Le Panga !

'Le Panga!' proclaimed Dhoni on the small screen while doing the customary thigh slap and the wagging of the finger (the index one). Followed by visuals of impossibly fit guys kicking, jumping, flying and generally tumbling over one another. And yet coming out unscathed. The first two words give it away as a commercial for the upcoming Kabaddi series. Heartening to see that the game has progressed from just being a domestic sport to an international one and also now hogging the much needed eyeballs and generating a lot of interest and excitement !

So if the question that I see posed is, whether I am promoting the sport then the answer is I don't really remember playing it or have anything got to do with it. So for me it doesn't really matter. Now having said that, a section of my grey cells begged to differ. Not sure why though. And the million brain cells started to spark off a trillion sparks and a zillion vivid images of me being on the Kabaddi court in the dusty corners of the Rajda ground started to swamp me. As if egging me to come out with the version that I know. And while I am still trying to push those images to back where they came from, am really not being too successful at it. And so here goes the story behind the images that haven't stopped to flash before me.

So it was circa 1992 in the month of December when everything freezes in Bombay. (Yeah, it was Bombay back then and yeah it used to be feeezing) I found myself on the ground at 7.30am along with my 10 other classmates preparing for the dodgeball match that was to happen with the 10B class. It was that time of the year when we had assembled for our annual school sports. It was going to be the final one in our school life and we were mighty excited. We were determined to do well. (How?)  And we were hoping to beat the hell out of the 10B class this time - the final time that is. (Let me not go into the How) And the preparation that we were doing was nothing more than having a get together in a circle and checking  whether everyone was indeed there. And then there was this customary 'tu beech mein bhag aur jyada mat girna..ek to uthna muskhkil hai tere liye'. And the 'boss ball haath mein aaye to tappa mat maar, direct fekneka'. And 'bhai,  mere saath chipakke mat bhag okay, dono bhi out ho jayenge'. And finally someone from the girls who were also motivating us decided to call out the elephant in the room - 'kuch stretegy decide kiya?'. Blank looks all round. Our best strategy was to have no strategy at all. (Hah!)

Well actually that's not the point. It all started when Sir came up to us and said that we will start with Kabaddi match first and to get the team together in another 20-30 mins. You cannot imagine how embarrassing it was to admit that we did not have a Kabaddi team altogether. Actually we had not planned for it as we knew 10B would beat us hands down. The trauma of being beaten in the last year was still fresh when we had lost within 10 mins of starting the game. So why go through the entire experience again and scar ourselves for the rest of our lives - right? (Yeah, damn right) So Vhacc decided to walk to Sir and tell him that 10B has a 'bye' this time. The girls were all peeved and were absolutely furious that we were doing such a thing. Priti had a word with me and Shonali a few paragraphs ! Aarti & Sharayu were more accommodating and Seema & Pallavi were like come-on guys. The rest rallied around and made us think about the whole thing again. 

And then something happened. Sachin from 10B got a sniff of it and came over. He was like guys let me show you a few tricks and let's (at the very least) form a team. Last year of school and you won't play would not be a good idea. The girls nodded furiously and we gave in. And so we heard out what Sachin had to say. Bit by bit, piece by piece we built our 'strategy' and more importantly our morale and in 20 mins flat we had a team ready to play the game of our life !! And so Vhacc made his walk again to proclaim that we were IN. 

Cut to the scene of the start of the game. All I can remember is Manoj and Arul from the opposing team. Manoj was like a lumbering giant of a personality who would amble with a mischievous smile. And Arul the essential athlete. The rest of the opposing team were skilled too but most of the deeds were done by these two guys. Anyways, so we stood there with fierce determination in our eyes and taunt bodies ready to act and react to anything that was to be thrown at us. The girls had got a lot chirpy and were egging us on to do our best. We had our first raid and came back empty, but that was fine. We were testing the grounds and blood need not be shed in the first raid itself - right. (Whatever you say !) A few raids to and fro and there was a light skimish at both ends. We managed to hold on our own though. And we were well into the 9th minute without big casualties. There was an air of we doing fairly well. The pumping of fists, the backslapping and the chants of 'chirimiri chirimiri dhoomdhadaka' were in the air. And we were actually enjoying the entire spectacle of the game.

And then Arul finally decided that it was enough. Time to roll out the cavalry. In came Manoj for the raid. Time stood still as my heart skipped a beat and I saw Paapya gulp. Nirav reached out for the coins in his shirt and Swapnil for coins in his pants. MJ din't move for a whole 3 seconds and the girls who were shouting away to glory toned it down  a few notches. The game had finally begun !!

As was his style, Manoj started from one end and started to sweep the court (And the team too). We attacked him like a pack of wolves and clung on to him. Only that he was far too strong for the 6-7 'pav kilos' who were all over him. They were literally dragged across the line into the opposing camp. I just stayed rooted to the spot. And when I looked around, half of the team was like gone and Rupesh was smiling at me sheepishly. In the next raid, whoever remained in our box were also wiped out. 

We regrouped in the next half of the game and decided to do better. This time Arul came in for the raid. Something astonishing happened this time. I don't remember how, but Nirav got a hold of Arul's leg. And he held on like his entire life depended upon it. Now while Arul was about to start his customary 'walk and drag whoever' to the other side, it dawned upon everyone that this was the moment. The next few seconds were a frenzy !! Someone got hold of Arul's other leg and stayed rooted to the ground. And before he could lean towards the ground and attempt to crawl back, there was this guy who held Arul's waist and propped himself against his motion. And then one by one all of us reinforced the three guys on Arul's both legs and waist till a pyramid of 'pav kilos' were stacked up to his shoulder. We all held our breaths till Arul lost his. But such was the intensity of the moment that we were not ready to loosen our grips. We had to be literally peeled away one by one by the onlookers. And then in an impromptu moment, we danced away to glory - hands in the air and legs flaying around, as if we had won the match itself. Arul, the large hearted guy that he is, clapped for us and the rest of his team joined in with the onlookers as well - sportsmanship at it's very best. What a spectacle it was !!

Needless to say, we lost the match. But while we sat there on the now sun-drenched hard ground tired and exhausted, looking dazed at what we had 'achieved' a few moments ago, a cumulative warm feeling was upon us. We looked at each other and had a mighty good laugh. The girls too had joined in the bon-homie. As we reflected on the last 20 mins, a certain belief was upon us. The batch of '93 had indeed made it even when they hadn't !!