As soon as the Pakistani team won its quarter-final match against the West Indies, the people of my locality, mostly, having different political leanings from the mainstream, came out in the streets, chanting slogans, 'boom, Shahid Afridi, long live Pakistan cricket team'. The atmosphere was that they all were jubilant over the victory, and were singing and clapping.
The macho among them were firing gunshots, delight seemed to be floating in the air, onto the roads, as every heart was full of happiness. It was certainly a flash of respite after years of needless animosity. They had moved ahead of the bitterness and prejudice, ostensibly, brought in by vested interests.
I heaved a sigh of relief, at least after the failure of our society; the game of cricket had brought a healing gel to glue us together. Manifestly, the victory at Mirpur Bangladesh has once again unified, the divided people, in a bond, that our founding fathers had envisaged. The spark of spontaneous celebrations was not confined to my locality, every nook and corner of the country, was in a festive mood and indulged in celebrations.
At this moment it seems our people have come ahead of the acrimonious and the compulsive leg-pulling - the national pastime, is nowhere to be found, as every one is now praying for the Shahid Afridi Eleven. Undeniably! The credit for this change of heart goes to the charm of cricket, which has always been instrumental in dissolving disagreements from our midst, and transforming us as a power to reckon with. On this success, I would like to pay sincerest homage to our national heroes, and to the game of cricket, for bringing back our lost smiles. Get going! We need you to stay bonded and strong forever, Amen!