As I sat in the Train I was thinking of old times. When I was born my parents used to tell me those were progressive times. Some people also called us "Model Economy". Then our neighbor the biggest enemy had 2 wars with us. In first we tried to gain territory but lost the war. In second they cut us into 2. Then the war in Afghanistan.
It was the time that I got married. Thankfully it was for the new marriage and love of my wife that I stopped from becoming a Jehadi. Oh Jehadi's soon they were all over. What they wanted I really never understood. Probably always fighting really motivated them or was it injustice? It is a point I can debate and debate from both sides but never agree with one.
As a Seraiki there are many similar unanswered question. Are Seraiki's Punjabi with a different dialect probably with Sindhi Effect, or are we a separate race with separate culture. I really don't know. Many of my people still debate, again I am lost
Oh but the Jehadi's, they came and just kept coming. Bombs were fun for them, but as my teritory never had got the development were always saved from them. They wanted those explosions in developed areas. Finally came the floods. I lost everything. My beautiful wife, 2 sons and a daughter. House of Mud just dissolved, maybe my small farm would be more fertile. But what use was it for me. I was lost. Lost everything, also lost the direction
And then when everybody was asking for separation. It was the buzz word. The Baluch had been always asking, the Sindhi's also did. The Pashtun's were confused. No not for their identity but Afghanistan or not. Even the Mohajir's had their identity. Oh we were still confused. It is then someone got up, said no state now. Separate country. Mr Jinnah was so happy now.
We heard of so many riots, Karachi, Quetta were hotbeds. Oh the people loved their fighting. But hey all leader, that is not the only fight, do sometimes think of fighting poverty of your people. I was Hungry. I wanted food. My land needed some yound hands, oh Kushal & Reaz my sons, I really miss you both. For such a selfish reason. But I am hungry my children.
I had enough of all that. Took this same train, arrived in Lahore. I thought being a metric will find some job, "even the Master's are laborer uncle" said the willy thekedar Naseer. That shrewd clever hawk made my bones crumble and just gave me 2 roti with onion and achaar.
One day while working tired I looked at the sun, and that is what I remember. Got up to find myself in a old shabby Hospital. It was run by a kind Sikh Lady just called Bijee from India who on hearing about the state came here to help. Oh India, they must be behind all this. Oh really, if they had so much control, then why did Mr Jinnah you separate. I have heard now there are no hungry people. They don't have Naseer's they say. We always looked at them envied them, try to beat them. But somehow, I hate them, do not know why, but it is inside me. I am sorry Bijee when I get fine I will leave this place
Thinking all this was interupted, I heard a boom. The Pashtun warlord had reached the outskirts of our dear Lahore. They were again coming on the old route which their ancestors took. At that time you killed qafir's silly. We are Muslims. Boom. Another one exploded near me, to bring me back to reality. Got up, badly looking for one earthly possession I have my shoes. Oh where is it, din know but picked any shoes and ran out. 30 Km away was the dream place. Many people had escaped there. Most of them were thrown back. India.
Just walking on my feet kept going there. Was I the only one. Oh no. I could see no end. On the way were many more Bijee's and Sardar Sahib's from India with their food camps or called Langar's. It was equivalent to mocking us and serving us food. How much could they be like this. Oh Indians you are behind this and now you mock us. I hate these Indians
Oh far I found many tents. And also Tanks, guns, Soldiers. Have the Pashtun's reached here to massacre us. Oh no. They are all wearing dresses. Look disciplined. Now you Indians have stepped on our soil. Oh you must be loving it. Laughing at us. We competed with you. Defeated you at Cricket Hockey. We were better than you but you destroyed us.
The Indians had stopped us. We were taken behind the security lines, to save from the Massacre. Oh in front of me an old man collapsed. Oh he has something. Is it food. I must rush to get it. But these old bones. Before I could reach it was all over. Only what was left was the common man's news paper Jang.
I picked to read it. On the front page what a terrible site. So many dead bodies in thee picture. You cannot count them. It was a Pashtun Army run over by Baluch's. The Pashtun were parked right outside Karachi. It was a revenge by Baluch's over killing all their brothers when the Pashtun's had captured Quetta.
Oh this bloodshed. Mr Jinnah how do you feel. The Indians surely must be happy. Their plans worked.
Staying in the camp was difficult. Sometimes I got the food. Disease was all around. Then one day came Shahbaz Sharif. The aged leader announced they needed soldiers to fight. His brother Nawaz was hanged by Pashtun. The Taliban was back. I voluntered, but the selector chucked, "Baba Apne ghar Sambhalo, apne mundeyan nu phejo" (Old man take care of your house, send ur sons instead). Then asked "kithon de rehan wale hon" (Where do you belong to). Bahawalpur. His face froze. People around me froze
Then said "Saale Seraiki ithe Jasoosi karan aaya hai" (Hey Seraiki have you come to spy on us). Kut saale nu (Thrash him). Then it was all kicks and punches. I relaxed inside me. Kushal, Reaz I am coming. Shabana my dearest I will meet you and so my cute daughter Noor. But then suddenly some shots. Oh these Indians would let me die also. They took me aside and after first aid took me to the Seraiki corner of Camp.
The Seraiki leader Mr Gilani had mobilized forces. He has mascaraed Punjabi's, Pashtun's. Sindhi's were spared and asked to leave. Oh now we were awake from our sleep when the Pashtun's had whole Pakistan with them
Over time in camp I saw people trying to escape to India. Many were shot. India was a No no. Stay here you will get you food. We will soon take you to Seraikistan. Oh what Seraikistan, but there is no Seraikistan, I told the Indian Captain. "Ab tumne bana to liya hai. Nahi bhi banaya to bana loge" (You have already made it. If not you will soon make it).
The Indians had come in Karachi. They had to save their lost brothers the "Mohajirs" They also reached Bahawalpur. The arrogance of Indian Captain was a reflection of that. They provided Punjabi's with arms and Bombarded the Pashtun positions. The Baluch were strong enough to defend themselves. The Indians always supported them. The Pashtun and Baluch were into a unsaid pact. No attacking each other. Soon everybody were back to their old borders.
Meanwhile we all were given cards. For the first time I was not a Pakistani but a Seraiki. Oh is it my identity. Oh you Indians now you mock us by providing such cards. The Punjabi's allowed us to be back in Lahore, saying you are Punjabi's only, their brothers. Seraiki is just another dialect of Punjabi. Oh Am I a Punjabi now.
A year passed in Lahore. It was always tense. Seeing my Seraiki card finding Job was difficult. I got a job of cleaning table in a Indian Hotel Chain. Oh you Indians, destroyed us and now doing business with us. We always heard something is going on. People are talking Pakistan issue would be solved. Leader met, disagreed and came back. Many of so called Seraiki's started to go back. Then one day we heard that an Brave Indian leader has landed in Peshawar. Oh really. A year ago they were fighting. Now they talk. How is it possible.
The Indian was working for what they wanted. Destruction of Pakistan. Another year passed when the same leader announced everybody is meeting in an Indian City of Dalhousie. Oh it was named after the British. Mr Jinnah got Pakistan from them, such a great leader, but these Indians are working for our destruction.
2 weeks of haggling finally produced results. The Jang during these 2 weeks was filled with Speculation. An agreement was Signed. Pakistan was over. Now it was 6 Nations. Kashmir was already taken over by Indians long time back. Punjabistan, Pakhtoonistan, Baluchistan, Jinnahpur, Seraikistan and Sind were formed. Punjabistan got Lahore and Islamabad, Pakhtoonistan got Peshawar & Quetta, Baluchistan lost quetta and got a massive aid to develop Gwadar, Jinnahpur of Mohajir. They vilified our great leader's name and Got the all important City of Karachi. Oh Indians you also took away the vein of Pakistan and gave it to your lost brothers. Sind lost Karachi, imagine the Sindhi's. They thankfully had Hyderabad and a massive aid from India to develop another port. I was to go to Seraikistan with my Bahawalpur as capital.
The Cards had sealed our fate. We could not choose our country. I had to go back. Then Indians came and asked me to report next week at Railway Station. It was my slot to go to my supposed dream home land.
Oh the week. I saw so many people coming. They had lost everything and had to start. People desperate not to leave. They had lived over generation, but no, you are not Punjabi's, you cannot stay in Lahore. I had nothing to loose except my shoes.
As the day came I came out of my Hut. Saw the city for the last time. Met my Paktun friend in the city for the last time, met my Punjabi frnds. I am a Seraiki's I shouted with tear in my eyes. Took the tonga and reached the Station. There the officer gave me the ticket and guided me towards my bogey. Many Indian volunteer's were there helping us in our destruction. Oh Indians you have been successful. You have destroyed us.
I came to my seat with all gloomy faces around. I could not find a smile except for a mad man who was just laughing. I took my seat. A pearl of tear in my eyes, cursing had a whole flashback. Thought to myself who asked for Pakistan, who gave birth to Jehadi, who mis managed the floods, who fought with each other, killed each other. Was it the Indians. They had some role but who were the real culprit. It was the dead Pakistani inside us.
Wiping my tear, I had found my real identity. I was a Seraiki. I had found my culture.
PS:- This story is an imagination of What will be the future of Pakistan. The views about India in the story do not reflect my views but merely trying to portray how a Pakistani would have been thinking. Enjoy the story :)
Friday, 31 December 2010
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
How to Spread Cricket
We all recently saw news of the bold decision of FIFA to take up the bold decision of giving 2018 World Cup to Russia and 2022 World Cup to Qatar!! IRB, the International Rugby Board is also in such a league. They have been trying very hard to expand Rugby. The 2015 WC was awarded to a Emerging Nation Japan. They are also promoting Rugby 7's and it certain to be included in next Olympics.
All these things also brought a thought in my mind, what can we do to expand Cricket. Surely ICC has been undertaking development program. But my thought something is missing. Then I have come out with few thoughts. On many of them ICC may be working or plans to do that.
The Biggest Step would be to use the powerful and fast form cricket as the vehicle to spread cricket the 20-20. We have a 20-20 World Cup every 2 years. The 2012 is in SL and 14 is in BD. Both these nations are co hosting 2011 50-50 World Cup. Hence instead of these countries hosting it again, the 20-20 cup should have been given to emerging nations. The list of emerging countries are Ireland, Holland, Scotland, UAE, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malaysia, Canada, China (When their team achieve some performance level), USA, Argentina, Hong Kong (Along with China maybe), Singapore, Afghanistan (When the Security Situation is right), Namibia, Oman, Nepal, Bahrain, Botswana.
Similar to FIFA, ICC should have an open bid from the bodies. The thing behind it is to make it Bid. Market it as the World Cup of a very popular game's most popular format or anything. For such bids the boards take the alignment of their government. So that brings in some extra funding.
Have some basic rule's
1. Give the hosting rights 5 years in advance
2. The Host nation or nations will have a guaranteed spot to play
3. Some basic expectation of Cricketing Infrastructure
4. ICC should have a plan to ensure that the host will be expected to earn out of the whole investment made.
Once the host has been decided, (lets assume Malaysia is Chosen as the Host 2016 World Cup). We begin with our Objective 2016 Malaysia. The priorities are
1. Have at least 6 decent cricket stadiums for World Cup
2. Have a good competitive cricket team ready for World Cup
3. Have a good level of local interest in the tournament and game
4. Establish a local cricket league with a robust way to attain talent for future
For Malaysia 2016 we will proceed as follows:-
Firstly ICC, Malaysian Cricket Board, Malaysian Olympic Council and Malaysian Government set up 2016 Fund with contribution from each side and a committee to handle all funds. The committee will have members from each of the 4 organization as per the bid submitted. Also ICC will provide the money to have share of the profits. The contribution from other organization can be for in any form- Loan, Aid, Profit Sharing or Partnership all as per the bid.
Then the next step would be choosing a pool of 30 players who will be offered Central Contract. The value for first year would be based on a rough norm of 15 times per capita income. For next 4 years it will be min as per the same thumb rule. if commercials allow then no upper limits. The contracts will be of 4 Grade A, B, C & D as per player capability.
ICC will also draw up a complete 5 year plan for Malaysia where they will have a busy schedule playing games against Test nations, their A teams, junior teams and in all 3 forms of cricket. 3 Coaches (Main, Bowling & Batting) will also be appointed.
Parallel to this the process of Developing 7 stadiums starts. 2 of these are in the capital Kuala Lumpur. The other 5 stadiums will be based at Johor Bahru,Kota Kinabalu, Shah Alam, Ipoh, Subang Jaya. The stadiums should be ready in 2 years.
Also Parallel to the above 2 steps, we establish 6 Clubs based out of the 6 cities which will have stadiums. These Clubs will be provided with Funds and a geographical catchment area. The purpose is to effectively cover the whole nation. Their funds will be for 4 purposes. First they can offer contract upto 45 players as per the talent they will encounter.They surely will have a team of 16 contracted players who will playing the first season. The Central players will play in the clubs as per their geographical locale. However if any Club does not get any central contract players they will be provided with 2 players from Grade A or B and one from Grade C or D
Besides this the clubs start the process of introducing the game in schools. The target is to cover atleast 80% of the schools in the Catchment. The Club will provide cricket kits. cricket knowledge, establish coaches to train students. The Club will conduct school tournaments every 6 months. The best of the talent will be offered scholarship till bachelor studies. The only condition would be training or playing cricket for certain no of years. The best of the student can be directly offered Club Contract or even Central Contract as per the talent.
The Clubs will conduct tournament for local sides and general trial camps where the purpose will be to tap talent.
Then we will get into an agreement with a local channel. Some of the parts of the agreement would be
1. The Channel will cover all the Club Matches Live
2. The channel will cover all matches of Malaysia live
3. When no live match is going on then at that time the channel will show the selected good matches of the established teams. The purpose will be to show high quality matches
4. It will also have program on how to play cricket and some other interesting aspects of the Game
5. It will have the exclusive rights to cover 2016 WC live in Malaysia
6. If the channel has objection of covering cricket from 2011 then as a part of agreement ICC will cover the costs and guarantee some level of profit in return to have share in the profits of the WC. The purpose of ICC is to recover costs and have profits in local markets too from telecast rights
7. If in the above period any commercial agreements come ICC gets all the money since ICC is already covering a basic expected profit level.
7. For all the other markets except Malaysia the channel will have no rights. The ICC will have the exclusive rights to sell them
The above steps will cover the objectives 1,2 & 4 and 3 partially in Project Malaysia 2016. To cover point 3 some additional steps will be taken
1. Take a known celebrity as the brand ambassador for the Tournament and promotion
2. Have regular add, campaigns to make the point that Malaysia has got the 2016 WC
3. Have big screens installed in all these cities which will have our TV channel regularly to cover cricket.
4. Have political and other important personalities related with cricket. This will bring notice to the game.
5. Bring the school children to watch the club matches.
And then we have the 2015 WC. The 2014 Club championship was highly successful. It gave profits for the first time. The ticket sales were very good. The channel also got great adds and ICC had mega profits. These were used to provide money to the clubs. The Channel then immediately switched to profit sharing seeing the response. The Malaysian team also got sponsors lined up and the team had various successes. They just one a ODI series against Bangladesh and then won a triangular versus WI and Ireland. They also managed to win the first 20-20 against Australia. It had the street screen filled with crowds cheering for Malaysia with high TRP's.
Finally then came the big tournament. the World Cup. The excitement was huge. To see top teams, top stars like Dhoni, Lee or Shoaib Akhtar. We had many people from other parts of world coming in. All the matches went houseful. The final had TRP rating not matched by any channel. The tournament was a financial success with ICC, Malay Cricket Association making profits. They easily paid the soft loans of Olympic Council and Government.
Malaysia now has got a good cricketing culture re established after British left. Malay CA sets a goal as 2019 to achieve Test Status.
ICC also take a sigh of relieve because of the high investments made here and also allocating the 2018 in 2013. However by 2015 ICC was in a much comfortable position seeing the results and boldly went ahead for the 3rd time to allocate the tournament of 2020. Hence a complete 20-20 line was drawn for next 5 WC after Malaysia
2007:-SA
2009:-Eng
2010:-WI
2012:-SL
2014:-BD
2016:-Malay
2018:-Ken,Tan & Uganda (Yes all 3 play and tournament is made 18 nation)
2020:-Neth & Den
2022:-China
2024:-UAE & Oman
2026:-Ire & Scot
At 2027 the test nations are 35 namely Aus, NZ, PNG, Ind, Pak, SL, BD, Afg, Nep, UAE, Oman, Malaysia, China,Singapore, HK, Eng, Neth, Ire, Scot, Den, SA, Zim, Ken, Tan, Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, WI, USA, Can, Argentina, Caribbean (Combined nations of Caribbean besides nation in WI), Pacific (Countries of Oceania), East Indies (Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comorros, Reunion & other Indian ocean islands)
Amen for Jashan Plan 35 by 25
All these things also brought a thought in my mind, what can we do to expand Cricket. Surely ICC has been undertaking development program. But my thought something is missing. Then I have come out with few thoughts. On many of them ICC may be working or plans to do that.
The Biggest Step would be to use the powerful and fast form cricket as the vehicle to spread cricket the 20-20. We have a 20-20 World Cup every 2 years. The 2012 is in SL and 14 is in BD. Both these nations are co hosting 2011 50-50 World Cup. Hence instead of these countries hosting it again, the 20-20 cup should have been given to emerging nations. The list of emerging countries are Ireland, Holland, Scotland, UAE, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malaysia, Canada, China (When their team achieve some performance level), USA, Argentina, Hong Kong (Along with China maybe), Singapore, Afghanistan (When the Security Situation is right), Namibia, Oman, Nepal, Bahrain, Botswana.
Similar to FIFA, ICC should have an open bid from the bodies. The thing behind it is to make it Bid. Market it as the World Cup of a very popular game's most popular format or anything. For such bids the boards take the alignment of their government. So that brings in some extra funding.
Have some basic rule's
1. Give the hosting rights 5 years in advance
2. The Host nation or nations will have a guaranteed spot to play
3. Some basic expectation of Cricketing Infrastructure
4. ICC should have a plan to ensure that the host will be expected to earn out of the whole investment made.
Once the host has been decided, (lets assume Malaysia is Chosen as the Host 2016 World Cup). We begin with our Objective 2016 Malaysia. The priorities are
1. Have at least 6 decent cricket stadiums for World Cup
2. Have a good competitive cricket team ready for World Cup
3. Have a good level of local interest in the tournament and game
4. Establish a local cricket league with a robust way to attain talent for future
For Malaysia 2016 we will proceed as follows:-
Firstly ICC, Malaysian Cricket Board, Malaysian Olympic Council and Malaysian Government set up 2016 Fund with contribution from each side and a committee to handle all funds. The committee will have members from each of the 4 organization as per the bid submitted. Also ICC will provide the money to have share of the profits. The contribution from other organization can be for in any form- Loan, Aid, Profit Sharing or Partnership all as per the bid.
Then the next step would be choosing a pool of 30 players who will be offered Central Contract. The value for first year would be based on a rough norm of 15 times per capita income. For next 4 years it will be min as per the same thumb rule. if commercials allow then no upper limits. The contracts will be of 4 Grade A, B, C & D as per player capability.
ICC will also draw up a complete 5 year plan for Malaysia where they will have a busy schedule playing games against Test nations, their A teams, junior teams and in all 3 forms of cricket. 3 Coaches (Main, Bowling & Batting) will also be appointed.
Parallel to this the process of Developing 7 stadiums starts. 2 of these are in the capital Kuala Lumpur. The other 5 stadiums will be based at Johor Bahru,Kota Kinabalu, Shah Alam, Ipoh, Subang Jaya. The stadiums should be ready in 2 years.
Also Parallel to the above 2 steps, we establish 6 Clubs based out of the 6 cities which will have stadiums. These Clubs will be provided with Funds and a geographical catchment area. The purpose is to effectively cover the whole nation. Their funds will be for 4 purposes. First they can offer contract upto 45 players as per the talent they will encounter.They surely will have a team of 16 contracted players who will playing the first season. The Central players will play in the clubs as per their geographical locale. However if any Club does not get any central contract players they will be provided with 2 players from Grade A or B and one from Grade C or D
Besides this the clubs start the process of introducing the game in schools. The target is to cover atleast 80% of the schools in the Catchment. The Club will provide cricket kits. cricket knowledge, establish coaches to train students. The Club will conduct school tournaments every 6 months. The best of the talent will be offered scholarship till bachelor studies. The only condition would be training or playing cricket for certain no of years. The best of the student can be directly offered Club Contract or even Central Contract as per the talent.
The Clubs will conduct tournament for local sides and general trial camps where the purpose will be to tap talent.
Then we will get into an agreement with a local channel. Some of the parts of the agreement would be
1. The Channel will cover all the Club Matches Live
2. The channel will cover all matches of Malaysia live
3. When no live match is going on then at that time the channel will show the selected good matches of the established teams. The purpose will be to show high quality matches
4. It will also have program on how to play cricket and some other interesting aspects of the Game
5. It will have the exclusive rights to cover 2016 WC live in Malaysia
6. If the channel has objection of covering cricket from 2011 then as a part of agreement ICC will cover the costs and guarantee some level of profit in return to have share in the profits of the WC. The purpose of ICC is to recover costs and have profits in local markets too from telecast rights
7. If in the above period any commercial agreements come ICC gets all the money since ICC is already covering a basic expected profit level.
7. For all the other markets except Malaysia the channel will have no rights. The ICC will have the exclusive rights to sell them
The above steps will cover the objectives 1,2 & 4 and 3 partially in Project Malaysia 2016. To cover point 3 some additional steps will be taken
1. Take a known celebrity as the brand ambassador for the Tournament and promotion
2. Have regular add, campaigns to make the point that Malaysia has got the 2016 WC
3. Have big screens installed in all these cities which will have our TV channel regularly to cover cricket.
4. Have political and other important personalities related with cricket. This will bring notice to the game.
5. Bring the school children to watch the club matches.
And then we have the 2015 WC. The 2014 Club championship was highly successful. It gave profits for the first time. The ticket sales were very good. The channel also got great adds and ICC had mega profits. These were used to provide money to the clubs. The Channel then immediately switched to profit sharing seeing the response. The Malaysian team also got sponsors lined up and the team had various successes. They just one a ODI series against Bangladesh and then won a triangular versus WI and Ireland. They also managed to win the first 20-20 against Australia. It had the street screen filled with crowds cheering for Malaysia with high TRP's.
Finally then came the big tournament. the World Cup. The excitement was huge. To see top teams, top stars like Dhoni, Lee or Shoaib Akhtar. We had many people from other parts of world coming in. All the matches went houseful. The final had TRP rating not matched by any channel. The tournament was a financial success with ICC, Malay Cricket Association making profits. They easily paid the soft loans of Olympic Council and Government.
Malaysia now has got a good cricketing culture re established after British left. Malay CA sets a goal as 2019 to achieve Test Status.
ICC also take a sigh of relieve because of the high investments made here and also allocating the 2018 in 2013. However by 2015 ICC was in a much comfortable position seeing the results and boldly went ahead for the 3rd time to allocate the tournament of 2020. Hence a complete 20-20 line was drawn for next 5 WC after Malaysia
2007:-SA
2009:-Eng
2010:-WI
2012:-SL
2014:-BD
2016:-Malay
2018:-Ken,Tan & Uganda (Yes all 3 play and tournament is made 18 nation)
2020:-Neth & Den
2022:-China
2024:-UAE & Oman
2026:-Ire & Scot
At 2027 the test nations are 35 namely Aus, NZ, PNG, Ind, Pak, SL, BD, Afg, Nep, UAE, Oman, Malaysia, China,Singapore, HK, Eng, Neth, Ire, Scot, Den, SA, Zim, Ken, Tan, Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, WI, USA, Can, Argentina, Caribbean (Combined nations of Caribbean besides nation in WI), Pacific (Countries of Oceania), East Indies (Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comorros, Reunion & other Indian ocean islands)
Amen for Jashan Plan 35 by 25
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