In place of the “banjar park” where we practice, today, there is a proper football field. I still had trouble issues with The Sun God for blazing even after 5, I was rightly reminded before reaching– “aaj tumhaare upar dhool nahi udegi”. Well what actually happens is- I have a bad kicking technique and main sabke upar dhool udha rahi hoti hoon.
So characters in the story are- the coach squad- the Head Coach- Ritwik, the All Rounder- Shailesh, the Star Goal Keeper- Devendar , Samrat- the ball roller I guess… The first timer shiner-Jack- :p
We had guest appearances by some revered and prudent bigshots too- like Indraneel Sir, Rohit Sir and…- all of them, sports enthusiasts, followers and supporters.
Par aaj kaun big folk aur kaun coach- they were all field boys cum line-men. 😀
All eyes were on the girls in black and the girls in red.
Girls in black- Ana, Kajal, Monica 1, Monica 2, Manisha, Rakhi, Rani… – tiny football fairies.
Girls in red – Anjali, Anshika, Divya, Manpreet, Preeti 1, Preeti 2, .. .. and me, women bankers and corporate professionals, most of them first time footballers.
There is a quick briefing about the rules! and the ball is rolled, the players are all over, call-outs and cheers in the air.
Its time… Naah.. Its showtime! 😀
There are so many passes, so many kicks, so many side goals, so many hands in foot ball, but everyone is eagerly waiting for just one sight- a GOAL.
So, the girls in red accidentally score in their own goalpost. 😀
And its halftime.
There is a quick briefing of both sides again, change of field sides and again- Showtime ! :p.
Now the passes have gotten clearer, instead of kicks, there are long and high kicks, there is no goal scored but now instead of side-goals there are many corners and almost-goals.
And time’s up.
And against all hopes, no one has fainted, no one is even badly injured, no one even looks tired. No one feels like its over. :p
Everyone just wants to see a goal scored.
But showtime is up, and the girls in black win 1-0.
The scene feels like Chak De India –the mid movie girls vs boys match. The girls in black are like the boys team who have won, and girls in red like the girls team who have played equally and unexpectedly well. Everyone is saying nice game but there is no celebration waali feeling.
There are refreshments, big inspiring words, photographs, medals- things that matter and still don’t matter :p.
The formalities are over. Half of the gathering has cleared. The day seems over. The head coach (Ritwick) is feeling his team needs to learn more control and deserved atleast one goal.
A tiny fairy says- We want to play a match again, and all the faces light up. The coach (Shailesh) asks- Match is okay- but who will score a goal in the next match? and all hands fly up just like their spirits. Now they are back to being fairies, chatting and making plans with their bhaiya-coaches and their umpire cum upcoming coach- Jacques.
The weird thing I learnt about sports today is-
When neither medals, nor proud words could lift their mood, just plans of improving on their game, and playing football on Friday again, somehow cheered them all up..
- Manu
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