The summer season had lately made a spectacular comeback with the cooing of cuckoos heralding the beginning of the day, the leaves decorating the trees giving a viridescent outlook, the sky becoming as immaculate as crystal-clear water and the sun shining majestically. The shorts and the tees started making a candid appearance. Folks began restoring their normal sleeping cycle and gushed out of their houses early in the morning to avoid the gentle kindness of the scorching sun. Bees humming around occupied the ravishing seat upon the blossoming flowers. The natural alarm restored its original time waking up millions. The day started dominating the nights giving more space to daytime businesses. Children went out of their houses to rejoice the conducive alteration in the immediate surroundings. The air compressors and air-coolers cranked up themselves to serve humanity for the upcoming season. The surrounding reflected back with the echoes of chirps, giggles and the HD quality noise – the nature offered.
It was another warm day with the sun shining proudly and gloriously. The hustle and bustle on the roads diminished as anticipated. Why not, a relieving Sunday it was! People remained confined in their houses with their air-conditioners taking full toll of not only the electricity but also their pockets. Life was no different for the four flat-mates in the initial half of the day. Hitesh – a 6 feet tall healthy bloke with a wheatish skin, dark and broad eyebrows, compact lips, thin and large nose and a French beard – was busy writing an application for University of California, Los Angeles. Saket – a 5 feet 8 inches tall man with tan skin, short eyebrows, broad cheeks and muscular body – was engaged in listening to songs and chilling out on a hot day. Rohit – a 5-footer slim chap blessed with sleek skin and fantabulous personality – was engrossed in evaluating the monthly expenses incurred by them. Sachin – a bloke similar to Saket distinguished by his glowing fairness – was watching the latest Indian Premier league edition highlights, aptly justified by his name. The first half of the day went pretty normal with nothing super exciting happening in their lifestyles. The four flat-mates, engrossed deeply in their work, needed a break. Saket went into the kitchen anticipating the cook might have made something in the morning. He served the lunch to the other three mates and they settled in a dining room. The room is comprised of a sofa set with the curtains swinging and waving vigorously due to the turbulence created by the fan. They were seated on a round table having a dark brownish tinge. The lunch session could never be free of talks and debates. Saket initiated the conversation:
Saket: How the pollution has affected our lifestyles that we cannot even step out of the house at this point of time?
Hitesh: Yeah it’s true. The heat is increasing on a daily basis.
Saket: Yeah. The evolution in the last decade has been so rapid that with every year it feels like a new generation is evolving.
Rohit: Yeah, true that. Children used to “really” play, unlike today’s world where even cricket can be played on a computer. It is getting rarer to see children breaking glasses of buildings! All of them are equipped with smartphones given the high status of their parents. Parents also devote very little time these days towards their wards, owing to their pursuit of earning money. I remember how we played cricket in our backyards. I wish if I can relive it.
Hitesh: There is a park right in front of our house. Today is a Sunday. What say?
Sachin: Yes, we have a bat. We have a ball. And the bricks are available in plenty there. The area is large enough to play. We shall revive our childhood memories.
Saket: Yes, I am also in.
They then decided to relive their childhood days by playing cricket in the park next to their house.
The clock kept ticking at around 5:00 PM. The sun was trying to make final settlements to give a wonderful end to the day. The park was brimming with very tall trees. The flowers were having last-minute romance with the bees and humming insects. The breeze was neither cold nor hot clocking at approximately 5 kmph. The plants and saplings rejoiced last few moments of the sunbeam. The park had a walking trek with a sand topping on it and was secured by small wired railings. A middle trek was carved out, part of which had a rock-solid sandhill on both sides having two trees each and the other part was surrounded by tall trees. The latter part was located near the boundaries coordinating with the parallel side boundaries while the other was situated in the middle of the park at an angle with the parallel side boundaries. The entire trek was made from bricks and tiles affixed by cement. The remaining part of the park was covered by grass adding a greenish outlook to the entire park. The midway of the central trek positioned itself to be the perfect place to play cricket. The “pitch” was uneven and had extraordinary offerings for the bounce. The four guys came out in the middle, each of them analyzing the pitch very carefully. Hitesh and Rohit positioned the bricks as stumps after minutely observing the “pitch”. Two bricks at the batsman’s end and one at the bowler’s end made the perfect construction of the setup. If the ball rips through the two bricks within a certain height, then the batsman is bowled – that’s how the stumps were defined. Saket announced the rules – one hand one tip out, the trees on the sandhill and the trees at the edge of the middle part of the central trek serve as the boundaries so that a player hitting the ball without a bounce outside this boundary will be deemed out, 5 overs maximum per person and the normal cricket rules barring LBW apply. The play finally began. Saket took the red tennis ball, Sachin took the bat, Hitesh was the wicketkeeper and Rohit was positioned on the leg side along the midway of the pitch. Here goes the first ball and what a terrific bounce first up indicating clear demons in the pitch and what’s coming next. Lots of oohs and aahs there. Sachin was adamant to stay on the crease and rightly he survived for more than three overs. Sachin was followed by Hitesh followed by Saket followed by Rohit and this cycle repeated.
Few young guns were playing cricket with seasoned Kookaburra ball on the grass, practicing defense. One of them – a 3-footer young boy – looked like MS Dhoni, with long hairs, blue Indian jersey and black track pants. He was accompanied by a thin 4 feet tall boy with a turban wearing light blue shorts and a sleeveless deep blue top, and two other guys of similar character. The shortest one of them shouted “Hello uncle wanna play with us” with his face pointed directly towards the four folks playing on the midway. Saket gestured to everyone that someone was calling there. Hitesh exclaimed “have we grown up too much that these guys are calling us uncle” and chuckles. The mates gathered and both the groups headed towards each other.
Sachin: Hi guys, I am Sachin, he is Saket, that bloke is Rohit and the guy there is Hitesh.
Shortest guy: Hi, I am Dhruv aka Dhoni, he is Yujvendra aka Yuvi, the fella there is Harsh aka Shami and the one at the end is Akash aka bhuvi.
Hitesh: These guys are rock stars. Just see their nicknames. (guffaws)
Rohit: What do you want from us?
Dhoni: We want to play with you guys. You are four, we are four. We can have a good contest.
Saket: Don’t you think that the teams are highly imbalanced? (chuckles)
Yuvi: No, we don’t think so. (Fully confident)
Sachin: What about the surroundings? If we hit someone’s car or something very critical. You guys will be saved. What about us? They will put us in the jail! (guffaws)
Dhoni: Nothing of that sort of thing will happen. We regularly play here and this green tennis ball seriously does nothing. (Indicating the ball to the four guys)
Rohit: What about the ladies sitting there? If we hit one of them, they will come rushing to us.
Dhoni: Don’t worry guys we will take care of that. I, on behalf of my team, challenge you to play with us and win.
The fire in the eyes of the young kid was a treat to watch.
Saket turned towards his mates and whispered.
Saket: They are challenging us. We have to play now.
All of them agreed to what Saket asserted.
The young guns decided to name their team “Nintendos”. The blokes decided to name their team “Dynamites”. The entire park was about to witness a sensational match between the young guns and the workaholic folks. Who will win the match? Will, there be any damage done to the nearby areas or will the experiences of the young guns prove themselves?
We will see what happens in the next chapter.
