Contagious National Obsessions.

Pakistan is a nation that is in a state of war; against militancy, polemic religious extremism, and the Taliban’s brand of Islamic Jurisprudence. With an ongoing military operation in the north, terrorism plaguing every other two feet of the country, a not-so-impressive government, several ‘incredibly revolutionary’ political parties, a not-so-wonderful economy, and rifts among the sons of the same soil, Pakistan is not exactly the happiest place in the world right now.

Though, the recent T20 World Cup victory managed to overshadow the woes and pains of so long in so little time; temporarily, at least. The wave of joy was felt throughout the country. Every citizen let go of race, caste, creed and religion to celebrate the Pakistani cricket team’s victory as citizens of one land.The feeling of unity and the sense of belonging to the nation were perhaps, the most precious gains obtained in the entire process of revival la nationalism.rush of calls, text messages, status updates on networking sites, and the sarcastically victorious messenger display names and pictures were displays of revived nationalism, or the first few signs of it.

Citizens poured out on the streets to celebrate. One cannot but truly marvel at the unpredictable yet timely patriotism of the Pakistani Nation.The cricket mania and the urge to root for one’s national cricket team was incredibly contagious. The T20 cheer-for-Afridi-and-Younas-if-you’re-Pakistani epidemic spread like wildfire. This epidemic caused us to cough nationalism and sneeze victory.At a time as depressive as this, this was exactly what Pakistan needed. The fear, the terror, the wrath, the War was suffocating. And the T20 World Cup victory gave the entire country a reason to smile and have hope and faith all over again. It was a reason for us to take even more pride in the fact that we’re Pakistani. At the end of the day everyone forgets who’s Pathan and who’s Punjabi, who supports PPP and who supports MQM. It boils down to just this: we’re all Pakistani and proud, and we won the T20 World Cup 2009. This win has showed to many Pakistanis that with a little hard work and sincere effort, Pakistan is capable of just about anything. And the inability to tackle each challenge is not a reason for us to lose hope in our country but a chance for us to ready ourselves till we are competent enough to bare with what not.

The Pakistani Cricket team has put forth an example of teamwork and unity of tremendous importance; we see the team consists of Pathans, Balochis, Punjabis, and Sindhis and yet they made a combined effort to achieve one common goal. The country is in a similar situation. We all want a better Pakistan and we all want to see it rise, for this country is our identity. This country’s future is our common goal. For you are my identity and I am yours, being the children of the same soil. Religion, tradition, and norms are hindrances that are bound to interrupt our path every now and then, for this is the challenge. We must stand united no matter what. We see it’s worked in the past, it’s bound to work again.A unanimous vote on anything will not (cannot) be ignored. So when you make your decision, know that it’ll affect the entire country and look beyond personal benefit. Leave your choice free of nepotism.The National Obsessions are contagious, and very influential. Each victorious obsession leaves behind for us a generalized message. This is what the victory at the T20 World Cup Cricket Tournament had to teach us.