts. Maybe not. Maybe yes. Somehow patriotism never flutters me. Still recall the day when the Chepauk crowd stood up to applaud Wasim Akram and the Pakistan team when they koed India after a fine Sachin century; Gavaskar said: Sachin should have finished the match. But Sachin had a painful injury. That's being a liberal and am proud of the Chepauk moment, watching on TV. Perhaps, they were all liberals and a repeat cannot be dreamt of in 2017. Liberals (me am a liberal) are spat at and that's okay as they can rarely take a stand; there are too many truths and lies to an issue; have been trying to define myself and today Saadat Hasan Manto gave me the definition. Have read him and the short tale Toba Tek Singh many times. Writes Manto (Saadat Hasan Manto: Selected Stories): 'There he stood in no-man's-land on his swollen legs like a colossus. Since he was a harmless old man, no further attempt was made to push him into India. He was allowed to stand where he wanted, while the exchange continued. The night wore on. Just before sunrise, Bishen Singh, the man who had stood on his legs for fifteen years, screamed and as officials from the two sides rushed towards him, he collapsed to the ground. There behind barbed wire, on one side, lay India and behind more barbed wire, on the other side, lay Pakistan. In between, on a bit of earth, which had no name, lay Toba Tek Singh.' For me Toba Tek Singh is the Liberal. Today, with Toba Tek Singh and Saadat Hasan Manto Manto, the other Liberal, will watch cricket on TV.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
An Indo-Pak cricket game
Stuck between a question and a statement from my friend: So today India? A pleasant wind was unfurling peepal leaves as me took it sitting under the tree. For years have seen Gavaskar, Sachin Sehwag put down Pakistan greats Imran, Wasim, Waqar; Javed Minadad and Inzamam returning the favour. Me has enjoyed the bat and ball Tests in Pakistan and India. Always had a problem taking sides; when West Indies under Frank Worrell and Garfield Sobers served divine cricket me was a West Indian fan; when India beat West Indies in 1983 World Cup, felt sad for Viv Richards. Richards, Holding, Lara .... for me they are tops. It is another matter in those times me could wave a foreign flag in fervour. Today, me has to become the Tricolour and me finds it hard, really hard. Have TV viewers in India to stand up to the National Anthem when the India-Pakistan match starts. Maybe not. Maybe yes. Somehow patriotism never flutters me. Still recall the day when the Chepauk crowd stood up to applaud Wasim Akram and the Pakistan team when they koed India after a fine Sachin century; Gavaskar said: Sachin should have finished the match. But Sachin had a painful injury. That's being a liberal and am proud of the Chepauk moment, watching on TV. Perhaps, they were all liberals and a repeat cannot be dreamt of in 2017. Liberals (me am a liberal) are spat at and that's okay as they can rarely take a stand; there are too many truths and lies to an issue; have been trying to define myself and today Saadat Hasan Manto gave me the definition. Have read him and the short tale Toba Tek Singh many times. Writes Manto (Saadat Hasan Manto: Selected Stories): 'There he stood in no-man's-land on his swollen legs like a colossus. Since he was a harmless old man, no further attempt was made to push him into India. He was allowed to stand where he wanted, while the exchange continued. The night wore on. Just before sunrise, Bishen Singh, the man who had stood on his legs for fifteen years, screamed and as officials from the two sides rushed towards him, he collapsed to the ground. There behind barbed wire, on one side, lay India and behind more barbed wire, on the other side, lay Pakistan. In between, on a bit of earth, which had no name, lay Toba Tek Singh.' For me Toba Tek Singh is the Liberal. Today, with Toba Tek Singh and Saadat Hasan Manto Manto, the other Liberal, will watch cricket on TV.
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