I had a Ball!..

Old men with pathetic knowledge about the sport come up with such beautiful phenomena sometimes. This septuagenarian relative of mine with his hair so nearly white, it would stand apart in the dark, once told my dad "This basketball is such a stupid game. I mean, why would you want two teams to go put it in two different baskets when one will do for one ball. They should either reduce the number of baskets or provide another ball. Why, football's worse. When they struggle so hard to bring the ball all the way with their feet, they put the darned goal outside the boundary line!" My poor dad had a tough time explaining the obvious, but coming to think of it. sport sure is demanding. Having dedicated half my life to sport, I seem to realize that, if I had saved all that time and energy I could have completed all my tasks with ease and had spare time go roam the world hunting for golden geese!

S.S.N College of Engineering does not boast of a brilliant basketball team. It doesn't have to. Others know that's the truth. See, we run by modesty! We are a strict no-no to endorsements. But we would appreciate it if you sang ballads in our praise. Maybe come up with witty nicknames like S.S.N.B.A ( You know, its the .. well .. the combo of S.S.N and N.B.A and the like. What's all that gray matter stagnating for? Knock up that top floor and come up with innovative stuff, people!) I mean, all this being voluntarily done by you. We don't ask you to. Practice being at at a fifteen to six in the morning, when the dogs still are asleep with their tails tucked in, waiting to snap at any object that moves, their ears pricking, their noses scanning for fresh ready-to-be-dug-into meat, players jog, jump, roll and sprint with dogged determination. And with sleeveless jerseys that let the cold air seep in and eat out your warmth, bring goosebumps all over your skin and make your fingers go numb, and with shorts so small, had they been any shorter you might not have much of garments on you, basketball players have a grueling, devastating time on the court. To come garnish our woes, it will rain at half past six.

Maybe its all by chance or Mr.Varun and The Madras Meteorological Department had some tie-up I do not know. But at half past six sharp, the showers come down and they sure come down with all the might they can muster. The cold pricks and the water runs down our backs chilling us and we go all 'Brrrr' yet we run. We run not because our college wants us to, not because we were born Olympic Athletes, not remotely because we could outrun the rain, but we run because its in us to run, it takes something to be a sportsman and we have scooped it up, and we shall hold it aloft , be it rain or shine. It does sound more or less like Rocky, I know. Why, with a little of Bill Conti and a backdrop of the Lincoln Memorial, this would be Rocky too. Difference is, we'd be around twelve to thirteen semi-naked 'Rocky's with S.S.N on our chests, signs of sleep in our minds and rabid dogs for security.

Coming to think of it, S.S.N came runners at Hindustan and got third at Crescent and at Rameswaram. Basketball sure does have its share of fun. So what if it means eating masala plastic for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and taking bath under gushing water from crevices in Corporation taps in the wide open, and sleeping in rooms with fans with a blade missing, and lights that work like lightning. Like lightning in the sense, they never stabilize. They just keep flashing like lightning and you eventually land up switching them off and playing 'Who's hitting who' in the dark. That's a fun game actually. You can go hit whomsoever you want and run around aimlessly. Nobody would ever know who has hit who. That is unless they don't catch hold of your hand or your watch or something. If that happens, you can just pray to the holy almighty that the sun never rises again for the rest of human existence. But in the larger perspective we get to play basketball for our college, get to go to class once every four weeks, and roam the world with not a care for all valuable education, and dedicate all that we have to sport, sport and sport alone. All Hail Rocky!

-Supermur.