The recent cricket match here in Chennai (Madras) seemed to be an apt collective response to the terrorism horror in Mumbai (Bombay). Perhaps the world could learn from this.
When terrorists struck in Mumbai, India was in the middle of a cricket tournament with the visiting English squad — though in a different city. The first of the engagements was a series of one-day matches in which India was on quite a roll, completely overwhelming the visitors. The country was preparing for the lengthier, traditional five-day test matches when the English team opted to return home as a result of the massacre.
Given how systematically the terrorists had targeted Britons and Americans, it is impressive that in practically no time at all the authorities in England decided the players would head back to India in order to participate in the test matches. But with one change: Instead of playing the first test in Mumbai as had been originally scheduled, the venue was shifted to Chennai, where I am visiting my family.
Dec. 15 was the final day of this first test match, and England had set up quite a challenging victory target for India. The Indian team rose to the challenge, and the winning runs were scored by one of India’s star cricketers, Sachin Tendulkar, who was born and raised in Mumbai.
It was a poetic and cinematic response that a “Bombaywalla” guided the team to victory. At the end of the match, when awards were presented, both Tendulkar and the team dedicated the victory and the test itself to the victims of terror.
It was almost as if the entire country was practicing an old preaching that the best form of revenge is a life well lived. In this case, the professional approach to winning a test match seemed to be a statement that Indians, and the British as well, would not let terrorists decide how life should be lived.
Getting back to “normal life” this rapidly also has lowered the decibel levels of belligerent calls for military action against terrorist bases in Pakistan. In their meetings with the prime minister and other leaders in India, American and British political leaders also have urged restraint. While not because of the cricket results, the defense minister also has stated categorically that India is not mounting any war effort. I hope that cooler heads will prevail.
Of course, a cricket series amidst extremely tense geopolitical worries is only the latest installment in human history when it comes to the intersection of sports, politics and war. The “ping-pong diplomacy” to help thaw the Sino-American relationships is an example of sports intermingling with international relations. Even the marathon, now held in cities across the world and in the Olympics, owes its origins to the Greek-Persian war 2,500 years ago.
I suppose sometimes sports is not always just about sports. As a new foreign student at the University of Southern California, I remember being impressed with the war-like preparation that I observed for football games. The first game USC played that season, and my introduction to college football, was a sort of re-enactment of history: the Trojans against the Spartans. To my disappointment, the Trojans lost!
Ironically enough, the teams met again at the Rose Bowl after winning their respective league titles. And the Trojans lost again! Such a maniacal approach to sports is, however, far better than the loss of lives and property, which was the case in the real Trojan War.
Along those lines, maybe the Obama administration should designate a “sports czar” who will work alongside the secretaries of State and Defense. Within a short time, this “sports czar” could facilitate soccer tournaments where teams with names such as the Baghdad Bombers and the Saudi Skyjackers can compete, where a soccer ball and the players’ feet and heads will be the only “weapons” for the youth to work with.
Then, comparable to India’s response to terrorism, the rest of the world can deliver a blow to the likes of Osama bin Laden without resorting to violent retaliation and merely through sports.
Hey, I have an inalienable right to dream, right?
Published in the Register Guard Dec 22, 2008
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