Football Fairies

Today,

Thanks to my super sporty friend,

I saw football fairies descend

Got a chance to play football again,

And like he has started calling me, a kid, feel like a kid again J

We call ourselves corporate professionals, in an almost banjar park. Some sookhe sookhe pedh, baaki sookhi udti mitti aur ek chamakta doobta sooraj. Sitting and discussing ways to ask a girl out. 😀 Waiting for some kids to turn up.

2 more guys turn up, and now we are 5- Shailesh, Abhimanyu, Prashant, Devendra and me. I only know one of them beforehand- Shailesh-the badminton studd, the rest, like always, friends, waiting to be introduced.

And then, finally like superstars, a bunch of girls turn up. There is no “sharmaana”, no checking of smartphone every minute, no running your hand through your hair every second, no non-stop giggling and chatting, or template stuff associated with kids these days.

They are dancingly hopping and jumping in, in no mood of warm up, ready to start the game. And in that exuberant state, they are asked to run rounds. And they even ran rounds with the same cheerful attitude. No cribbing, tired cries, nothing.

After that, started passing the ball around drill. And not just my fellow volunteers, but 2 girls amongst these kids could kick harder than me.

And while I was struggling to absorb so many vibes around me, started the game. I am strolling around in the middle like I stroll around in a park, concerned about “mitti” and “dhoop”, concerned about not falling down or hurting myself, concerned about messing up my clothes as I have no spare ones for office. And these kids are bouncing, chest blocking, head hitting the ball, running around, like air, like thoughts, uninhibited, carefree, free! And later while reminiscing, did it hit me- Had the years taken a toll on me? Or had I turned into a girl from a tomboy somehow?  Damn. No!!

I was so slow and occupied in my own amazement, that they made me the goalkeeper. And for the first time I was happy to watch from the sidelines, see them play and break all the stereotypes I had lately defined.

And, dunno when, an hour was up. But we had just started.  And I had hardly moved.

Saala kaun khta hai ladkiyaan football nahi khelti, aao milo inn sab se.

A few of us wanted to cool down. All I wanted was to stay there. So we just hung around, swung around. And found ourselves surrounded by kids, trotting around, asking our names, giving us names and chatting with us.

The funniest part was them naming Shailesh “Lambu Bhaiya”. And he was just happy it was “bhaiya” and not “uncle”.

After my abysmal performance, they somehow perhaps managed to like me still, because they talked to me too. :p I was pleased, and more than that stunned.

In no time were we back in our cabs and they were waving at us. Cheerful happy faces! I sometimes get overwhelmed by praise, love and affection, but adulation was a feeling I had never felt. I don’t know who amongst us was happier. Us or them.

Something was shifting inside me. Now I know what. I never felt like I belonged to this world of useless technology. My days were the 90s I grew up in. When all we wanted was to go out and play, and play, and didn’t want it to get dark or our moms would call us in.

Before I came here, I was in a sleepy weird mood, thanks to my boring office, but an hour with them and I didn’t want to go back. Just stay there with them, know them all by their names, know their stories, and play with them. I wish I had clicked some pictures with these real heroes who made me feel so very livelyyyyyyyyyyyy.