a subsidiary lota story

Deferentially, this story appears as a footnote of Akbar's Lota tale.

It was the spring of 2004, love was in the air (both fraternal and romantic), Turbans were to be found on the streets of Lahore (Amar too), as well as young men riding motor cycles waving Indian flags. And cricket was just an excuse. Yes, reality had been suspended.

There was Amar at Lahore's Gaddafi stadium. The Pakistani fans were enthusiastic, cheering for both teams, celebrating when good cricket was played. Naturally when one of the local heroes did something spectacular, the noise levels would rise greatly. But the man who really got a response from the crowd was not a cricketer. It was the Chief Minister of Punjab.

As soon as his face appeared on the giant tv screen, the reaction of the crowd was both spontaneous and in unison. Beating the chairs in front of them like drums, young and old, men and women, rich and poor alike, the stadium rose as one to acknowledge his presence. All screamed their recognition at the top of their lungs:
"LOTA! LOTA! LOTA! LOTA! LOTA! LOTA!"