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Friday, December 30, 2011

a game can change your status!!!

Not all childhood incidents do we remember except a certain things which get stuck in our memory.Those are the moments of extreme glory and these scenes keep on flashing each and every day leading to uncontrolled release of Adrenalin making us feel happy and gives us a urge to redo  the action in a better way and often the thought is accompanied by a hero introduction back ground score.Awesome feel and the following is one such incident.

The story dates back to 2002 to being a fifth standard kid wearing half trousers ,a neatly pressed shirt tucked into the shorts ,a tightly worn belt,a badge pinned to my pocket , a  square folded hanky in the pocket and hair nicely oiled and combed with a partition on the side.Those were sane times when i felt like wishing teachers good morning rather than wanting to ridicule them.I was a dynamic kid who wanted to excel in studies as well as sports.But the latter never happened.I was constantly the topper of my class in studies but wasn't the topper in sports which I sucked  so badly.But I never stopped playing.They were a good time pass.Every day after school I used to play basket ball till  6 in the evening .I used to be the last kid to leave school rather if I leave school early I ll have to start studying early.So I preferred basketball though i sucked at it.I had good technique but never performed well in games .May be due to fear.
Sports day season arrived characterized by free periods ,drill and march past practice.All students were divided among four houses namely Nehru ,Tagore,Bharathi and Gandhi and I was placed in Nehru house.All fifth standard and sixth standard guys were under sub junior category.Basketball house match selection took place.Not many fifth standards were selected . Watching me staying for practice all day they took me as substitute inside the team.that made me very happy.Being in a house team though not a big deal meant so much to me that I practised so hard even though I wasn't in the main five.

The day came.schedule of matches for the day:
Gandhi vs Tagore ---------->winner
   
                                             vs

Nehru vs bharati ---------->winner
The day was very hot with the sun straight over our head.We had no jerseys nor Reebok shoes.every one played with our house T-shirts on and we wore our white canvases for the game.they never provided us with glucose or juice.we were asked to bring our own water bottles.there was no stadium around the court.all the students were asked to sit on the sand outside the court.we had no techniques like Jordan or Johnson.but we could pass,dribble and shoot the ball.excepting the above, our match could be compared with those international matches between LA lakers and Dallas..:P
First match was between Gandhi and Tagore.Tagore, clearly the strongest team out of the lot emerged winners of the first game.the next match was between Nehru and Bharati.Neither of us were strong .We both were mediocre teams.First match went very close and my house was leading till the third quarter but bharati equalled with our scores  by shooting two continuous  three pointers and the momentum shifted.Then our house captain called for a time out to cut the momentum going and then the play started after two minutes and Nehru team were on song and emerged winners by four points.Close game it was.
FINALS:NEHRU VS TAGORE
After a half hour break the finals took place.We were no match to the expertise of Tagore.We feared.We never showed it out.The match started.I was still a substitute.Captains stood in the centre court for the jump ball(the way basket ball games used to start).From that minute to the end  of the first quarter Tagore house were thrashing us.At the end of the first quarter my team mate named  Prashanth kicked the ball out of frustration which was a technical violation and was a disrespect to the game that  he was barred from playing the next three quarters.So i was sent in.I was nervous and uncomfortable.I was happy being a substitute encouraging my team mates.I had no other choice than to play.Second quarter started.ball was in the hands of Tagore house.I blocked one of their pass and got the ball back to our house which boosted my confidence a little bit.We converted the ball to a two pointer.At the end of the second quarter when we were in Tagore's base my captain passed the ball to me.There was no one to block me.I was free.I aimed the board and shot the ball.It went in surprisingly.I was awestruck and so were every one.The second quarter was over.we were ten points lagging behind Tagore.For the first time I felt proud before my friends and classmates for playing basketball.My confidence increased exponentially.

Sets You On Fire
The third quarter whistle was blown..  we had the upper hand in the third quarter.We were only  two points lagging behind Tagore.I contributed five shots to our team.The most by an individual player in a quarter..It was a like  dream. all my shots were converted to points.I hardly missed a shot in that quarter.the Third quarter was over.the scores were 28-30

Fourth quarter was the deciding one.Every one were fired up and nervous too.The whistle blew.every one took their positions .every one were drenched in sweat,very tired of playing seven quarters already.This is their 8th quarter and every one felt the pain.but no one gave up.Match started with full pace.Tagore being the superior team we had no worry of loosing it.We were cool and played well and with only 2 minute remaining the scores were levelled 42-42.Now the ball was in Tagore's hands and they played the passing game until their pass were blocked by team mate and passed to me and i dribbled the ball to the opposite court single handedly and went in for lay up.....>check one shot(terms used in basket ball)!!!!!!it went in!!we were leading by two points and Tagore retaliated  and now scores were again levelled.there were only twenty seconds remaining now.Tagore strengthened their defence.They dint allow us into their court that easy.And the final 10 second count down started 
10.9.8.7 I went passed the centre court using one of my best moves and I was near the three pointer line with 5 seconds remaining.
5.4
I shot the ball from a long distance without aiming the board as time was less.
2
the ball went in!!!
1.whistle was heard.fourth quarter was over.
Nehru house won.!!we won..all our team mates were jumping in joy.they were running towards me.We high fived.The match was watched by every one including my classmates and principal.every one congratulated.It was one proud moment for me who never excelled in a sport I loved.This made me a confident guy.And after this incident I was the first guy to be picked in school team in the sub junior category. The circumstance brought the best in me.The look people had when they saw me after the last shot made me over whelmed.I have no words to explain it.I still remember those looks.Though it was only a inter house match I always compared my last minute shot to Lance Klusner's last ball six which won his team over Newzealand in March 1999.The news of the win faded within one or two hours.But I felt like a hero for the next whole month.Crazy times those were.But still this remain one of the best moments in my life!!!!

ps:this is a part of Contest on Indiblogger of   KFC Fiery Grilled. 



14 comments:

  1. Nicely written, i enjoyed reading ~
    http://www.deepakkarthikspeaks.blogspot.com/

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  2. I am very much impressed with your blog post. All the best to you. Very well written and good style too.

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  3. excellent excellent post. thoroughly enjoyed the match. ll come back and go through other posts as well coz the titles look quite interesting.

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  4. @farida rizwan:thank you!!!
    @debajyoti:thank you!!your most wel come!!

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  5. awesome one bro!! heart beat increased when there was "5 second remaining" :)

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  6. @suriyasri:thank you so much!!!!!

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  7. Semma post machi :) Keep it up !! You showed my school days again :-)

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  8. @sanketh sruthi:thanks yaar
    @anupama:thank you!!

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