Beyond the Boundary: How Cricket Shaped My Childhood and Soul
Since childhood, I've loved one game above all others, and that sport, for me, wasn't just like India; it was a feeling. It was my first emotion. It was my childhood. I was so attached to it, and I used to go play it every day in the evening. My daily routine revolved around it. From 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, I would play cricket, and it was something I never wanted to lose. Even though I've stopped playing now, due to studies or work, I still remember those days. I remember starting to play with my friends at 4:30 PM, and that's what I loved the most. At that time, there was no tension about career or studies; it was just 4:00 PM, and we would all go and start playing cricket.
We didn't even have watches or phones back then to call our friends. It was just understood that all the friends would meet at the same place at 4:00 PM. I haven't seen this kind of enthusiasm everywhere, but we've seen that cricket is something that brings out so much passion. We don't have to call anyone; people just come on their own to play. Even today, when we all sit together and discuss this, we talk about how different things were back then. We didn't have phones or laptops, but we still managed to be on time. And now, there are times when we have to make ten calls to each other just to get one person to show up. And even then, they're so fussy and still arrive late. We really miss those old days. It was a completely different world for us back then.
I still remember, and it makes me laugh even now, that my first bed was actually the wooden washing board that my mother used to beat the clothes with while doing the laundry, and that's what I played with. That was from my very early childhood. After that, I pestered my father until he bought me a bed for ₹500. Considering the time, that was quite expensive, and it was a very good bed. I played with it for at least four or five years. Then, after saving up some money, I bought myself a really nice bed, and that too was very sturdy and of excellent quality. I still remember how I felt about it. Even today, I think about how much I loved this game. I would skip meals, or you could say, if my parents gave me money to buy chips or snacks, I would save all that money—I would even suppress my hunger—just to save up enough money for a single cricket bat.
So, it was a huge facilitator for me; I wanted to get a cricket bat at any cost and play cricket. It was something incredibly exciting for me at that time. As I grew older, I started watching cricket on TV, and my dad was also a huge cricket fan. He really admired Sachin Tendulkar. In my time, I started liking MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and all of them a lot, and I truly admire them because they taught me so much in life. MS Dhoni taught me that no matter what happens in your life, you should never give up. He got called up to the cricket team very late. He started playing cricket for Team India quite late. But he persevered.
He didn't give up playing cricket. If he had given up at 22 or 24, he would never have become the cricketer and the captain he always dreamed of becoming since childhood. That's why many people have learned a lot from him: never give up playing cricket, whether you're good at it or not; just play cricket for the love of the game, for fun. Even today, whenever we have time on weekends, we all book a ground with our friends and go to play cricket. It's something we all enjoy doing together, and it's a lot of fun. In the beginning, we started playing in the street, where there was a small alley. If you hit the ball straight down the alley, it was four runs, but if it hit the wall directly, you were out. If it hit the wall outside the house with one hand, that was also an out. We made up all these quirky rules, and we played by them. We would yell and curse at each other a lot while playing, but we still loved the game. Sometimes we even played for money, which made it even more fun.
Lastly, I want to say that even though I've stopped playing cricket professionally, the cricketer inside me is still alive. That child who once dreamt of playing for the Indian team is still there. That childhood dream of playing alongside Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni hasn't faded. Even though I couldn't become what I aspired to be, I've realized one thing: I may not have achieved my goals, but I haven't given up on playing cricket because it gives me a much-needed release. It calms me down, and cricket is my love. Even though many people tell me I'm too old to be playing a children's game, I tell them it's not a children's game. A game is a game for everyone, and it still is for me. Whenever my friends and I get together, we gather 22 people and start playing. We might not have much time, but we always manage to find some time to play the game.
Posted Using INLEO