Yet another story…

Dilip Tirkey , Ignace Tirkey , Prabhjot Singh , Tushar Khandekar , Rajpal Singh ,Asif Iqbal,Pargat singh,Major Dhyanchand,Dhanraj pillai.

Won't blame you if you have difficulties in recalling the names above.

That's okay…they are not cricketers…no one needs to feel bad….they are just hockey players.

First 5 of them are the members of the hockey team which won the Asia cup last year.

Asia Cup…hmmm…that was a difficult one….hey we had a cup like that in cricket,the test match.

Yeah,now you remember.No problemo,I am used to these conversation on a daily basis.

You see, I am a hockey player. And I like to think that I am a sportsman.

Please don't misinterpret my feeling as some anti cricket or something. It's a sport too, and it's great.

But I wont lie to you.Yes , I am hurt.

I just wanna talk. To you to anybody, to everybody .Probably I would feel better if some of you could listen to my story.

Belaboring the point again, I am a hockey player.

I don't seem to remember when I took up that hockey stick and synthetic ball and started dribbling.

It was long back.But I remember two things clearly.It was just me and the my friend ( I call him golie the goalkeeper, I am the striker you know).

Right from lower rungs of school,in the morning,during the lunch break,after school,it was just hockey and us.Oh,I missed it again,there was someone else too.She was there with us througout,actually she still is,our coach.She taught me a proper grip on the stick,that quick dribble,those moves. She taught golie the skills to read opponents mind,which side to jump,how to get back into a proper position after a fall,how to save goals after goals.

Yes,she is an amazing player.One of the best in our country.

Then why was she wasting time on us,you ask? Well she has a story too, but probably sometime later.But in a nutshell,her in-laws don't want her to don shorts and play a "MEN'S GAME".

Mom and Dad?No no,they don't know yet,actually mom knows that I play really well, but she never acknowledges this fact,I think she is a bit scared of dad.

It's not what you are thinking. My dad loves sports, he is the first person to distribute sweets when India wins a cricket match, he vehemently opposes anything that's said against sachin or rahul. And you know what , he is saving up money to send me to a good cricket academy. He thinks I can be the next god of cricket.

I don't talk to him about hockey, or for that matter anybody.

It's 4:00 AM.

I somehow manage to sneak out of my room and leave for the ground.The cold is biting me down right inside the home It must be 4-5 degrees outside.

But the possibility of sneaking inside dad's room and putting on a pullover is zilch. So its either relief from the cold or hockey.

I choose the latter. I am numbed by the cold outside, it’s colder than I thought. But a jog to the ground (around 4 km) should do good. I should be there on time. Oops,darn it,the sole of the shoe came out again. I think it can bear no more visits to the cobbler. I need a new kit.I am laughing on the ludicrousness of the thought. New kit!!! Forget it I believe I can play bare feet. Hey, the 1975 team who won the world cup went on the field bare feet.

Whom am I kidding.The cold air is already seeping in through the bottom and my toes are beginning to hurt. But the thought of that complete kit, new set of sticks,balls,guards,a really nice jersey…high neural traffic helps, subdues the pain for some time atleast.

There I am, a shade late, it’s difficult to keep up a good pace with messed up shoes.She and the golie are already there.She is shooting the balls rite there in the goal. Not that golie is not trying hard, fact being she is too good. But you know what’s funny. She kinda plays better on the days she is unhappy, sounds probably morbid but it’s true.Some problem at home I guess.Sometime me and golie talk about it.But never with her. She doesn’t likes to talk anything except for hockey. Bitter lady,but as I said an excellent player.

She gives me a glare , her eyes saying , “Overslept again!!,look its already twilight” . But I point towards the shoe and she mellows down , gives me a smile and points towards the goal post,but I could see, that gash of pain in her eyes when she saw my toe protruding out of the shoe, slightly bleeding.

I take up the stick and run in the ground, it’s a strange sort of high for me.I can literally imagine the crowd roaring around the stadium when the cricketers come on the field.Oh,fish,I missed it again,we are playing in a corner of a cricket ground.There is no hockey ground nearby, that’s why we come here so early and leave before the cricket team comes up for practice. Another hour and a half, she,me and the golie sweating it out in that bitter cold.It’s exalting though.The cold sweat drop forming over the brow,again and over till it’s a continuum , that feel to move real quick through the wet grass, the parching throat and dry lips, don’t know of a way to describe how it feels. For sure every sportsperson can feel that.

There it is, around 6 now. Got to leave the ground before the cricket team comes.Surprisingly it’s a complex managed by the state but there are only cricket grounds. Nary hockey turfs. On the top of it we aren’t even supposed to be here. It was long back when we were caught once by the guard . I don’t want to talk about it. It was humiliating. And again that did hurt.

6 AM and we leave. Just like that, no byes, high fives, promise to meet tomorrow, nothing. Just sneak out of the broken barbed fence and move in opposite direction.

No talk of future , making it into the big league , nothing at all. Sometime that does scare me. What if I never get called for the camp for the state team? What if dad orders me to go to that academy ? Will I be able to say no? Again I laugh it out. I am no worse. The national team guys probably feel as bad as I do now. Or probably even worse. I am yet to make it to the big league. But those big league guys , they are already forgotten by this nation. Let’s leave that at status quo. I really don’t know what can I do about it anyways.

I am heading back. India is gonna play for a berth in the Olympics. But I doubt if I can see the match. I need to catch highlights of the cricket match India won yesterday. For sure dad is gonna discuss it with me. I don’t wanna hurt him. I will check the scores and names and talk about how good they were yesterday. He will be happy . Probably I will be happy too.

Dunno….

But hey , thanks for listening…its always nice to talk to somebody.