'Diplomacy my foot, just win'

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br />Considering that they invented the game and ruled us for about two centuries, I would imagine beating England at Lord’s would be the most exciting achievement for the Indian team. <br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="27.0%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/550979.cms" alt="/photo/550979.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">Saif Ali khan</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">However, our generation has no memory of British subjugations and finds it more satisfying to grind our acrimoniously divorced northern partners into the dust. Cricket is a great metaphor for life.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">It is important to remember the players travelling from India to Pakistan are going there to play their hearts out and win and shouldn’t be expected to do the job of hard-nosed diplomats and politicians. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Neither should we expect this current wave of cultural and sporting exchange to solve any of our unfortunate political issues. It is, however, heartening that it’s easier for the common citizens to cross borders and rediscover lost ties in one of the most beautiful places in the subcontinent.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""><formid=367815></formid=367815></span><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />While it’s my duty as a good Indian and sometime paranoid Muslim to abuse Pakistan in order to seem patriotic and loyal (that’s why I did my bit in LoC), the fact remains that I have family across the border and have no personal enmity with any Pakistani.<br /><br />My family and I have been to Pakistan twice, first to watch Sri Lanka and South Africa play the World Cup final and the second time for my cousin’s wedding. <br /><br />On both occasions, I noticed a lot of similarities and felt a lot of mutual love and respect. I am sure one day the nightmare of Partition will be a distant memory like the British Rule and beating Pakistan will be more a matter of deadly Pathani reverse swing than avenging political aggression.<br /><br />Perhaps if we played each other more often, our approach towards victory and defeat would be more rational than the ‘Sachin your life will be hanged by a thread if you get a duck,’ attitude that prevails today.<br /><br />I have always thought that cricket is a lot like life. It’s about you and your partner out there in the middle trying to deal with everything that’s thrown at you by the people who surround you. And before I take myself too seriously, always remember, it’s not the winning or the losing, it’s the taking APART. Kill, ’em, boys!<br /><br /><formid=367815></formid=367815></div> </div>