Early this year, my family and I made a short three day trip to Punjab, India. We wanted to pay our visit and respect to Golden Temple in Amritsar, drink sweet Lassi with Chole Bhature and see various other sites near the city. One of the sites we visited is called Wagah-Attari Border which is the border region between India & Pakistan. Wagah is a small city in Pakistan and Attari is a small town in India. The site is operational because people with valid documentation can cross the border on either side. There is a part of a highway infamously called the G.T Road which crosses the two countries. Over many years in history, it has become one of the most famous and touristy spots to visit on both sides of the border. One of the reasons why people visit this place is to watch the border ceremony. This ceremony is a peaceful characterization of friendship and rivalry the two countries share since the partition.

While we were driving back from the border it occurred to me, what if there is a cricket stadium at the border such that the borderline divides the stadium into halves with the pitch right along the center of the stadium? Indian audience can sit on the east of the border while the Pakistani audience can sit on the west. Nothing which already exists as part of the ceremony has to change. One can argue about the feasibility of this plan from logistics, operation, transportation, immigration, and security point of view but I think that each of these functions could be easily worked around with little or no cost with respect to what it could mean from business, sports, nationalism and cultural point of view. In my opinion, the benefits of having such an arrangement could exceed its perceived reservations.

Increased revenue in the states — stadiums usually generates a lot of revenue as it requires a lot of things to work simultaneously catering the need and reach of thousands of people like concession stalls, merch, security, ticketing, transportation, premium seating and more. These operations will generate a huge amount of revenue which states can constructively use for the betterment of the societies.

Increased sense of Nationalism — cricket matches, for example, bring a lot of patriotism and a sense of pride in people. Constructive nationalism and fire within can go a long way in boosting the morale of a society and its fellow citizens.

Increased feeling of togetherness — India & Pakistan were one country back in the days and share a lot of history. From what’s going between the two countries today, it doesn’t hurt to instigate the same feeling of brotherhood in people attending matches in such stadiums. Stories will get shared, people will get to talk, share opinions and often get introduced to a whole new culture while still maintaining the customary boundaries and rules of their own.

Having said all of that, imagine that you are at the aforementioned stadium attending India versus Pakistan one-day international match. History has it, such matches are one of its kind. Imagine that this one as well is no different. Everyone attending is ecstatic and there is gusto in the crowd, to say it politely. Now imagine the same but at a scale of 10x. How is it looking? Isn't it going to be the match of a lifetime?

Though I respect the fact why a country would want to have a traditional border, I feel that it doesn’t hurt for countries to at least consider a possibility of building (at the border) such stadiums, concert halls, food halls, community halls, conference halls, libraries, etc which if implemented thoroughly and carefully can uplift humanity as one and whole.

Notes:

Ideas mentioned in this article are opinionated and conclusion from this is upon readers discretion.

The illustration of the stadium above is original, designed by the author and is fully vectorized. Please add in a comment below if you are interested in working on the source Abobe Illustrator file (*.ai). The *.ai file is exported to PNG format and used in this article.

This article is intended to create no misunderstanding among the readers and/or citizens of Pakistan or India.

The images of Flags used in the illustration are copied from Wikipedia, links [1] & [2]. These images are embedded in the illustration file. Please add a quick comment below any error recommendations.