I had woken up quite early. I prayed to God and asked that he bless my family, dear friends and myself. I looked at my cupboard and decided to look through all the material i had collected over the years. I found this sheet of paper. It had the names of three players. Namely, Shaunak, Anindya and I. I then found many thin sheets with many all of our names on them. Later, I realized that all those thin sheets were ballot papers. They were of the elections for the post of Captain in Red Phoenix Football Club. And then it all started. A flashback into my past of my many friends.
I had the best group in the world a guy could probably ask for. I had become very emotional when i thought about all my friends and how we had been separated. I remember the guys who i had the most fun with. Anirudh, Anindya, Vidur, Shaunak, Jenson, Shashank, Aniket, Amartya, Aayush and many countless more. I had what one could call the best childhood. Filled with ups and downs. Football and friends gave me the perfect childhood.We started playing football in the garage space between two buildings. It was fun. Everyday with your friends, laughing, fighting, playing hide and seek, having the time of our lives. Gradually after uncountable complains from families about the ruckus and damage to the vehicles we created, we were asked to leave the garage space. We then went to Apollo ground.
Apollo ground is a football and hockey field. Vast, green and always crowded. We somehow managed to find someplace in the corner. We used to organize tournaments amongst ourselves. 1 on 1 and penalty tournaments. The dimensions of our field were 30 yards by infinite yards. Based on the results of the penalty and 1 on 1 tournaments, a ranking table used to be made. The guy who topped the table the most was Anindya. I must say, in his heydays he was the best. Fast, strong, respected, amazing shot power and master of juggling the ball on the thigh. After him came Aniket and then Shaunak. Both tall monsters. Shaunak was the best goalie i have ever seen. He has this aura about him. Tall, strong and athletic when needed to be. Aniket was lanky and a stick figure. But his game spoke for itself. He was the dead ball specialist. Jenson was my favourite player. As a right winger he had everything needed and was always my first choice.
Anirudh and Vidur were my really good friends. They were with me through thick and thin. They both would do anything to get the ball, something i admire a lot. Shashank and I used to have frequent fights but when we needed each other, we were always there. Aayush was my best bud in eighth. We were always in trouble and a visit to the principal was always on the cards. Amartya and I got really close later on during tenth standard. He was a music freak, can sing anything and had a taste for all kinds of music. Gaurang was another heavy metal music freak. By far the best guitarist i have ever seen. And last but not the least, Niranjan. Also known as Dopey. One of the most funny people i have ever met. He would make us laugh even without trying to.
In eighth standard, my friend Aayush and I were called to the principal because we corrected a teacher and then laughed like crazy. She had repetitively misspelled a word many times. We corrected her from time to time. She eventually got very flustered and complained to the principal. Next thing you know, Aayush and I were standing in the principals office trying to spell " parents " out correctly. That didn't go to well.. And to top it off we were trying to control our laughter. We ended up laughing about it almost everyday hence.
I loved playing football with my friends. There was always this assurance that you can do whatever you want and no one can blame you. So one would play seriously or just for fun. I must say, even though we were young we had a HUGE ego and attitude problem. For instance, I was in seventh standard. We used to play football in the volleyball court. Everyday a few seniors would come and chuck us out and start playing. It wasn't right. So one fine day I got the nerve and guts, walked up to a senior named Tanmay and gave him a piece of my mind. Told him you cannot throw us out everyday and a few abuses flew out from here and there. He was so agitated that he picked up from my collar and banged me against the iron bars. It was upsetting during those days but now it's just a memory which i laugh on.
My many friends and hundreds of memories lit up my childhood. I thank God and all these friends for giving me the chance to have such memories.
I had the best group in the world a guy could probably ask for. I had become very emotional when i thought about all my friends and how we had been separated. I remember the guys who i had the most fun with. Anirudh, Anindya, Vidur, Shaunak, Jenson, Shashank, Aniket, Amartya, Aayush and many countless more. I had what one could call the best childhood. Filled with ups and downs. Football and friends gave me the perfect childhood.We started playing football in the garage space between two buildings. It was fun. Everyday with your friends, laughing, fighting, playing hide and seek, having the time of our lives. Gradually after uncountable complains from families about the ruckus and damage to the vehicles we created, we were asked to leave the garage space. We then went to Apollo ground.
Apollo ground is a football and hockey field. Vast, green and always crowded. We somehow managed to find someplace in the corner. We used to organize tournaments amongst ourselves. 1 on 1 and penalty tournaments. The dimensions of our field were 30 yards by infinite yards. Based on the results of the penalty and 1 on 1 tournaments, a ranking table used to be made. The guy who topped the table the most was Anindya. I must say, in his heydays he was the best. Fast, strong, respected, amazing shot power and master of juggling the ball on the thigh. After him came Aniket and then Shaunak. Both tall monsters. Shaunak was the best goalie i have ever seen. He has this aura about him. Tall, strong and athletic when needed to be. Aniket was lanky and a stick figure. But his game spoke for itself. He was the dead ball specialist. Jenson was my favourite player. As a right winger he had everything needed and was always my first choice.
Anirudh and Vidur were my really good friends. They were with me through thick and thin. They both would do anything to get the ball, something i admire a lot. Shashank and I used to have frequent fights but when we needed each other, we were always there. Aayush was my best bud in eighth. We were always in trouble and a visit to the principal was always on the cards. Amartya and I got really close later on during tenth standard. He was a music freak, can sing anything and had a taste for all kinds of music. Gaurang was another heavy metal music freak. By far the best guitarist i have ever seen. And last but not the least, Niranjan. Also known as Dopey. One of the most funny people i have ever met. He would make us laugh even without trying to.
In eighth standard, my friend Aayush and I were called to the principal because we corrected a teacher and then laughed like crazy. She had repetitively misspelled a word many times. We corrected her from time to time. She eventually got very flustered and complained to the principal. Next thing you know, Aayush and I were standing in the principals office trying to spell " parents " out correctly. That didn't go to well.. And to top it off we were trying to control our laughter. We ended up laughing about it almost everyday hence.
I loved playing football with my friends. There was always this assurance that you can do whatever you want and no one can blame you. So one would play seriously or just for fun. I must say, even though we were young we had a HUGE ego and attitude problem. For instance, I was in seventh standard. We used to play football in the volleyball court. Everyday a few seniors would come and chuck us out and start playing. It wasn't right. So one fine day I got the nerve and guts, walked up to a senior named Tanmay and gave him a piece of my mind. Told him you cannot throw us out everyday and a few abuses flew out from here and there. He was so agitated that he picked up from my collar and banged me against the iron bars. It was upsetting during those days but now it's just a memory which i laugh on.
My many friends and hundreds of memories lit up my childhood. I thank God and all these friends for giving me the chance to have such memories.
