Srinagar, Feb. 5 -- There was a time when an India Pakistan cricket series did not merely announce a sporting contest. It announced a season of waiting. Days were counted with quiet excitement. Evenings felt longer. Hearts beat faster long before the first ball was bowled. For us as children in Kashmir cricket was not watched. It was lived. It slipped into classrooms mosques lanes and living rooms with the gentleness of habit and the force of emotion. The thrill began much before the match day. Newspapers were read with unusual seriousness. Names of players were memorised like poetry. Discussions started in school corridors and continued till dusk. Teachers pretended to be strict yet their eyes betrayed the same excitement that lived in o...