Budhapa

                          

The ball goes soaring through the goalpost past a desperately diving goalkeeper followed by hi-fis, approving

grunts,hugs from your sweaty teammates while you run around celebrating filled with euphoria.........you have scored a goal.

If you have not guessed it by now I am talking of football (soccer). I remember the school days when every lunch break my friends and I gulped down our lunch in less than 5mins, ran onto the field and played football until the bell rang (resulting in our group getting punished by the teacher for being late we spent most physics periods standing near the dustbins sweating and panting shamelessly smiling at the handful of people left seated). I cherished every single game we played and still remember every goal I scored, the adrenaline rush ,the drenched shirts, bleeding kneecaps and swearing at the PT sir for making us do silly drills every games period.If I think back about my school the playground and the goalposts are the first images that come to mind.

Then came 11th,12th (the rotten years of my life which I very regretfully blew away sleeping and doing nonsense, a long sad tale  irrelevant to the topic at hand) and suddenly everything was gone no playgrounds, no sweating, no running around no more goals.Football a favourite passtime had now become a luxury.

College, my college is in Manipal located in karnataka close to kerala, this place has just two seasons burning  hot summers and soaking wet  rainy seasons, both highly unsuitable for playing football.However we managed to form a small group and played a few games but then with every passing game I realised I had  lost my stamina and speed the crucial aspects of my game, finally after getting brutally abused at a game against the local school kids I decided I was now too lazy and weak to play football. I  tried my luck at other games (TT and pool) but nothing came anywhere close to football nor was I good at any of them....

Now all I do is lie around in my room in front of the laptop watching sitcoms, movies or playing games, the only physical activity being the walk to mess for dinner. I think finally the time has come when I will have to join a gym and will have to pay to get a physical exercise, got to get these rusty bones moving.