In the movie GLADIATOR the actor Joaquim Phoenix played the role of a Roman Prince who kills his father and becomes the Emperor. His ascension to power is not taken lightly by the powerful Senate elites of Rome who question the Emperor's efficacy to run the biggest empire of the time. They were trying their best to make him a puppet, unpopular to the public.
In order to counter the Senators the young Emperor announces a month long fiesta, the icing on the Cake of the series of entertainment was the Gladiator fights staged inside huge Roman Collesium. It was his creative way to distracting the attention of the citizens, as his subjects in Rome used to be called then.
Sipping wine, couple of Senators were having a chat outside the Collesium. "He (the Emperor) has turned out to be lot smarter than we thought" - opined one. The other Senator replied - "The pulse of Rome is not the Marble of the Senate floor, rather the dust of Collesium where the Gladiators duel for life".
Similarly the Pulse of India is not the floor of Parliament but its cricket fields. Cricket is the religion of India. Normally, we are Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil or Bengalis first. Only time we think and feel like Indians when India plays cricket against Pakistan or is attacked by its Western neighbor. Nothing ignites the passion or unites Indians more than their shared antipathy for Pakistan.
In this context, on the aftermath of the Pulawama attack orchestrated by Pakistan in Kashmir has united Indians like never before. Many Indians want to use cricket as a weapon by not playing cricket against Pakistan in the upcoming World Cup to be held this summer.
This is the probably the best we can do. An open, full fledged War with Pakistan is at best avoidable as we don't know how long will it go, where it will end. But what we know, it will to be an expensive affair with any Indian victory is going to be at best Pyrrhic, ending up internationalizing the Kashmir issue - exactly what Pakistan wants.
The second option of proxy and covert war is untanable and currently out of question as we lack political will as well as capability to do so, unlike Pakistan who has already vindicated its ability of hitting us time and again not just in Kashmir deep inside our Mainland.
In this context, choking them financially by avoiding playing with them is something we can afford to do at this moment. Doing something is better than doing nothing. In the meantime we can advance the Indian Premier League (IPL) where the Gladiatorial cricket franchises will battle baying for each other blood keeping the Indian middle class busy. It will be the most pragmatic way to make the Chief protagonists of the War against Pakistan distracted - as our heartbeat is more glued to the cricket pitch more than anything else.
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