A Good Ball

I was looking through the grill of my helmet at the bowler, who was grinning at me with cruel eyes, his forehead scorched by the March sun of Chennai. The thigh guard I wore was covering a ligament tear, and the pads were protecting the numerous blood cots in my legs which occurred in the recent matches.
I was trained by my coach to stand the first ten overs of the match, which obviously had the fastest balls targeted to break the stumps, but they often take your abdomen and chest as alternative targets! I stood there nervous; my legs trembling as the bowler look his run up. I remembered the way I was sledging while we were fielding and how successful I was in irritating them. I was sure that their primary target was me, they swore to god to give it back to me when they entered the field for chasing. I had faced 9 overs already, successfully and proved myself worthy. I had done my job. As the bowler’s foot hit the crease and the supersonic ballistic interwicket missile was launched it swung wider than i thought it would, as i positioned my bat for a drive to the mid on, I saw the ball smiling at me, half a inch away from my bat and disappeared, I heard a cracking noise from the stumps behind me. I was bowled out. I walked with my head down gazing at the grass below sure was not trying to look at anything. As I approached the dressing room, the members of my team did not utter a word; normally they would blast the shit out of the batsmen who get bowled. I knew it was coming, i was prepared for such pace and precision, but wasn't quiet sure how to handle it.
As the others were cheering the new batsman who jogged his way to the pitch I was sitting there in silence, the replay was running in my mind constantly, the expectation, the ball, the way it went by smiling at me.. I had infinite empty boxes filling my mind , choking my ability to think, i felt a hand on my shoulder. It was my coach. He gestured me to come for a walk with him, and so i did.
As I was walking beside him with my head tilted down, ‘So’ he said with a smile, ‘did you see it coming?’ He asked. He somehow knew I was expecting a good ball from the tired yet determined bowler, I remained quiet. “It was a splendid inswing” he said breaking the silence, “it was a beautiful ball showkath, Nothing can be done about it” he continued as my eyes looked up. “You could have defended it, but I don’t think you wanted to” his words stunned me, “Yes”,I began thinking to myself “I stood there for long, I knew I couldn’t play it further , I had already started wasting overs, I knew I will not be able to do justice if I had stood there any longer, this is how far I could have come” He spoke exactly what was running in my mind.“It wasn’t a stupid high catch or a run out” he continued "which could have made you looked like a fool, “It was a good ball” he reassured me.” A very good ball indeed, You should be fortunate that you got out on a good ball, not every player would be this fortunate, they only lose my making mistakes, you should be happy” He said. I was normal now, I needed that so badly. I was shattered, I needed those words to gather myself. It definitely was a good ball, and I am fortunate, very fortunate than most of the other guys who played this sport. I had done my part, I did my job and it was time to go. I was happy that my dismissal did not put me in shame because everybody was talking about the ball and praising the inswing, and less about me. I heard the crowd cheer outside, it was the the happy voices of my team members…We Won!

It was a graceful end, I got up and walked out to the field with a smile on my face to join the celebration with three things in my mind

“I did my part well, it was a good ball and this is the best way it could have ended”

… for me.. and for all of us.

I am not talking only about cricket...

Rachel ! Eco's New Member!

Name : Rachel
Breed : Labrador Retriever
Age : 2 and a half months
Sex : Bitch
Color : Fawn/White
Location : Anna Nagar
Owner's Name : The Unbeleivable Story Continues.........

CRICKET HAS DEFINITELY STRUCK A CHORD!

My spinal cord!

Waiting along with the other visitors in the long row of lobby seats of the hospital, i was wondering if these patients were first timers or they have returned to complain that the treatment did not do any good to their ailments. It was a long wait , i was just about to to give up when the nurse called out my name as usual in her own pronounciation SHOWGAATH !, i am used to this by now , Since childhood, i was trained to wait in the queue keeping vigil for anyone who calls out some name which remotely sounds like mine Eg.Showkaath, shooogath, asokh, Swagath, sowkar and a couple of more variants!

Inside the doctors cabin, i was greeted by a medico who looked like a bird of ill omen. I was sure he was about to give me a bad news. My back pain was the occasion for the visit. I paraphrased the series of events from my Pune back ache experience to the recent cricket accomplishments. 'Turn around' he said, so i did. He kept his thumb firmly on the right side of my lower spine and presse.. AAAHHH! So it aches here han? he asked. Do you want me answer to this moronic question ? even after i let out a scream like the women in the serial killer movies! i told myself and stared at him in pain and anger, he took that for an answer. 'You have injured your ligaments permanently son" too bad" he added.

No Vigorous movements, sleep straight on your back, sit straight , physiotherapy and the string of advice rolled out like the sales men of nalli silks rolling out the sarees for the prospective buyers. God ! i exclaimed inside the sound proofed chamber of my brain. In the meanwhile my mom.. He goes trekking with his friends , despite my warnings". Ah exactly what i wanted to hear. And the doctor's eyes lit up and nodded in acknowledgement as usual , in an attempt to take sides with the parents. He said"No climbing ropes , No carrying heavy weights, no climbing trees, In short no monkey business! you need to take rest , there is no cure for this.. all you can do is not excite that part of your body , if you dont take care of, it is sure to affect your spine, this advice is for a life time son, do you understand? . Yes doctor, i said with a monotonous tone, with one eye staring at my mom, who, at that moment looked like an eye witness in a case against me.

So i came out of the hospital, carrying a gift on my back .... a gift of a life time.
My greatest Cricket prize!

If you are reading this with your back still in tact..please take care of it with your life.Nothing irritates like a pain in your ass!

Our dear Ambika!

She is one of our dearest of pals, kind enough to provide us with an A/c Tea shop, we will never forget her contribution to Eco.An exxxxtremely sweet girl, very very very caring, very nice at heart. During November, last year she got married to an equally sweet guy "Vikas bhai", she now lives in gurgoan..Happily! A very sweet couple "Ek se Badkar Ek" Masha allah. I dont know why it took me so long to blog this.

Anyway, We wish them a very very happy married life....
Let the Insanity and the romance never die!_)Abridged for RDB

We miss you Ambika

Happy birthday Shaan!

Yesterday was Shahin's birthday, somehow it slipped my mind and i got severely punished for the same. I had no idea what the day was! Sad , but this is kinda a common syndrome among people involved in the ITES industry. Their days and nights are governed by different time zones especially, eastern, central, mountain and pacific.
But will your innocent sister buy this as a reason for forgetting her birthday?
No way! As a punishment for coming late i had to eat the part of the cake that had the most of the melted wax!
And for those cool brothers who forgot to wish her....God save them!

Happy birth day DEAR SIS!, Have a great year ahead! -From all of us at Eco.

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE!

Chennai, 8th March.
A brand new black Honda City V-tech ZX decorated with a garland and a lime under every tyre , rolled out of the delivery counter of Sundaram motors. Behind the wheels was the hero of the day KRISHNA!
As the lime was crushed under the wheels of the car....the evil of bad fortune was crushed under the wheel of time ! As Krishna got his family back all that they lost few decades ago! He proved his Aukaadh!
I hugged him with joy and pleasure, we left the showroom and we hit the road! As the new sedan cruised the wide long lanes of mountroad, He realised that"He had come a long way" !
Sheer hardwork, focus and determination are the three key ingredients that kept krishna close to success and away from women. His grandparents have a great story to tell, like general managers of brittania, parry and many more companies! As his family lost the comforts of life during the last generation, no one thought that this seed of the family is the one destined to rise as the banyan of his heritage.
Sure, this day he reminded his relatives ..where he came from!
The throne is where the king is!

ECO CONGRATULATES KRISHNA ON HIS NEW CAR ! MAY GOD GUIDE HIS JOURNEY !
(AND PROTECT THE OTHER MOTORISTS! lol)
SEE MORE KRIS ...DO MORE. ALL THE BEST!

ITS A HONDA!

WOW !












WHAT A RELIEF! NOW WE DONT HAVE TO GET CRAMPED INSIDE HIS OVER ENTHUSIASTIC MARUTHI 800, THAT STUPID SMALL CAR WITH A MIDSIZED ATTITUDE! IT TOOK US TO TADA A COUPLE OF TIMES(SUCCESFULLY) AND STARTED ROAMING AROUND WEIRD TERRAINS THINKING ITSELF TO BE AN OFFROADER!

But it was our only source of transport for long, so lets not talk like namakharams, and pay due respect to 3030 for being with us all this while. Take a bow!

Now, to the present.
A honda city 1.3cc, 16 valve is what it its. Our dear Ph's obsession with "Honda" lead him to go for this baby, which crawled just 68000km in the last 7 years, maintained in good condition(till we took it on a test drive to our farm house in vandaloor), where the silencer was anything but silent . A weird rattling noise came from the bottom of the vehicle which made Ph shit bricks! the "New car" happy face slowly turned pale and wet! water droplets oozing out from his pores like a cold water bottle kept in the sun! Krishna and me had the same feeling , but were too busy in observing ph's reactions!.
Luckily we found a mechanic who wanted to know where the noise came from and drove the vehicle at 80kmph on a road which resembles the surface of a golf ball! And Ph's face further turned into rare shades of pale and white!( and we were jumping on the road with joy, cos thats what he normally does to our cars! now was his turn)kiddin. After the nice drive the mechanic diagnosed the problem and fixed it.Now the silencer was silent and so was ph. Still not recovered from the depression of having used his new car for a dirt track ride. But he recovered soon and played music in his Alpine music system which came along with the vehicle! The power steering was amazing , "No Pressure" steering, sweet horn and good pick up. This car did to Ph something which we never thought was ever possible,Ph respected other cars !(especially the ones which came too close to his)now thats something new!. If i say anymore, i would probably never get to see myself in his honda, so i will shut my gob.

Nice colour, Nice deal $, nice memorable drive, nice car! and he bought it out of his "OWN" money . Congratulations Ph, way to go man......we are really proud of you!

(:-) Especially me)