I was travelling by train to my native place thinking how to spend the 10-day vacation effectively. In fact these were the most sought after the hectic schedule back at college. With 36 hours spent sleeping, I wasn’t really in the mood to do something related to academics. I went to the balcony with a cup of coffee and a Seth Godin book. Suddenly I heard, “…. Ball-a off-side podra, apo thaan adikamaatan! ” (Put the ball in the offside so that he cannot hit it).
What Next! A 22-year-old, who is graduating from a course which demanded “professionalism ” , was right there standing equal among a group of seven Std V boys drenched in rain. The pitch was damp and a bit low, no wonder it’s our Government laid road which breaks up on the fifth day of a Test match (during rainy days). To state the fact, I was not an attraction while team auction process (the good-old “vaanam bhoomi ” method).
The respective team captains had decided on their teams. The team captains, both in half-trousers went to the centre of the pitch for the toss; all they wanted was a stone. We won the toss and decided to field pointing to the overcast.
Here are the rules: Eight overs (rightly so for the four players of each team to face two overs), valid one pitch catches and if hit inside our apartments it’s declared out. And the winning team also wins the toss of the next match. They managed to score 43. Our team captain seemed to be reasonably content with the target. He then asked me, “Anna, do you know to play?” (!!). Four overs were up. The score read 16 for the loss of two wickets. Now it’s 16 runs from the last two overs. And the opposite team captain was fiery and we could manage only six runs leaving us to get 10 runs off the last over. I hit the four and a couple of runs. Finally, three runs were required from the last two balls. It was a dot. I had to get three runs from the last ball…
It really does not matter whether I had hit the required runs or not. At least once in our life, we need to be doing the things we enjoy. In the race of life we leave behind our interests and passions.
RAJ BHARATH S., College student
