“TWO TWENTY “
There was a faint but sharp stream of light coming through
the folds of the red curtain’s on the opposite large window. The light mixing
with the air gave a smoky feeling of a small hut within the higher mountains
where the chulha was lit to prepare early morning team. There was also
faint smell of tea in the air, probably coming from beneath, blending with the
smell of Sampige and raw mangoes. One could also hear a faint howling
sound and a persistent barking of a dog from somewhere far away amidst the
whistling sound created by the branches of the surrounding trees. The
surrounding faintness of light, sound, smell soon receded further to blankness
everywhere.
Sandeep came running home, out of breath, helter skelter as
if a dog was chasing him. His gumboots had already splashed enough water , mud
along the pathway because of the previous day rains. The heavybag with books
had slowed his entry into the house. It was beginning of monsoon and Sandeep
was getting worried and anxious about the match in the evening. He was hungry but his mind was focused on the
evening match rather than the food. He quickly changed his white and navy blue
uniform to a sober brown T shirt and a black track pant that he had purchased
few days back. His mother was still sleeping but his plate was neatly kept on
the dining table and couple of covered vessels. He would normally wake up his
mother but he decided otherwise and quickly put some rice, dal and a potato
vegetable in the plate and gobbled up the food. Food was tasty but his mind was
somewhere else. In no time, he ate the food. He went to his room and quickly
glanced at the new fishcover bat. It was not brand new but new enough
and still had the shine that emanated from the bat because of the oiling that
he had done few days back in order to provide more strength to the bat ,
himself and in turn his team too, because most of the players would be playing
with this bat. His father had got it few days back from a sports shop and
incidentally it had turned out that the owner happened to be known to his
father from ages. There was no haggling on the price that day. The owner had
served hot tea to both Sandeep and his father. Sandeep , not a tea drinker,
however had drank the tea as a gesture of thanks to the sports shop owner. That
night he had a disturbed sleep with visions of the new bat hitting the new ball
amidst the sweet sounds of the cork ball hitting the bat. He had also
remembered the Two Twenty ( 2.20 ) written across the blackboard in the school.
Sandeep had seen the clock three times in the last five
minutes and was desperately waiting for the small hand to be on the edge of 4
and the long hand on 9. He quickly got ready to go but not before dipping his
hands into his piggy banks to gather couple of 10 Paise coins. One would be his
share and another would serve as backup share for possibly one of his friends. It
would take five minutes for him to ride on his black cycle with the bat and the
stumps lodged on the back carrier to the nearby quarters where most of his
friends lived. He had also a spare front carrier to carry another bat, whenever
required or to carry the stumps when someone else would sit in the back carrier
holding the bat. Sandeep could still not reach the ground on both the feet from
this bicycle, since it was taller for his age. Neverthless, the regular trips
from his home every evening had made his cycling perfect. It would take ten –
fifteen minutes in the two three houses to gather his friends from the grasp of
their parents. It was always easier for Sandeep to get his friends himself
rather than waiting long for them to reach the ground, since all his friends
could not escape every evening on account of the study pressure. Sandeep was
always accorded a warm welcome by the parents and few minutes of regular school
conversation through intelligent probing of their son and sandeep’s friends.
These conversations were unavoidable else his friends would probably miss the
playful evenings. Sandeep would not mind few minutes of banter at each of the
homes , which could finally result in his eleven. He could not afford to miss
anyone of them else it would imbalance the side against the mighty team
composed of the seniors from his school.
The troupe hurried through the roads on few bicycles ,
mostly double-riding chatting away on the strategy for the match. The animated
discussions revolved around the opening batsmen, bowlers and the wicket-keeper.
Sandeep would try to moderate the discussions when he sensed that they were
digressing from the objective. He would also have the final say and mostly the
team would abide by the decision. Sandeep , himself was not chatting as much
during this sojourn to the ground, instead immersing himself in deep thoughts
towards the match. The thoughts were revolving towards the opposition
team, his team and how best to utilize
the team as well as keep everyone happy. As a captain, he needed to be fair to
all the players and everyone should get to play their share of the game either
as a batsman, bowler or wicketkeeper. There was always a clamor for being part
of the opening pair amongst his friends, including his own wish to be the one.
Apart from the match, his thoughts were also swayed by the weather. He was
checking towards the clouds for the likelihood of heavy rains. The light rains
would normally not disrupt the matches but he was worried about the heavy
downpour that could play spoilsport.
However, the accompanying winds were drawing the clouds farther and this
provided the kindling hope and joy in his mind. The team was almost there at
the venue and he could already see the other team already there with the three
stumps on one side of the track.
There was sense of joy and excitement in the air as the team
descended from the bicycles and quickly gathered the stumps, which needed to be
put on the other side of the track. Before they would do that, almost as
programmed, the whole team got their hands into their pockets and handed over
the 10 paise coins to Sandeep. However, Sanjay was scratching his head and his
wavy hair was further getting disheveled. Sandeep , quickly with a nod, as if
he knew about the fact that Sanjay had forgotten his share, dug through his
pocket and got two coins instead of the one and provided the much required support
for Sanjay, who heaved a sigh of relief. Sanjay, in order to make up for his
mistake, quickly got the stumps from the bicycle and ran towards the track to
dig and root the stumps. Sandeep nudged Rajneesh to collect a can of water from
the nearby tap and to help Sanjay, which he obliged.
With eleven 10 paise coins in his right hand and the new
fishcover bat in the left hand, Sandeep along with the whole team marched
towards the track to meet the senior team, whom they would soon be playing
against. As they neared the track, twenty two members automatically got divided
into four halves. The first two halves consisted of the captains, vice captains
from each team, who were now towards the center of the wicket. The rest of the
players were behind them in their respective halves, waiting anxiously for the
proceedings, which would be beginning to unfold in a short while. Sandeep,
along with Rajesh, met the other captain and vice captain, whom they had talked
a week back to schedule this match. Sandeep, quickly opened up his right palm
and counted the coins infront of the other captain and who in turn did the
same. It was twenty two 10 paisa coins altogether , adding up to Two rupees
Twenty Paise, which was the stakes for the match and the winning team would
take away the prize ! All the coins were put in a small cloth pouch and handed
over to the neutral umpire , who was a common friend and another senior, who
had volunteered to assist for the match. He removed one of the coins from the
pouch to use the same for the toss. The much anticipated moment was coming near
and near. Sandeep was given the coin to toss. He tossed the coin in the air and
waited for the other captain to call and yes, the other captain called ‘ HEAD’
in a crisp voice. He sounded very confident on the call as well towards the
proceedings about the match, while Sandeep and Rajesh were slightly nervous
given their own team composition as well as considering that the other team was
the mighty team of his seniors in school. The coin landed on the ground and
made small noise asfter striking the small pebble and it slowly rolled out. All
the five people surrounded the coin to have a look at the verdict. ‘Head’ it
was ..
The faint light through the curtain now was getting brighter
and some persisting familiar sound in the last few minutes was disturbing
Sandeep. It was the sound of the messages on his smartphone that had woken him
up. There was also the familiar sound of the commentary coming from downstairs
on the IPL twenty twenty match. Sandeep, while slowly opening is eyes, was still
wondering about the coincidence of ‘ Two Twenty’ match and the ‘Twenty Twenty’
match that was going to be unfolding.
