Football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The whistle blows and the crowds subdue
As players run, amok, askew
In a stellar chase for the elusive goal
A matter of skill, both silent and bold
As the ball skids between deft feet
You hear the groans when bodies meet
And the cries of anguish when a move is fouled
The angry jeers from the engrossed crowd
In a swift flow of emotions thus
The whistle for halftime blows does
And the tired, angry, colored bunch
Retire to rooms to drink and munch
And think of new ways to trump the other
To make sure all the goals, one gathers
In renewed spirit they march back out
As the mob warms to an exciting new bout
With increasing intensity the ball creeps close
To either posts but not as they chose
And then, there, it streaked past greenish blur
Into the open arms of the post so dear!
With a rumbling that’d shame an earthquake any
The crowds rise to cheer, with joy, for many
Time ticks by, creeping toward the close
And the greens do oh so try to force
The wayward ball into the opposite goal
But fortunes don’t favor them as a whole
So the whistle blows and the curtain is drawn
On a night of sheer life, where we all belonged!

Sport...life...the same thing...

It'd been quite a while since my palm used to be home to many a badminton racquets...It'd been quite some time since i had moved my arm high enough to smash the darned shuttle cock right into the opponent's gut... In fact, it'd been a long time since i pretty much moved my arse! Besides, my last ten attempts at trying to show off my sporting skills had ended me with ten different injuries- each more frustrating than the next, i might add. So, understandably it was with some anxiety that i stepped foot on the sacred soil of the court this time round.

And lo behold! I survived that night! In fact, i more than survived! I even managed to kick some serious butt! If my over-inflated ego ever needed a push higher up the ladder, it was this. I go play badminton after God alone knows how many years and still come out without embarrassing myself... far from it, actually! Ha! Things just seemed right in life at that glorious instant... And in the normal way that adrenalin seems to work, my brain starts to go into overdrive envisioning sights of professional tournaments and pedestal places for yours truly.... I never denied an over-zestful imagination anyway...or o be more precise, never denied being dangerously optimistic...Hehehe....

And i continued to dwell in happy dreams of sports...in plural. One badminton match won equals a selection into the state basketball team and a college champion in table-tennis! Then only tennis will be the childhood dream yet to be conquered... So I'd take up tennis lessons and soon beat Sania Mirza... I'd probably have to build new show-racks at home for my many medals... But hey! Once i start winning, I'll be earning enough to probably buy a whole new house! Especially with the ad-mad world we live in...the million bucks ain't all that far away, is it? And as i walk back home, exhilarated by the first taste of success, the Heavens seem to smile and shed a happy tear... And as i feel the wetness against my cheek, i feel blessed...like the gods above seem to approve of my plan! That no match is going to be daunting enough...

And once i returned to sanity after my adrenalin-high, and the bubble quite literally burst, i continued to be buoyant...if only just. Yet, that one shot at sport had reignited the spark in a life I had long given up on. The rush of blood to my head opened windows i had heretofore been quite literally blind to. Sigh! With the predictable murkiness that my life had become i somehow lost sight of the smiles that only a ruthlessly fought game of basketball used to bring... or the triumph one can feel only after destroying an opponent in badminton... or just the sense of life one is infused with after a particularly demanding game.... one after which you aren't quite aware of your limbs any more...or the nervous excitement during the build-up to a game that just keeps you alive....in more ways than one can even begin to understand! Sigh!! Blinded by life...although nobody can claim credit for messing my life up other than me!

But as i come the proverbial 'full circle' am just grateful for the new lease of life that my renewed passion for sport brings.So,socks on...laces tied...hair drawn back...eyes alert...scoreboards' cleaned...whistle blows....Time for action! Time for life!

Misery of a student....

Oh sweet lord, spare me my woes!

Come fast and take me from the throes

Of what could only be christened hell

A prison of boredom, where i await the bell

To let me run into the joyous free world

And fly to the heavens, like a free bird

A bird, completely unafraid of the waiting lairs

Of a hell hole where sound rebounds off the ears

And trust me, that's one of the best things here!

For she stands up there, all lost, yet proud

With a voice that drones and drives off the crowd

On & on she goes making but little sense

Putting you to a sleep so heavy and dense

a teacher, she calls herself Lord pray!

To such a blatant lie, oh what would You say?!

Mercy be, just help us this once

And rid us of the 75% attendance!