AN INDIAN SUMMER OF BOYS                                                                                                               Part II

A True Short Story    by Ravi Anbil

The last one was hard to find. Suresh was hoping to add Giri who was the grandson of Governor V.V.Giri but the family moved out. In came another family. They fortunately had a son although much older than us. He ultimately came to be called as ‘Songi’ Mani. Songi was not a real Tamil word---the closest translation was ‘not very swift’. He was put on the substitute list as he was recovering from a prolific outbreak of pimples. Suresh also gave him the position as the team’s scorekeeper.

     Despair was beginning to set in. We needed one more player. There was Jaya Singh but ineligible as he was already looking green around the cheek and chin areas having begun shaving right after kindergarten. We went to scout the new arrivals upstairs, the Gurudat Raos. They had two sons---one was learning nursery rhymes and the other was graduating from diapers. It was futile.

     Our grandmother prevailed on us in recruiting the last player. He was an extraordinarily puny seven-year old, called Jeevan, meaning ‘life’. Rumor had it that he was born as a month old fetus and was kept in an incubator thereafter. He was so tiny that the doctor had to use a magnifying glass to slap his bottom. Our grandmother who had a soft heart and a shrill tongue forced us to have Jeevan on the team.

Pioneer Cricket Club now had ten players, an eleventh one in the pavilion, two substitutes and a substitute scorekeeper. Circulars about our team were sent. Soon we were asked to play against a team from Sokki Kulam, the name meaning ‘Intoxicating Pond’. Thus, started the drama. We had three weeks to prepare for our first match.

     As we began our practice session, we had an audience of girls rooting for their brothers. Sandhya, the kid sister of J. C. and Ramesh, Uma and Viji, the sisters of Kalyan, and a plethora of older sisters of Jeevan namely Pappu, Sheela, Kutty and Rani.

     During practice, it became obvious that the two Suresh’s were the best at the game that made them captain and co-captain. Ranga, my kid brother, was the best fielder with a natural flair to catch and throw the ball with great alacrity. Kalyan, Cheema and I were all quite knowledgeable about cricket and did fine. The biggest surprise was Ramesh, the little brother of J.C., who turned out to be an exceptional batsman for his size.

     Now to Vaidhi, Thamba and Dheenan, the gene pool sired by Mr. Nagarajan. Vaidhi came to play wearing a lungi---a silken sheet wrapped around the waist. Boys typically did not wear that. At batting practice, the lungi was falling off his midriff causing exposure. The audience of girls screamed and fled. Vaidhi was immediately placed on the ‘reserve’ list.

     Thamba, his younger sibling, was a very powerful kid who had no control over his strength. When he bowled, the ball was hurled at a tremendous pace in every direction except where the wicket was, so we all took cover. Jeevan was sent to stand behind Thamba whenever he bowled as a precaution against pulverization. When Thamba batted, he swung at every ball and missed. All the flailing caused J. C, the wicket keeper, to refer to him as kattan, meaning ‘wild man’, which provoked a scuffle. The entire team had to intervene to stop the circus.

     Dheenan, the youngest of the clan, was altogether different. He did not want to stand in front of the wicket because the ball was coming towards it that could hurt him. So he took his stance three feet away and simply waved his bat. He would not budge despite our protests.

     Jeevan was the opposite. He was very fragile, yet wanted to stand in front of the wicket and bat. We were afraid to bowl to him thinking that a mere brush of the ball might put him in a coma. Consequently, we wanted him to wear leg pads and other protective gear. But when we put those on him, he simply keeled over from the weight and could not move.

     Gopu wanted to play badly but his mother had sent a servant to watch over him. Hence, he stayed on the sidelines for moral support, with his dog Kukoosh.

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