Revival of International Cricket in Pakistan

After the attack in 2009 on Sri Lankan cricket team, Pakistan became a “no-go area” for international teams but long before this the major cricket playing nations like Australia & South Africa became circumspect in touring Pakistan when the New Zealand team was attacked back in 2002.It was quite a blow back to the cricket lovers here in Karachi as it has been hosting matches every year at the very popular National Stadium.

It was a ground that welcomed the top teams like Australia, New Zealand, England, India, Sri Lanka, West Indies & South Africa from 1980-2002. The cheers and the roars of the crowd echoed in the ground and its reminiscence can still be felt. The city that was known as the “city of lights” and for its famous “hippie trail” lost everything at the hands of religion except sports but the monster of terrorism succeeded in piercing its jaws deep into international cricket.

It was 21^st April 2002 when New Zealand team played its last ODI in Karachi. But since then Karachi could never host the black caps, Kangaroos & English again because of that ill-fated bomb blast attack on Kiwis during the same tour. Since then only four cricket playing nations named India, Srilanka, Bangladesh & Zimbabwe visited Pakistan till 2009. During this period Sri Lankans were the only nation who persisted with touring Pakistan regularly & tried their level best to keep international cricket alive in country until they were attacked on their way to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in the year 2009, putting an end to the glorious chapter of international cricket in Pakistan.

PCB and government did little to restore peace and convince the international teams to revisit Pakistan for cricket. Like its tourist destinations, the Pakistani cricket grounds were left barren not even attracting the locals to congregate matches. It was 2006 when hopes of die-hard cricket lovers in Pakistan went high, with the decision of ICC to announce Pakistan as the host nation for world cup 2011. Those hopes even died when ICC later on decided to shift the venues from Pakistan to India, Bangladesh & Srilanka due to security threats.

After that, even our countrymen lost the faith in the restoration of peace as well as cricket in Pakistan until October20, 2012. When under the captaincy of Sanath Jaysuria, top former and current cricket players from South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan played their first World XI match in the ever-known National Stadium.

The stadium attracted flocks of cricket lovers who fervently came to see the much loved sport for continuously two days.  It was a full house for both the matches as youngsters & families had come in large numbers to support their national heroes back to international arena. It was the effort of Sindh Sports Minister and the international players who did their utmost to revive cricket in Karachi and giving National Stadium its old status. We as a nation pay tribute to the international players from all the four countries with special thanks to Sanath Jaisuria who agreed to come to Pakistan with all odds.  

We as nation hope that these matches will prove to be a new beginning for the revival of international cricket in Pakistan. We look for a comeback of those days when cricket was much thrived into the veins of every Karachiite and Pakistani with a promise of security for the life of every citizen and visitor, be it a sportsman or a hippie on his trail for enlightenment.

T20 World Cup

The T20 World Cup has ended with celebrations for West Indies as they rise to championship by claiming the victory on the day it most mattered. But has it left the same happiness for the rest of us. We could hear up stories of match fixing and Pakistan winning almost all its matches with some of its crucial players out of form.

Boom Boom Afridi failed to show any satisfactory performance by claiming only 4 wickets and 16 runs in the whole tournament was a bit of a disgrace for a player of his stature. With every fixture, our captain, due to immense pressure, lost his ability to make rational decision and we could see its outcome in our last match-the Semi-final.

Not to be satirical, but I really cheer the performance of Umar Akmal and Nasir Jamshed, had the latter been not sent back to the pavilion in his last semifinal innings due to poor (may be fixed according to indian recent reports) judgment, he may have been declared man of the series (just to exaggerate).

For us, the T20 series ended here but it seems our neighbors, with whom we not only share border, culture but also the ancestors-“Mera Baharat Mahan” could still find something interesting. The humoristic Indians could always find something funny in our loss and that I truly appreciate.

But things soon turned sour and our Indian brothers became mudslingers. They have started blaming a total of six umpires who were ready to be bribed for spot-fixing and match-fixing. Had not been the two Pakistani umpires be involved in this blame, I would not have bothered to write this piece.

 But my dear brothers, you are playing with my patriotism. If these umpires were ready to make wrong decision then I would like to point out to the Indian media that an umpire made a wrong decision for one of our players Nasir Jamshed that cost us the loss of an important match. I would like to ask the Indian media their take on this poor judgment, as the mistake was very clear. 

March 23rd

As I was on my way back home, I saw people celebrating the Pakistan Day-playing songs and putting up disco lights and dancing on the roads with joy. A rush of joy grasped me and I was quite enjoying the songs and the spirit of being GREEN! A thought struck me that we are a nation who celebrate independence twice a year without even realizing it. And I felt great about it! This is our first independence-the independence of thought when we were able to conceive the idea of separate homeland. 23rd March was the day when Pakistan was born for us. A day when we started to think apart from what was obvious.

This was a new and bizarre idea at the first. With strong determination and true dedication, this thought became the reality in the form of Pakistan on 14 August 1947. Days progress and we anticipated to reach new levels of development but the history changed its course. Rather, we had improved with time, we started shrinking ourselves into a box. We had chained our mind, thoughts and have divided ourselves into sects and creeds.

Every year we celebrate the independence on the idea proposed on 23rd March but we forget to broaden the horizon of our thinking. I may be sounding a little pessimist to say, but this is what I had felt throughout my 30 minutes drive. i started questioning myself.Is this day was only to celebrate that we are now an independent nation? Are we actually playing our roles to make it a nation who everyone would be proud of? A part of me was happy to see all this celebration but, on the other hand I grieved for our narrow thoughts.

Animals find a haven

Children holding bananas, carrots and other fruits wait eagerly for the baby elephants to come out of their enclosure, as they linger around the fence excitedly to feed the animals. Overjoyed by seeing the elephants so closely, they wait impatiently for their turn to pat and feed them under the supervision of their caretaker, Rajo Nasman.

Looking very much concerned about the diet of the elephants, Nasman says that he would skip meals but would never let his elephants stay hungry. “I have been working here for more than seven years; trained by a senior who too works here. As I was appointed to this cage 3 years back and since then my love for these baby elephants grew more.  I am a witness of the care all these animals are given. They are bathed every day and are given meals at their times. They are fed fresh fruits that include; bananas, watermelons, apples and other seasonal fruits, and vegetables; including spinach, carrot, turnip, etc. Each cage has its own diet chart and the animals are given food according to it”, he further answers.

As one walks along the pathway, the greenery of the finely trimmed grass, the fresh and fragrant flowers and the waterfall welcome the visitors and refresh them. The 350 acres area comprises of 57 different species of animals including colorful birds and creepy crawling reptiles. It also comprises of a play area that has monkey bars, swings, slides and many more playground equipment for children. At every corner are pots filled with bird seeds and water, attracting several other birds to the park. At the left corner of the park is a neat and properly arranged cafeteria with a variety of edibles. Yes! This place is none other than the Safari Park located in Karachi, which is the biggest park in Asia.

“Although, the place is still not given the deserved status, but now because of the grants given by the Governor, this place will soon be given its required recognition. More animals will be brought here in the upcoming months that includes felines, brown bears, hippo and giraffes”, adds Mr. Shamsi, Director of Safari Park, with delight. He further says that presently the park has two humped camels, baby elephants, rabbits, red deer, ponies, zebras, tortoises, a pond full of ducks and swans, especially the black swans; add attraction to the pond. There are different species of peacocks, crocodiles, horses, chimpanzees, lamas, lots of bright and attractive fishes and multi-colored birds.

Moreover, he says that it is the only place in Karachi where you will find excessive cleanliness. Comparing other places with Safari Park, one can easily see the huge differences in the entire place starting off with the enclosures to the diet, health and hygiene of the animals.

Dr. Amir Ismail, a vet, who works in the first shift, says that the animals are checked and vaccinated regularly. “The people working here are very much responsible and concerned about the health of the animals. If any animal gets sick he is treated and given proper medications”, adds Dr. Ismail.

The trip to the safari area can only be done through buses that take 25-30 minutes for each trip. Murad Baloch, a bus driver, working here for seven years, says that people get really excited when they see animals running freely in open enclosure. “Sundays are the busiest days around the week; people come and spend the evenings looking at the animals with excitement, patting and feeding doubles their level of joy and pleasure. The pony riding fascinates the children a lot”, says Baloch.

Furthermore, Mr. Shamsi disappointingly adds that the trains and the chair lift that added joyousness and thrill to the place are recently closed down because they were facing loss but he seemed very optimistic and added that he will soon introduce these thrilled and adventurous activities again and will resume the lost excitement. He further informs that the authorities are planning to build an aviary in the near future to give the public an increasingly enjoyable experience.

A terrible Traffic Jam

A week before Eid ul Azha, while I was coming back from the dentist clinic, I, being one of the unfortunates, got stuck in a bad traffic jam. As we crossed Tariq road that further links to Khaled bin waleed road what we saw was cars cars and queue of cars.

There was a haphazard situation. People living in Pakistan can easily picture out the whole scene. Every single person was in a rush. All the signals stopped working and there was not a single traffic officer who could actually help in controlling the traffic flow.

We chose a very bad day for the appointment. The reason of such a bad traffic jam was the restoration of International Cricket in Pakistan. The blocking of stadium road diverted the whole traffic to other main roads and the absence of traffic officers worsened the situation.

We kept switching lanes in hope to get off this situation in the quickest possible way but things didn’t work our way and we had to bear the honking of horns and the racing of engines for almost an hour. Suddenly, we saw uniformed personnel controlling the traffic. He started acting efficiently and cleared the adjacent road.

We started praising the man and hoped that we’ll soon be far away. After some time when the adjacent road was completely cleared and the vehicles weren’t allowed to pass from that road, what we heard were loud sirens from police vans. We had no clue of what was going on.

With a blink of an eye, a black tinted car passed by with the maximum speed surrounded by four speeding police vans. The uniformed man hopped in one of the vans and rushed away, leaving the traffic the way it was. People started shouting. Everyone looked frustrated.

With no sign of hope from the officials, common people parked their motor bikes at corners, and started directing the traffic.

It was an appreciable effort those people made. If it hadn’t been them, then the people who were stuck there would have reached home much later.

It’s saddening that the officials are least bothered of what problems the commoners are facing. All they care about is their own safety. If the common people have to do their jobs too then why are they even assigned to posts like these?

Behind the bars of Silence

“I feel disheartened to see how common people easily abandon us and mistreat us only because we are hearing impaired”, says Syed Kashif Hussain, a 33 year old lobby boy working in KFC, with deep sorrow.  Neatly dressed in his red and blue uniform, Hussain seems to be concerned only with the work he is assigned with. A resident of Sohrab Goth, he has inherited the hearing impairment from his family. He along with his elder brother are the bread earners of the family.

While narrating the saddest event of his life, Hussain being a very sensitive person had tears his eyes. He still remembers sometime ago, how a customer almost knocked him down only because he served the wrong order. On telling about the customer’s attitude towards them he further informed how sometimes they get so irritated because according to them they do not have enough time to explain orders to them. But on the contrary, “There are people who visit this branch only to show how they appreciate the outstanding work the people are doing”, he adds cheerfully.

Furthermore, he says delightedly how some people appreciate his loyalty to the work he is assigned. Misbah-ud-din, a delivery boy and a very dear friend of Hussain tells the level of his devotion to his work. He further informs the keen interest he takes in his work. He talks about the times he used to fight with his family to come to work when a strike is called or even when the city conditions are tensed.

 “I used to do odd jobs before I joined KFC. And in the beginning people did not respond pleasingly because I used to take more time to understand the task”, says Hussain.

With a visible glow on his face Hussain says how big a source of motivation his brother, Jawaid Hussain is for him. Because of his hard work he is now working as a custom agent. Moreover, he considers himself lucky to have a brother like him who has always been very supportive and encouraging in whatever things he wants to achieve in life.

He has been working here for past 3 years. On talking about the skills of Hussain with the Manager Mr. Asif Ayub, he proudly answers, “Hussain can easily do multi-tasking. He manages his work quite well and is a brilliant employee. He is gifted with sharp skills.”

Advising people like him, who are suffering from impairment, he says that should keep striving hard and try moving on with the society. He further adds, “I feel saddened when I see people begging. I do not understand why they lose hope. They should realize that they are a part of the nation and should struggle hard to make their place. We are blessed with many other skills and if we acknowledge them we can easily compete with the people living around”.

Sohail Raza, his uncle adds that the government is not fulfilling their duty. They should be hired in every firm on quota basis. He further says with deep sorrow that families should not abandon them. They should not think of them as a burden in fact they should motivate and boost their confidence level. “I have seen other people with disabilities with low self-esteem. It is only because we do not buck up their confidence and this is the reason they lack behind in the society”, says Mr. Raza.

It is people like Hussain who work hard to make their place in the society. Hussain says, “They should be given equal respect and should be accepted by the society regardless of the drawbacks they have”.