The games I played

I somehow never liked games. The only games I ever enjoyed were cricket and badminton.

Cricket because everybody in our country plays the game. Even now, well past playing age, we become armchair cricketers.

I was about six-years-old. Fielding on the leg side, I caught a catch jumping over a well near our chawl! They just could not believe what they had just seen. Even I couldn’t. But that was awesome. One childhood memory that is as fresh as the aroma of hot, chocolate cake. The childhood quality of fearlessness is something I still could not explain nor understand.

Another game that I still remember is when I was the last man… almost like the last man standing. We needed 50 runs to win the match. In about three overs. And I did it. I have never seen such powerful hitting before. Such merciless hitting. Awesome shots just flowed from my puma bat.

Then, long after I had given up playing cricket, I decided to play once more. In the heat of the afternoon sun, at the Vasant Nagri sports complex, I was in the fielding team. The batsman hit the ball in the air. In my direction. Only trouble was that I had to run some 30 yards in front and dive if I had to make the catch! I started my run. I heard my brother and his friends shouting to the batsman, “Run! Run! Woh kya pakdegaa? Bahut saal ho gaya cricket chode huye!” Then, all the jaws dropped. I had just taken the most memorable catch of my life.

When I was 17/18, boys my age played volleyball on the badminton court in the evenings! I played badminton in the mornings. With Veena, Leena, and Gagan. We were a gang. Sharing college stories, boyfriend-girlfriend talks, and the likes…

I was their male buddy! Somebody with whom they can talk freely. Without any inhibitions.

So much so that Veena went around telling all and sundry that Abhilash was the best guy in the colony! She used to hit awesome smashes… I returned her serves well. We complemented each other well on the court. And her t-shirt showed glimpses of heaven: a perfectly, toned, athletic body!

Life was fun. I had not started earning yet. The real games had not yet begun.