Bridging the Gap

Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna lost in the US Open finals. Big deal….someone always loses right? Yet, Their feat still deserves applause. Qureshi and Bopanna lost to the top seeds, Bob and Mike Bryan, after a well-fought match. Again,if your not an avid follower of tennis, you must be wondering, who cares? Let me tell you. What gives the tennis duo's success an extra dimension is the unusual pairing. Indian and Pakistani citizens rarely join hands, even in sport. Sure, you see them in the IPL…but consider this…it really isn’t by choice, is it? Probably the only reason why sportsmen from the two countries would even bother to play together is the big fat cheque that they receive ( not to mention the fact that they were bid for by rich socialites and businessmen) .

The two tennis players have offered us a scenario rarely imagined in the subcontinent, a partnership involving Indians and Pakistanis. The Qureshi-Bopanna partnership is evidence that such a prospect can be real and rewarding. It's a model worthy of emulation not just in sports but in other spheres of human activity. I know…on first thought…the possibility of this happening is quite remote, but here is living proof ( proofs? ) that athletes from two different countries CAN forget the cultural and political differences and together indulge in their passion.What's possible in sport is surely possible in business, trade, education, and so many other sectors, isn’t it?

Here, it may be worth asking what made Qureshi and Bopanna click as a team. Bopanna summed up their success in a single word: trust. The baggage of the past may weigh down heads of states and restrict their capabilities to rise above mutual suspicion and forge a climate of peace.Now…I for one can never imagine them(the heads of states ) sitting down and have a nice chat about the latest Resident Evil flick, but shouldn’t civil societies be able to transcend such animosity and work together for a single purpose?

Look,the facts are simple. As a nation, we don’t trust Pakistan. Not one bit. And why should we. The relations between the two states are far from cordial, what with the Kargil War and the Kasmir situation. Granted, although there is no direct proof that Pakistan was in any way related to the event, the terror attacks on 26/11 have not helped strengthen our bonds either. But why should we hold it against the people of Pakistan.After all,they are human as well right? Im confident that as I type this this out… there must be some youth over 2000 km away,writing down the same about us. The relationship that exists between the two governments shouldn’t really come in the way of how one Indian citizen views his Pakistani counterpart.

One way to marginalise this adverse effect on Indo- Pak relations is for civil societies to build alliances that are not restricted by the logic of the nation state, like the Qureshi-Bopanna bonding. Once such alliances gain momentum, even states could be brought to realise the transformational potential that is present in collaboration.

Both Qureshi and Bopanna claim that they had no political motives to play as a team. In their opinion, they were brought together by sheer love of tennis. Perhaps that is true. But that one simple act of theirs has proven that we can set aside our political differences for a greater cause. Who knows? Perhaps someday, Qureshi and Bopanna might be remembered as the tennis players who brought two countries together. The flagbearers of peace. That remains to be seen.. But I hope that in the future, more sportsmen will stand together with flags of both India and Pakistan printed on their caps, ready to truly play as a team….

It’s time to bridge the gap.

Can Roger Pull Off A ‘RAFA’?

The US Open 2010 is probably the most anticipated tennis event of this year. Tennis fans all over the world ask themselves.” Can Roger Federer pull off a ‘Rafa’ , or will the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal grind his way to a Career Grand Slam”?

By the beginning of 2010, it seemed clear in every tennis fan’s mind that Roger Federer was almost unstoppable. He had cemented his place in tennis history, by winning a record 16 Grand Slam titles.The other face of tennis, Rafael Nadal, on the other hand, could not defend his Wimbledon or French Open titles( a fact which Federer calmly took advantage of),and had dropped to rank 4 in the world, his lowest in over 5 years. It seemed doubtful that he would ever make a comeback.

And then came the clay season. And out of nowhere, Nadal returned. With new dynamics and a stronger will to win( and knees…mind you) he made his way back to the grand stage.He rushed through the 3 ATP tours before the French Open, losing only 2 sets in all ( and also created two new world records) . While Federer was knocked put of the French Open quarterfinals, Nadal smoothly bludgeoned his way to the finals, without dropping a single set.In the finals, he faced his arch rival and nemesis, Robin Soderling, who had been the one to knock him out of the Open the previous year. In a stunning display of strength and agility, Nadal destroyed his opponent, leaving no doubts in anyone’s mind. The King Of clay was back, And He was there to stay.

His successful streak continued at Wimbledon,a tournament he had been forced to withdraw from the previous year. Nadal was moving ahead with a vengeance. And no one could stand in his way. In one of the shortest finals ever, he defeated his opponent, Thomas Berdych, to reclaim his Wimbledon crown.

Federer , on the other hand, was on a losing streak. He had not won a single tournament since the Australian Open. Many presume that the thirst in him had just died. After surpassing Pete Sampras in terms of Grand Slam victories, the Swiss maestro just could not deliver.

which brings us to the US open! Will Federer pull off a comeback similar to the one Rafael Nadal had? Better yet, can he? At 29 years of age, he’s no spring chicken.Yet tennis greats like Andre Aggasi had made similar comebacks and gone on to win 5 more Grand Slams. Obviously, there’s no real need for federer to even try to make a comeback. He’s already gone down in history as one of , if not the greatest player of all times. He can either bow out gracefully, or (more likely), summon up the will to make a fitting comeback. There’s only 1 glitch on federer’s resume: a 7:14 record against Nadal . I for one, am confident that federer would not want to end his career without having a say in the matter.

And can Nadal continue to win at the Arthur Ashe stadium, a Grand slam in which he has never reached the finals? His game is severly hampered( relatively of course ) on hard court, a surface on which he has the least victories. Can he make his way to the finals by sheer grit? Will federer be there to meet him?

Let’s find out…. It’s only just begun