Cricket comes home

It was a day different to no other, the sun was shining, children playing in the school playground, we sat in our A level common room waiting for our teacher to begin teaching, with exams only two months away we were as attentive as teenage girls could possibly be, we were discussing the possibility of whether or not precedent would be a topic that appears in the May Alevel Law exam, as we were talking our laughter suddenly disappeared into the echo of the sound of gunshots, for the first time ever I understood fear.

The younger children in the playground ran for cover, screaming, we hid in our classroom as the gunshots got closer prepared for the worst, assuming the school had been under attack by the Taliban.

The school however, fortunately, had not been under attack. Our school was adjacent to Qaddafi stadium and it was infact the Sri Lankan cricket team that had come under the line of fire.

March 3rd 2009 was the day the nation lost cricket. It's been 8 long years since we lost what Pakistanis lived for, we used to be a cricket loving nation. Growing up we would eat cricket, drink cricket, sleep cricket, it's what we lived by. The enemies took from us not just a game, they snatched from us a part of our lives, a game so close to our hearts. a game that would evoke a million emotions either we'd come out onto the streets dancing in happiness or we would break our televisions in fury.

They took away from our children the freedom to play on the streets, an activity of unity that would bring the whole street together, using bricks as wickets and soft drinks as a trophy for the winning team, they took it away from us.

Thank you PSL for returning the smiles to our faces, the dance on the streets of Lahore, the chants, the cheers, the screams, the streets lit up with the colours of happiness. This was not just a cricket match this was a victory of Pakistan, a triumph of evil. We have defeated those who tried to snatch our happiness from us, we came out despite threat and fear. Zindagi Dilane Lahore was once again alive. We hope this was the start of many more fruitful events.