Me : Can someone tell me why we are playing cricket with Pakistan ?
You : Why not ? What's cricket got to do with it ?
Me : Sportsman spirit is when your opponent plays brilliantly and you have the character to walk up to him and congratulate his performance. And sport between countries is essentially a celebration of the spirit of friendship and brotherhood. I don't think this is a time for India to be celebrating with Pakistan.
You : Look, you are probably protesting against the 26/11 Mumbai attacks by Pakistanis and the clean-chit given to Pakistani terrorist leader Saeed Hafiz yesterday......
Me : Yup.
You : Duuude, why punish the Pakistani cricket fans for that ? - most of them had nothing to do with it.
Me : Neither did the 170+ Indian people who were massacred in cold-blood. Why were they targeted ? They were just going about their normal lives. What did they die for ?
You : That is the nature of terrorism. The exact targets don't matter to the terrorist. You should look at the big picture. It is about making a statement - sending a message.
Me : Ah, now you understand. So, I am not against the cricket match per se, it is about *refusing to play* and making a statement - sending a message.
You : Duuude, there are diplomatic channels available to register protests. Haven't you heard of the UN ?
Me : LOL. What have we achieved so far by merely "registering" protests ? Let me see, first we said we were "unhappy" and then there was the attack on the Parliament, then we said we were "disappointed" and then there was 26/11 - not to mention the regular loss of Kashmiri lives for which we are officially "unhappy" and "disappointed"....
You : Okay, you have a point.....But still, cricket man ! Pick something else dude.
Me : Givvve-uppp.
