The ball hit the sweetest part of the bat and started rolling down the lush green turf towards the mid-on boundary. The run was on as the batsmen started a sprint towards the opposite end of the wicket. There were some doubts as it was going to the best fielder in the opposition side- NIDHI LALCHETA. She charged on the ball and grabbed it in a whisker along with few strands of grass (imagine the aggression in the effort). The batsmen had their heart spilling out of their mouth as a run out seemed imminent there. Nidhi had to now choose any one out of the two ends of the wicket to hit as also the kind of throw- UNDERARM/OVERARM. She chose the underarm throw but it was difficult to know the end she chose as she heaved the ball over her head as if directing it towards some other cricket match happening somewhere in the skies. Me and Rikin leaped towards Nidhi, almost pleading to her not to throw and give the ball to us but that proved futile as she chose to not only throw the ball in the air but catch it back herself too. We kicked and pushed and the batsmen were in the middle of the pitch when the ball finally landed in the great Nidhi Lalcheta’s hands and the grand Run-Out fiasco of ISBA’s Christmas picnic unfolded. This & many others punctuated the somewhat funny & unfathomable day of cricket cum king cum food cum kho on the 25th of December, 2009.
We had been planning this day for long, 25th of December-the Christmas day. After a lot of hard work for Konkurence, ISBA’s inter collegiate debate competition; a picnic break was on the radar and 25th was the chosen day for the same. The plans were being devised since the past couple of days and effort was made to see that the planning was impeccably done. Obviously there were some anti-social elements here too who were disturbing the rhythm but more or less everything went off well. The most interesting thing about the planning process was the difference in opinions, when it came to the games to be played, between the two deadly groups on earth- LAAADIES & GENTUS (If you are surprised by the usage of the two words, it was devised by our very own sweet Rosogulla, Japan). The GENTUS universally were keen on playing cricket while the LAAADIES were not so. Hundreds of options from ‘Kauva Ud’ to ‘Maal Dadi’ to ‘Sun Dadi’ (don’t go by the gross terms, they are ‘Universal’ games) were popped out of the GENTUS side’s hat to appease the opposition but it was not to relent. Instead, the GENTUS side was almost made to ‘UD’ (read as blown apart) by the anger of the LAAADIES side on hearing the genuinely caring opinions from the GENTUS. Finally it was decided that the game would be ascertained once we reached the venue.
We were all supposed to meet at the Corporate House at 9:30 IST (Indian Standard Time). One and all in the group knew that the presence of highly punctual elements in the student as well as the management side was going to make sure that 9:30 IST will translate into around 10:30 real time (Jet Lag, you know?). We reached Kadambari I, Ranchadra- which happened to be the venue for the picnic at around 11:15. As soon as we parked the car, the GENTUS team pulled out pairs of tracks, bats and balls and prepared itself for the major Cricket fixture that was to follow. The ground was decently big and fortunately the LAAADIES side had agreed to be a part of (read as interfere) two cricket matches, after which games of their choice will take over (remember ‘maal dadi’, ‘sun dadi’ and ‘kauva ud’?). The cricket started immediately, as the GENTUS, didn’t take long in changing into their tracks and the girls preferred to play in their pairs of jeans only (you wonder sometimes how they manage to show off even when they are playing). The team was divided and the batting side selected. It was 15 overs a side which was quite a lot given the deteriorating pitch conditions and the great quality of the players (Sarcasm genuinely intended). The two matches went by pretty quickly (as expected) leaving us in splits a couple of times. One of those two that I remember was by Rikin. It showed the sheer dedication he had towards the game that to run a player out. When he didn’t have anyone to keep the wicket towards the bowler’s end, he threw the ball to the umpire (who somehow was also calling for it) and the umpire hid the ball under his arm pits as he was from the batting side. Great as it was, it didn’t let us play for some time because of the laughter it brought with it.
The next on the agenda was lunch. I was thoroughly excited about the ‘Gujarati Daal’ being prepared by Chandni and the ‘Gujarati Sabzi’ being brought by Rikin. I am a colossal appreciator of Gujarati food. It was all good till we realized that in managing the anti-social elements in the event, we had forgotten to take some essential crockery (read as spoons). It was this day that my respect for the South Indians went up by leaps and bounds as I understood how difficult it was to eat with hands as your spoon. I poured the ‘daal’ over the white rice as the paper plate felt immense pressure, almost creating a hole beneath. However, I put a hand as support there to salvage the situation. I tried once then the second time and then the third when I finally gathered the guts to put three of the fingers of my right hand into the rice. I mixed the daal with the rice with my hand and when I withdrew my three fingers from the rice, they were all yellow with the daal, reminding me of the morning ritual (yuk!!!). However, sometime into the clutter had got me used to it as I plunged my hand into the mix again and started stuffing punches of daal, rice & sabzi into my mouth. I almost imagined myself licking the daal flowing down my hand but then remembered that I was the faculty there.
As we finished the lunch, we were all back to cricket- much to the ire of the LAAADIES group. After some 2 hours of cricket combined with screams from the LAAADIES group about the bad behavior meted out to them and the fact that they were ditched, we decided to call it a day- for cricket that is. Minutes later we were on the other side of the ground, playing KING. LOL, A game for the LAAADIES, named ‘KING’- quite ironical! Here one person was supposed to hit the others with the ball, one by one. The one who would be hit the last was going to be declared winner. That game was followed by Kho-which involved a lot of running too. As we managed to complete those two games to soothe the already hurt ego of the LAAADIES, the clock had struck 7 and it was time to leave. We were all extremely tired as we ventured into our cars again and made our way back to our respective destination. It was a great day, one to keep in the memories forever and the kinds which keep you motivated and should happen on a regular basis. I hope we create many such memories to rejoice. Amen!!!
