MAN....How mean is Man??

One of the least covered but most sensational sports run of recent times has to be the fearless display of gut, glory and grace by the Iraqi national football team in their dream run to the Asian cup final. Their performance is the stuff that dreams are made off. It was nothing less then a fairytale story coming true.

The Iraqi team has show great potential before. They have reached the semifinal of the 2004 Athens Olympics and also the finals of the Doha Asian games. But nothing could be compared to reaching the Asian cup final for the first time ever, defeating teams playing their full strength which includes world cup semifinalists South Korea.

This blogger due to his innate inclination towards dark horses was visibly moved and inspired by their achievement. Football is a beautiful game, the primary reason for this being its ability to bring a smirk in the face of the most miserable beings in the world. As if by a divine intervention Football makes people forget the Hell around them and simply allows them to enjoy the moment.

The Iraqi footballers gave their countrymen Hope. It was something way beyond aesthetic pleasure. It was security. A sense of well being that they too can now dream of being counted in the international community.

To sum it all up it was the assurances that ‘if our footballers can do it then so can we, in any other discipline.’

So the mass celebrations were rightly justified. After all it has been a very long time since the average Iraqi has had something to cheer about. The football crazy Iraqi’s went wild. Adrenalin was running high. It was time to sing, dance, celebrate…it was time to be HAPPY.

Just like in The pursuit of HappYness ‘this very minute part of their lives was called happiness.’

But man is mean. How can he witness the transformation of a poor, helpless nation from years of hardships to a few moments of joy? Man struck back with vengeance. Their joy was reduced to tears…tears of blood.
‘The devil hits where it hurts the most’ this was proven deadly correct.

Two suicide bombers struck during a mass celebration, killing more than fifty and injuring hundreds.

The resurgent nation never resurged. Their fairytale ended abruptly, not in the field of football but in the field of death.

The fact that it was an act of cowardice is well known. But when I first got the news I stood still for a second and introspected. I was in disbelief but I was also overwhelmed by the cruelty of man.
From deep inside a voice said ‘MAN……how mean is man?