Battle Won

The society compound of Devi Kripa society has always been a sacred space for the little 'chutkus' that reside in the society. In the concrete jungles that prevail today, getting space to play is a bliss, and when it comes to games that are being played in society compound, cricket cannot be missed. Playing cricket in the society compound is almost as ritualistic an activity on a daily basis as watching Chotta Bheem is. Another thing, whenever you ask a grown up male to remember his childhood, you would always find a wooden bat inhibiting a little bit of space in his nostalgia. In the years to come, Anand would also associate himself with a story, a story for his first cricket bat.

Those were the early months of 2012. During cricket practice in the evening, Anad had seen his seniors, the seventh grade students carrying those heavy bats. While returning from the practice one day, Anand stopped his cycle, being dazzled by what he saw. It was a cricket bat in the showcase of a local sports store. With the advent of globalization and the improvement of lifestyle, people can now find a living by selling only those cricket bats and footballs, even in a 'small city'. Anand could see the bat with 'MFR' written on it, which he mistakenly read as 'MRF'. "Sachin's bat!" he exclaimed. He parked his cycle in the vicinity of the shop, locked it with a 'pipe lock' and went inside the store. "It will cost you Rs. 350" the store owner smiled. Innocent Anand didn't exactly knew how much Rs. 350 was, but was pretty sure Rs. 350 was a good price to pay for the 'Sachin's bat'. He went back home, in excitement, kept the cycle key on table and immediately rushed to Maa. "Maa, I want Sachin's bat, it's just of Rs. 350, please Maa". You could see him literally jumping like a macaque while demanding the bat from his Maa. "Ask your Baba when he returns!" Maa exclaimed. 

Baba returned home at 6:30. Anand's face had a mix of excitement, fear and stubbornness. "Baba, I want Sachin's bat, I saw it at the sports store down the road". "Anand, when are your exams?" "Next month Baba, I have a month for it" "No Anand, wait for the exams to end first and then I'll buy you the bat". Anand didn't speak anything and went to his room. His parents didn't heed much attention to the issue. His silence could only be understood some hours later when he refused to have dinner and his parents had to succumb to his stubbornness. Next evening Baba went with Anand to buy the 'MFR' bat. Baba got Rs. 75 discount on the bat. The bat was a good buy at Rs. 275. The battle was won. For that ten year old child, getting that bat was almost equivalent to winning the world.

Unforgettable

This one would remain the only instance when a highly complacent human being (okay I am doubtful about the last two words) was made to switch his laptop on after the first innings ended, get the internet on and directly start blogger's interface without even a slight deviation to youpo.. sorry I mean Youtube. Yes, the occasion's special. This blog post is for the guy who scored a double hundred, the third Indian to do that, giving a sweet message to Sachin that he won't be missed after his thirty sixth attempt to retire from cricket. Hitting sixteen sixes, the highest in a One Day International innings and almost making Virendra Sehwag utter "Behenchod.. mera record gaya". Yes, he is none other than Sharma, Rohit Sharma (you know there is a need to clarify, there is a Sharma in Australian team too (Okay no more Ishant Sharma jokes (okay no more brackets))) . This was one of those innings that completely came off surprise. I mean, how can you expect the guy who was having about a strike rate of 80 initially to score two hundred bloody runs, even when he was not wearing Sir Ravindra Jadeja's jersey? . I could sense the amount of swearing that Rohit was addressed by the blue jersey fans when he was involved in that Virat Kohli run out. But then some overs later, Rohit sensed the urgency and delivered like a true gentlemen, joining the class of reliable batsmen of the likes of Rahul Dravid and Hashim Amla. Another landmark crossed, Rohit made 1000 runs this year.

(Note: This tweet tweeted by me while he was in his 70s made was lucky for him today, just like our assumptions of having a luckyy seat, lucky plate, lucky jersy, lucky Pamela Anderson wallpaper (sorry ignore the last one)) 

Bailey: Kyun India, geeli ho gayi? Rohit Sharma: Bitch please! :)
— P. (@ChutiyaEngineer) November 2, 2013

Of Dogs and Diwali

It was about six in the evening and I was out with mom to buy jewelry this evening, on the eve of Dhanteras. Just as I reached society's main gate, the scene of a few kids playing with a puppy came to my sight. The children were about to tie a string of those tiny red colored bomb to the puppy's tail and burst it. Seeing that I rushed to the children and stopped them from lighting the string that was already tied on the puppy's tail. The latter had no idea what was going on. I untied it and patted the puppy, shooed away the children and left the puppy at a considerable distance. Diwali is not only about praying to God seeking wealth, health and of course happiness. True happiness is found in those little things in life, like saving the puppy from a disaster.