TOURNAMENTS, TRAVEL AND TURNING TWENTY TWO!

Greetings people.

It has been an awesome month and a half. Loads of travel, lots of fun and success at last for TEAM SRM!

College tournaments are always something I look forward to, not because we get to stay/play near the ladies hostel (I’ve always noticed, be it VIT or KIIT UNIVERSITY, the cricket ground is always right beside the girls hostels! Smart!) but because there is this certain something, an X FACTOR to these tournaments. The intensity, the crowd and the adrenaline! Ok, that and the first reason too. ;)

The HOWRAH MAIL took us to Bhubaneswar in 22 hours and the rather enthusiastic student organizers made sure we reached the SOA UNIVERSITY campus without much fuss. But I am sure even they wouldn’t have anticipated the sight that greeted us when we entered the campus. An angry mob of 200 11^th and 12^th std students wreaking havoc. The situation eventually was taken into control but I must admit, it was definitely not a night of sound sleep.

As the days ensued, we began falling in love with the place. The maggi and ice tea, the table tennis sessions and the amazing dal, fish and kheer they served at the hostel mess. It was a shame though that we lost in the quarters, once again to ANDHRA UNIVERSITY.

One tournament unfortunately down, one more to go, we shifted base to KIIT UNIVERSITY. I had to board a train to kerala for another tournament with my league team. Because of the loss, I was denied permission by the college management. Caught between a rock and a hard place, I was in the most uncomfortable of states, mentally. Fortunately though, my cousin, my dad and AIR INDIA came to my rescue. Cousin for booking the ticket at such short notice, dad for paying for it and AIR INDIA of course for providing the shortest( and cheapest B) ) flight from Bhubaneswar to cochin.

The matches at cochin were a disaster, we ended up losing both the games and getting knocked out. This meant flying back to Bhubaneswar for the remainder of the tournament on the college management’s orders. Fly back I did.

A suicide at the girls hostel, 2 hours of tt, an amazing semi final( DELHI UNIV VS REVENSHAW UNIV) and a hearty dinner later we found ourselves at the gates of the university, being denied permission to be let in. The reason we heard was because of a fight in the hostel between the students and the wardens. ‘Fight’ btw would be an understatement, riot would be more like it. The team was assembled and locked up in the indoor stadium for OUR safety by the sports dept faculty. In the chaos that ensued, we ended up shifting our rooms at 1 AM!

With messed up sleep, we set out for our semi final game against KIIT, the organizers. If the first semifinal was a hit, this was a blockbuster! A low scoring event, we ended up winning by the skins of our teeth. The flood lights, the music and the pressure of playing against a crowd of 500 home team supporters! That easily happens to be the best game I’ve played thus far.

The finals didn’t quite go as well though. A tired SRM team losing to a rather pumped up DELHI UNIVERSITY, though once again it ended up being a tight finish. The prize distribution followed, the team returning home richer by 72000 rs and me getting an additional 3ooo for BEST WICKET KEEPER.

Back home 6 hours before I turned 22, all I could do before I hit the bed was unpack, shower and eat. The midnight calls and the showering of love and blessings followed but it wasn’t until 7 hours after midnight that I was in for my first surprise of the day.

The management of INDIAN BANK, with whom I’ve been for the past 5 yrs, surprised me with sweets this year, a gesture that was truly sweet. Pun unintended. My SRM teammates followed it up with a cake at 12 noon in the PD’s office( thanks to our PD for granting permission for that) and my bus mates (I’ve always loved this bunch, you too SADA sir) finished it off with a cake in the bus! A truly special day, thank you all!

An amazing 4 weeks in Bhubaneswar and Cochin followed by more matches in Chennai at present, life seems to be hitting top gear. All that travel has taken a toll on the body but the mind is still fresh and that I believe is what eggs me on to complete this post.

Until next time,

Keep smiling,

ADIOS!