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| With fire crackers they cracked politics | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 31: It is the story of two worlds. Totally different in mood and attitude. Though the people in both the worlds had purchased fire crackers worth lakhs of rupees, they were utilised in one world but in the other there was retrained use.
The two worlds, two different worlds, took birth the moment the umpires marched to the Mohali cricket grounds. People in the region of Jammu and in the vale of Kashmir watched the tie between the ball and the bat with bated breath. In Jammu region each fourer scored by the Indian batsmen was greeted with the loud cracker burst. In the other world crakers were fired with each Indian batsman marching to the pavillion after being declared out.
Each hit to the fence by the Indian batsmen would draw big "ha, ha, ha" from those groups of people glued to the television sets in the Jammu region. Each hit to the fence by the Indian batsmen would be greeted with a deep sigh from the people in the other world.
People in Kashmir, in fact ardent fans of Shahid Afridi and his boys, had collected money for purchasing fire crackers right from Tuesday itself. Eyewitness accounts said that some of these supporters were seen in nursing homes and hospitals collecting money from the attendants of patients for purchasing crackers. And they were seen firing crackers whenever the Indian batsman was either bowled out or caught behind the wicket.
They fired crackers whenever the Pakistani batsmen hit a fourer. They fired crackers when any Indian batsman was caught in the deep wicket position. As Pakistani batsmen continued to indulge in hard hitting sending the ball to the fence it was greeted with bigger roar of bursting crackers. But before the end of the last over, when the chances for a Pak win were totally lost, not a single cracker was fired. If there were fire crackers bursting sounds it was from the camps of the paramilitary forces.
In Jammu the sky seemed to have been lit with multicoloured fire crackers. "Anars" sending their sparkle as high as the skyscrappers. It continued till the midnight. Scenes of revelry and boozing continued in Jammu even after the players had left the cricket grounds for finishing their dinner.
The scene in the other world was different. A loud hush fell on the state's summer capital and in other towns when Pakistani team fell short by 29 runs. Big packets of fire crackers remained unused. However, there were a large number of teenagers in Kashmir who enjoyed the tie as sports lovers. They were seen cheering Sachin Tendulkar's every hit to the fence. They were seen cheering Riaz for taking one Indian wicket after another. They were seen cheering Suresh Raina for having saved the match, after Sachin Tendlukar, for India. They cheered him for being a Kashmiri Pandit.
Raina drew cheers from the Kashmiri Pandit migrant camps in Muthi, Mishriwalla, Purkhoo, Nagrota and elsewhere.
There were many among the tie watchers who fixed their gaze on the body language of Yousuf Raza Gilani and Manmohan Singh as they expected the two to gift peace to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Were they able to do so? No except that the pitch has been smoothened for sustained talks in future. |
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