A fictional post!
"Longing for a deep breath , he crouched on the grass and put his elbows on his knees. He looked at the scoreboard which was being changed from "0-2" to "0-3". Inhaling through his nose & mouth, he couldn't exactly point out when he had that huge sigh getting out of his body. As a result of his incessant running, he couldn't exactly bark at his teammates, making him very much unlike him. As a result of some egregious errors committed by his peers, his team has gone 3 goals down. Even at his equanimous best, he hadn't had the heart to imagine that his team was losing. Not atleast, when that third goalscorer, & also the opposition's captain, gave him a look filled of disgust, indicating that his team was way out of competence to be playing in that match. The grand finale of a month long soccer tournament, comprising of colleges participating from all across the state.
As the players were preparing for the game to be resumed, with a kick-off from the center line, he glanced towards the stand where his college mates were standing. Instead of the ever-cheering and festive moods, which was the characteristic of their journey through the quarters & semi-finals, all that loomed was despair. As he jogged his way, towards his midfield position, he couldn't think of a way out of this embarrassment. Even before he could let his thoughts to take a backseat & getting himself concentrated on the game, the referee blew halftime whistle.
As the players accumulated at one of the corner flags, all they did, was to collapse on the grass & sip some energy drinks, while looking at him for a response towards their game, precisely their game-play. After all, he was their captain & their best player. And otherwise, the loquacious friend, who had always had inspirational stories & game-changing strategies to tell during their practice sessions half time break.But no, not this time. This time, all they found in the group was, pin-drop silence and an intense stare from their captain. But they hardly knew the volcano breaking under his thick skin.
His emotions on the game turned from despair to retrospection to a challenge. Drenched in an implacable mood, he was never ready to accept the result of failure. Trying to reflect & find out a way to make-up for their mistakes, he had recollected all the innumerable stories he has learned while growing up. Of all the people present there, he knew the most about the importance of showing raw courage in the face of adversity. And this particular situation was no exception.
He recollected a small quote, which he has overheard during a childhood training session, when two of his seniors were expressing their adulation towards their footballing idol -
"Acha, toh game aise khelthe hain!"
He remembered the awe in their faces, while watching the magical touches of their idol , while sheer brilliance was being displayed on the field.I have to be that, he muttered under his breath. The least I can do is to give my 100% & try to make this game not a disaster in the history of my college, he thought. But what he had in his mind was far greater than those words. And by his performance, he wanted to make a difference!
As he lifted his head, he watched all his team mates staring at him. Perhaps for some message or change of tactics, his awareness has warned. He glanced through all his teammates' faces, looking deep into their watchful eyes. He exhaled a deep breath, picked himself up, dusted his back and stared at the pitch. Following, the rest rose. This was the usual moment, when he had his laconic senses at his best. Bursting out short words in quick succession & bringing up the morale of his friends. But no,not this time, he thought.
Without any movement from his lips, he just ran to his starting position on the pitch, minutes before the kick-off, waiting for moment to arrive, stressing himself into the heights of seriousness, a layer much obscure to his pretense. And in that moment, without any word being uttered , let alone a team meeting, the players ran onto the pitch.
As the second half commenced, the atmosphere in the air turned into life. With am extraordinary tackle, he collected the ball at the half line, dribbled past the offence and passed to his midfield counterpart. As he received the ball on the move, with a short look out of his searching eyes, he saw two defenders running to converge his path & obstruct
him. On some other day, he would have back-passed and re-builded the attack.But this day, he let the ball go through the defender's legs and jumped a feet higher, squeezed his upper body and brought his hands closer to his stomach and peirced through the small gap available between the opposition players bodies, leaving the spectators and his team mates in a awe-stuck state. At the final obstacle, he rounded the ball around the goal-keepers' legs and sprinted his way towards the goal line. Just before the ball found its inevitable way into the goal, he stopped it. He turned around and looked at the last defender, who was the opposition's captain, while returning his look of disgust. Giving a second, for everybody to realize what just happened, he tapped in the ball into the net. But, without any alacrity & without any celebration, he picked it up from the goal, held it between his elbow and abdomen, and started jogging towards the center line. With that kind of a performance, any player would have gone wild into the realms of euphoria.But no, this time he had a uphill task on his shoulders and by this goal, he meant business!
But this time, even without a clap from his hands or a usual 'well-done' shout from his mouth, he had made his point. Giving away inspiring words wasn't his priority, but getting the intensity into his team-mates' heads was! And this time, he had succeeded. Well beyond his expectations!
What followed after that was magical display from his team. And by giving the captain's display, he led his team from the front. Throwing his body at every sight of the tackle, picking out his team-mates with exotic passes, poaching in another goal from a thunderbolt strike, making goal line clearances, starting his team's counter-attacks...he was just the hot piece of steel, who was too big for the opposition to handle. And when he selflessly passed the ball for his team mate to strike the winning goal, he let out the first smile of the day. A symbol of reaching the boundaries of victory. A smile, which signified his pursuit of the day.
And when the final whistle was blown, the wild ecstatic state of his friends standing on the edge of the seats on their stand, just put the final nail in the coffin of his half-time endeavor. He hugged all his team mates, shook hand with the runner ups & collected the trophy on behalf of the team.
Nothing pretty much was spoken about his heroics on the day in their post-match chill-out! It was a tacit truth. The unspoken feelings weren't really necessary. That day all they knew, was they saw a lion roaring! But what they didn't knew was that the opposition captain said something to his team mates after the match - 'Acha, toh game aise khelthe hain!' "
Hope You liked it. And yeah, your invaluable feedback on this one, just like in the case of "Au revoir?", will be of immense importance to me! :D
"Longing for a deep breath , he crouched on the grass and put his elbows on his knees. He looked at the scoreboard which was being changed from "0-2" to "0-3". Inhaling through his nose & mouth, he couldn't exactly point out when he had that huge sigh getting out of his body. As a result of his incessant running, he couldn't exactly bark at his teammates, making him very much unlike him. As a result of some egregious errors committed by his peers, his team has gone 3 goals down. Even at his equanimous best, he hadn't had the heart to imagine that his team was losing. Not atleast, when that third goalscorer, & also the opposition's captain, gave him a look filled of disgust, indicating that his team was way out of competence to be playing in that match. The grand finale of a month long soccer tournament, comprising of colleges participating from all across the state.
As the players were preparing for the game to be resumed, with a kick-off from the center line, he glanced towards the stand where his college mates were standing. Instead of the ever-cheering and festive moods, which was the characteristic of their journey through the quarters & semi-finals, all that loomed was despair. As he jogged his way, towards his midfield position, he couldn't think of a way out of this embarrassment. Even before he could let his thoughts to take a backseat & getting himself concentrated on the game, the referee blew halftime whistle.
As the players accumulated at one of the corner flags, all they did, was to collapse on the grass & sip some energy drinks, while looking at him for a response towards their game, precisely their game-play. After all, he was their captain & their best player. And otherwise, the loquacious friend, who had always had inspirational stories & game-changing strategies to tell during their practice sessions half time break.But no, not this time. This time, all they found in the group was, pin-drop silence and an intense stare from their captain. But they hardly knew the volcano breaking under his thick skin.
His emotions on the game turned from despair to retrospection to a challenge. Drenched in an implacable mood, he was never ready to accept the result of failure. Trying to reflect & find out a way to make-up for their mistakes, he had recollected all the innumerable stories he has learned while growing up. Of all the people present there, he knew the most about the importance of showing raw courage in the face of adversity. And this particular situation was no exception.
He recollected a small quote, which he has overheard during a childhood training session, when two of his seniors were expressing their adulation towards their footballing idol -
"Acha, toh game aise khelthe hain!"
He remembered the awe in their faces, while watching the magical touches of their idol , while sheer brilliance was being displayed on the field.I have to be that, he muttered under his breath. The least I can do is to give my 100% & try to make this game not a disaster in the history of my college, he thought. But what he had in his mind was far greater than those words. And by his performance, he wanted to make a difference!
As he lifted his head, he watched all his team mates staring at him. Perhaps for some message or change of tactics, his awareness has warned. He glanced through all his teammates' faces, looking deep into their watchful eyes. He exhaled a deep breath, picked himself up, dusted his back and stared at the pitch. Following, the rest rose. This was the usual moment, when he had his laconic senses at his best. Bursting out short words in quick succession & bringing up the morale of his friends. But no,not this time, he thought.
Without any movement from his lips, he just ran to his starting position on the pitch, minutes before the kick-off, waiting for moment to arrive, stressing himself into the heights of seriousness, a layer much obscure to his pretense. And in that moment, without any word being uttered , let alone a team meeting, the players ran onto the pitch.
As the second half commenced, the atmosphere in the air turned into life. With am extraordinary tackle, he collected the ball at the half line, dribbled past the offence and passed to his midfield counterpart. As he received the ball on the move, with a short look out of his searching eyes, he saw two defenders running to converge his path & obstruct
him. On some other day, he would have back-passed and re-builded the attack.But this day, he let the ball go through the defender's legs and jumped a feet higher, squeezed his upper body and brought his hands closer to his stomach and peirced through the small gap available between the opposition players bodies, leaving the spectators and his team mates in a awe-stuck state. At the final obstacle, he rounded the ball around the goal-keepers' legs and sprinted his way towards the goal line. Just before the ball found its inevitable way into the goal, he stopped it. He turned around and looked at the last defender, who was the opposition's captain, while returning his look of disgust. Giving a second, for everybody to realize what just happened, he tapped in the ball into the net. But, without any alacrity & without any celebration, he picked it up from the goal, held it between his elbow and abdomen, and started jogging towards the center line. With that kind of a performance, any player would have gone wild into the realms of euphoria.But no, this time he had a uphill task on his shoulders and by this goal, he meant business!
But this time, even without a clap from his hands or a usual 'well-done' shout from his mouth, he had made his point. Giving away inspiring words wasn't his priority, but getting the intensity into his team-mates' heads was! And this time, he had succeeded. Well beyond his expectations!
What followed after that was magical display from his team. And by giving the captain's display, he led his team from the front. Throwing his body at every sight of the tackle, picking out his team-mates with exotic passes, poaching in another goal from a thunderbolt strike, making goal line clearances, starting his team's counter-attacks...he was just the hot piece of steel, who was too big for the opposition to handle. And when he selflessly passed the ball for his team mate to strike the winning goal, he let out the first smile of the day. A symbol of reaching the boundaries of victory. A smile, which signified his pursuit of the day.
And when the final whistle was blown, the wild ecstatic state of his friends standing on the edge of the seats on their stand, just put the final nail in the coffin of his half-time endeavor. He hugged all his team mates, shook hand with the runner ups & collected the trophy on behalf of the team.
Nothing pretty much was spoken about his heroics on the day in their post-match chill-out! It was a tacit truth. The unspoken feelings weren't really necessary. That day all they knew, was they saw a lion roaring! But what they didn't knew was that the opposition captain said something to his team mates after the match - 'Acha, toh game aise khelthe hain!' "
Hope You liked it. And yeah, your invaluable feedback on this one, just like in the case of "Au revoir?", will be of immense importance to me! :D
Nicely written! More than words, an all round play of feelings! What I liked most in particular was the sentece "Acha, toh game aise khelte hain" and it's applicability. Condesendence, mockery, sarcasm, awe.. Fits perfectly :P
ReplyDeleteThank you! :D
ReplyDeleteLoved it. Keep them(more posts ;)) coming! :)
ReplyDelete