I never got around to posting the end of the travelog from the Indian cricket fan in Pakistan. So here goes.
You can view the story in its entirety as well as add your own notes and annotations in the wiki copy of An Indian Cricket Fan In Pakistan.
Another way is to just read through the blog posts.
The first two days,
And finally, the story ends with Day 3.
Next day was the cricket match, the atmosphere was quite electric. There was a big security cover for the teams to go to the stadium. We were dressed in the India blues and had carried out our flags and banners. The driver dropped us about half a kilometer before the Gaddafi stadium and we walked alongwith the Pakistanis to gate #1. Many of them came and shook hands with us to wish us luck.
There was a big queue to enter the stadium and of course as usual we managed to get ahead of the queue. By and large the stadium was neat and clean with numbered seats (we were in the Fazal Mahmood stand) which is next to the pavilion with a good view of the pitch. The stand was full of Pakistanis and Indians. I would say the ratio was about 80-20 in favour of Pakistanis. There were many women & let me say most smartly dressed.
The women of Lahore are gorgeous beyond belief. They wear very smart Salwar suits, which make them look even more attractive. Very frankly more than the match, the sight of the women in the stadium was more interesting. If I have to go back to Lahore again, this would certainly be one of the reasons.
The atmosphere was very friendly. We were shouting Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jetega Hindustan and of course the Pakistani were saying Jiye Pakistan. Whenever an Indian wicket will fall all the Pakistani would stand up and we will be quiet and when the Indian set a boundary there would be a pin drop silence among the Pakistanis and we would be shouting.
At one stage when 4 wickets were down, we thought of leaving the stadium, however as things improved, the Pakistanis started leaving the stadium and by the time Dravid and Kaif were closing in own victory, 90% of the Pakistani had already left. It looked as if the Indians had taken over the stadium. After the match was over we had to walk about a kilometer to our car and again many Pakistanis came and congratulated us. I exchanged my cap with a Pakistani flag with a Youngster.
Returning the hotel, it was around 11.30 p.m. and we had to make do with VAT No. 1 once again. Next morning we had to catch the flight back home and therefore just took a ride around the city passing by some old buildings and Bazars just to take in the city. Though, my visit was very short, I could interact with a lot of people at various levels of society and this is my impression of the Pakistani psyche:
- General public wants to have good relationship with India. The young generation particularly is more positive and people of our age group possibly the most negative. They believe accepting the line of Control (LOC) would be a good solution. However it is difficult for a Pakistan ruler to accept this. There seem to be little in common between the Punjabis, the Sindhis and the Pathans. Infact Punjabis consider themselves superior to the rest.
- I found the Pakistani press quite independent and there were many articles critical of the Government. Even though there is a military rule, there was no tension among the common man. There is not much of a industry in Pakistan even the items like shaving cream were imported. Most of the Pakistani elite have been to India on a few occasions and therefore they know the difference. They have a lot of respect for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mussaraff of course is not very popular particularly because he has overthrown a Punjabi led Government (Nawaz Sharif).
- Indian films/music/T.V. Channels are freely available in Pakistan.
To sum up my impression on the short visit I believe things can become much better if the peace process is pushed forward. People are genuinely nice.