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Naveed, Talaha, Owais and Bilal are Karachi Stock Exchange’s four young stockbrokers, who have come to the National Stadium to watch the first India-Pak One-Day International.
Indian and Pakistani cricket fans hold up the national flags of the two countries at the ODI match in Karachi on Saturday. (AP Photo)
They are armed, like many of the other fans streaming in, with a large flag. But, the flag that the quartet holds high up in the air is the tiranga jhanda.
The Pakistan moon and crescent painted on T-shirts, cheeks and arms abound in the Imran Khan enclosure at the stadium, but what stand out are the four large tricolours being waved with such abandon. Flourishing one of them at the head of the stands is Rajat Gupta of Madison Advertising from Mumbai, who says over the din that the experience has been “simply great”.
The other tricolours are held aloft by young Pakistanis. Helping to hold one tip of the stockbrokers’ tricolour is Pathan-suit-clad Mohammed Iqbal, a goldsmith who owns Decent Jewellers in Karachi. “Supporting India is like supporting Pakistan, no difference ji,” he says. In the adjoining Hanif Mohammed enclosure, Adil Yakoob, a ninth grade student at Karachi’s Danish Gah High School, has tied an old and rather discoloured khadi flag to his back. He capers up and down the stands each time India ups the pace — and no one sticks a leg out to trip him up. “I exchanged my Pakistan flag with an Indian fan,” he says. “For the sake of friendship.”
When Sourav Ganguly strides on to the field, a blue hand-written poster goes up: Welcome Bengal Tiger. Another fan shouts, “You said you would pull the chain of our ‘Rawalpindi Express’. Let’s see now.”
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
timesofindia.indiatimes.com |
