Suiiii
Hitting nostalgia for a sixer
When I was a kid, I had the most fun while playing sports. It wasn’t sports back then. That seems like such a competitive term.
It was just playing games.
It all started with asking will you come to play today ?. Don’t know when that ended.
My downfall started when my friend from section A stopped asking me, “Hey will you come to play today?” with that eagerness in his voice.
I had the most fun playing games. Playing hide and seek, playing Laagori, playing badminton, where for some reason body touch also counted as out.
It was in some way preparing us for the real world, where, body touch is prohibited as well.
The people you play with as kids always stick with you. Well, not really.
The memories do, but only some people.
I had a friend named Pratham. We used to play cricket together as kids near his grandmother’s house. We played cricket every day for 3 years, from 4 to 6. And from 4 to 6, nothing else mattered.
Back then, nothing mattered.
We have lost touch now, and can’t give enough time to cricket anymore. I don’t even play cricket anymore, even though he is still a Kohli fanatic through and through.
Thought I would be different and not say shit like
Back then as kids life was so easygoing, didn’t have anything to worry about and all that.
The reality of the situation is, shit was going on, shit always goes on, we just didn’t see it. We were too small to see it all. And that was a good thing.
For little Alok and little Pratham, getting batting first was all that mattered. Making sure the ball didn’t go into the gutter was all that mattered.
Now whenever I play any game, be it football or life, I always visualise myself playing and creating tactics with him. I see him cheering me on, me passing the ball to him.
Then when I joined college, on the day of induction, the conversation starter for me was football. Asking my friend what club he supported, led me to a group of friends I dearly love till today. Watching any sports gives you a sense of belonging, it gives you something to talk about when you have nothing in common.
Two people having nothing in common, other than having bitter sorrow for their team not winning the cup is something I find so beautiful.
Finding that sense of belonging has become so hard these days.
More than playing the sport, what I liked was sitting in a circle, sweaty and dehydrated bodies, just talking about who played shit, who played well, and who had that dawg in them.
This was something in common in all the sports I played, be it cricket, be it volleyball, or any sport I played growing up. I could not find this sort of comfort and sense of belonging anywhere else.
To be honest, I always felt like an imposter talking about sports.
I felt like I didn’t know enough information. I felt like I didn’t know what I was talking about. I was always surrounded by people who were immensely passionate about sports, mostly cricket, be it my dad, my cousins or the people I played with. This always sort of stopped me from loving cricket as much as I wanted to.
I feel like that’s why I started watching football because no one else around watched it, so I could start from scratch without having that feeling of being an imposter.
My friends who watched football welcomed me with open arms and explained everything to me like I was a 5-year-old.
Thank you friends and thank you Nikshep (kissy).
Thank you sports for being there for me, helping me make friends, and giving me a sense of belonging.
I hope Arsenal wins this time. Saka for the win.
Thank you and have a nice day.
