Is there any hope for democracy in South Asia? Imagine what conjectures would have been made in response to this question just one week ago. But many things, many minds have since changed. Narendra Modi of India has been cut down to size. And though he remains the prime minister of India for the historic third term, he is no longer invincible.

A national election in India is always a spectacle, given the size of the country and the complicated nature of how the polling in its disparate regions is spread, incredibly, for six weeks. This time, the world was watching in dread the tempo of the mammoth electoral machine that Modi had built in glaring defiance of democratic principles. And he did seem to be invincible.

Now, this focus on the Indian election is eminently justified in the context of the surprising message it has delivered. Because of our South Asian bondage, we need to be concerned about what happens in India. As a new regime takes over in India, putting Modi in the uncomfortable position of leading a coalition, it will be interesting to watch the moves that it makes.

But we, as a nation, are today focused on India for a very different reason. Pakistan and India are meeting this evening on a playing field in, of all places, New York in the opening round of the T20 World Cup. This will be a match in the group stage. Even though temporary, this encounter is bound to generate unbounded excitement among almost the entire population of the two of the........

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