It was a sunny morning, but Vicky was in a sombre mood. He could not believe he had accepted a challenge he was certainly going to lose. Vicky thought challenges were exciting and one should be bold in accepting them. But thinking about it now, he felt had been hasty in accepting it.
On the face of it, the challenge was not difficult, especially for those who knew to play tennis. But for Vicky who did not play tennis the challenge was tough. He would have to defeat Gautam in the match.
High stakes
The prize at stake was high. Vicky was the captain of the school cricket team. It was agreed that if Vicky loses in the tennis match, then he would have to include Gautam as part of the cricket team. If he won the challenge, then Gautam would not be in the team. His friends felt that it was unfair as it was a “heads I win, tails you lose” challenge, as a win by Vicky would not benefit him, but a loss by him would benefit his opponent. But, he did not worry about it, because the chance of him winning the game was low.
Vicky and friends seldom played tennis. They followed the latest happenings in Grand Slams, just to enhance their general knowledge. But knowing the statistics was not going to help him win the game.
Defeat stared at Vicky’s face. If Gautam had been a good cricket player Vicky would not have had a problem. But Gautam’s cricketing skills were worse than his own tennis skills. However, he wanted to give it his best, so he engaged a classmate to coach him rigorously until the day of the match. The coaching sessions were turning out to be huge crowd pullers. The spectators enjoyed seeing the sixes and fours that Vicky was producing with his tennis racket — balls out of court, all the time.
The D-Day came. It was a simple match, the outcome of which everyone present knew. Vicky lost his first set 6-0. In the second set he lost 6-1. Despite the fight he put up, he lost the challenge.
Vicky and his team liked to face defeat and troubles with a smile. They gave their best but were not worried about failure. They considered failures as stepping stones to success. They were easy-going and friendly. Though they got into a lot of mischief, they were usually minor ones, which people actually enjoyed. That was why their team was always popular.
Vicky told his friends, “When the fox was not able to reach the grapes, it consoled itself saying that the grapes were sour. Similarly we have no choice but to include Gautam in our team. We can console ourselves and manage with his non-performance.”
His friends did not like the analogy of the fox story in this context.
Gautam was given a hectic practice schedule before the next cricket match.
A few days later, Vicky saw that Gautam was really interested in cricket and was giving it his best. He was now confident that their team could make a win.
