My friend runs to the school carpenter dragging a coconut palm branch, and emerges out after 5 Min’s with a new converted cricket bat. “See..” he proclaims, “I told you we will get one”. The beauty of gully/street cricket is that one can play it with anything. A notebook, the batta used for slapping clothes while washing, coconut branch, a wooden log.

 

Those were good old days.

 

I remember a friend who was the only one who had all these gears, pads etc and would painstakingly wear them, and get out on the first ball. A long list of bad words and curses used to follow, including how the cricket wear is not comfortable, but yet, he would wear them again next time.

 

I had my moments in cricket too, when the delivery off one bowler landed straight on my …. I remember just standing there holding on hard, hoping the stars twrling around me would stop. Some lughed, some made an ouch statement, and some just waited for me to continue impatiently..

 

I remember playing cricket with my dad when i was young. The batta used to smash clothes by our servant for cleaning was used by us as a bat. A plank of wood as wicket, and of-course under arm bowling as it was played inside the hall. If the ball hits the opposite wall, its a 4, if it passes through the opposite door to the next room a six. no ones and twos. It was fun.

 

This country loves cricket and its players more than anything and more than anyone else. E.g.  just recently I was introduced to Flipkart, an online book store, and in the 22 main category they had divided their books in, one of them was Sachin Tendulkar http://www.flipkart.com/sachin-tendulkar-books/261101-0 , just 3 books in there but yet Flipkart knew it needs to be a category.

 

This was clicked on our way to Morjim Goa in the morning.