Passion-able!

I’ve spent the last few days at the India - Pakistan cricket match! Seriously, watching a match on TV and actually being there are so completely different! I was sitting in P4…the Desimator stand (!!), SIX feet away from Irfan Pathan! My thrill on seeing a cute player aside, what hit me most was the power that passion for cricket brought together SO many people! There must have been at least 20 thousand people there. I myself saw businessmen, artists, drummers, auto-drivers and students! God knows how many other kinds of people were there! And somehow, when a wicket fell…it didn’t matter squat who was who! A Pakistani wicket was a Pakistani wicket and that’s all that mattered! Suddenly, these prim and proper businessmen in their suits and ties, had the tri-colour painted on their faces, and were on their feet cheering Kumble right on! And just like them, even our stand security guards shared that same thrill!

It’s really only that kind of passion that brings together so many people! It’s not just restricted to sports, nor only to India. Be it a single interest, a single cause or even one country helping another out during a time of need, the only thing people of a world this big have in common is passion – in anything! Being diverse and multi-cultural is all well and good…but it’s important to remember that intrinsically, as people, we are all really the same.