My Cricket Bat:

I was a cricket lover in my childhood. Even my friends, my father, brothers, and uncles were good at cricket.  Cricket was played in the house, outside the house, and everywhere possible. Watching cricket matches on TV was my favourite past time.

As I started playing the game at my school, my uncle gave me a brand new ‘BDM’ cricket bat. It was a very popular and expensive brand then: very lightweight and easy to carry. My friends liked it a lot, and it became famous on my school team. Every time we won a match, my friends used to give credit only to my bat. We pampered it a lot and had good time with it!!

One of my friends, who is a doctor today, was the biggest fan of my bat. He was a very good batsman and always opened for our team. One day, he scored around 50 runs for our team playing with my bat. We were all so excited that, when we won the match, we lifted him, and he in turn lifted the bat and waved it around. 

At that moment, we realized that we were all together and bound because of that special bat. It had become an asset for all my friends.

One day while playing a match, unknowingly, the bat broke into two pieces. We all were shocked to see the broken bat.  It really touched our hearts, and many of us could not control our feelings. We did not even realize that our relationship with it was over: after a long two years of attachment. It was a very emotional moment for all of us.

We tried hard to fix the broken piece but of no use.

To ease our little minds, my uncle bought another new bat for me. We played some matches and won a few. But we missed all the magic moments and could never enjoy cricket again, as we did in our school days. I became a little detached with cricket for some time.

I played cricket for my college team, and for private teams, but the excitement was never the same.

I want to go back to my school days, and get that Star Bat to enjoy cricket again!!

My First Performance on the Stage:

In grade 8, I participated in my first ever play as an actor. We were competing to be in the school play for our annual gathering event. I auditioned along with many other students, and I was selected as I was fit well into one of the characters; my voice was suited for that role.  A few of my best friends also got selected, which made me more excited.

We prepared well by rehearsing after school. Our teacher was good at teaching us basic acting skills for performing on stage. We did the look test for each artist, and then did a final rehearsal in costume. It was, overall, a good experience for everyone; plus, a bonus was all of the good tips from other actors and friends.

On the day of our gathering, I played the role of a father of a young girl. My costume was an Indian dhoti, jacket, Maharashtrian-style turban, and a big, thick mustache. I even colored my hair grey to look old enough.

The stage was all set, and the audience excitedly sat in our school auditorium. We started the play with great energy and enthusiasm. My daughter in the play was my friend Gopal, who was playing a double role: a boy and a girl. In the first half of the play, Gopal was wearing a girl's costume; a kind of long skirt (Indian ghagra) and a top. The play was going awesome, and the audience was enjoying the gripping story.

At one point, Gopal had to exit the stage and re-enter as a boy. He went backstage and began removing the ghagra, which was tied with a thick string (nada). At a certain point, he could not remove the knot as it was tied very tightly. Time was passing by quickly, and the audience was expectating the entrance of a new character. Our teacher, and the backstage team, saw Gopal struggling. They went running and began helping him out, but it was no use.

Meanwhile, on stage we were waiting for Gopal's grand entry, but Gopal could not be seen near the stage. So I glanced backstage and realized that the situation was really worrying. Uff!! And we were sweating!! So,  all the actors on the stage decided to add one quick scene to our play to continue the sequence and keep entertaining our audience. We began searching for Gopal in the audience and asking questions to the actors on stage. Have you seen Gopal? Have you seen Gopal?  We were counting the time by simultaneously looking at the clock and asking God to send Gopal on time; the audience was laughing about the’ slow motion’ performance of everyone on the stage.

Phew!! Backstage, after a lot of struggle, our teacher somehow managed to open the string knot, and Gopal entered the stage with an awesome boyish look, taking in compliments from the crowd. The play which was supposed to be a serious one turned into a comedy show!! The audience started laughing uncontrollably, which showed that they were enjoying the performance. We continued our play, and after sometime, somehow finished it.

It seemed that all our friends and teachers too enjoyed our performance, but I enjoyed it the most, being one of the main character of the play.

Now was the time to breathe deep, as it was the time for prize distribution. Remembering God, hands completely sweating, and heart beats running faster than ever, we unexpectedly were announced the first prize winners for our play. We were looking at each other with our mouths wide open!! It was an achievement for all. We laughed a lot (till our stomachs growled!!) after taking the prize.

Later, whenever we met in groups, we remembered that cherished moment.

Life is full of moments; good and bad. We remember the good ones and laugh at them. I want to go back on the stage and perform that play again with all my best friends!! I want to see that string again which made us laugh and gave us the do or die situation!!

I want to color all my wonderful black and white memories from my childhood!!

My First Colour TV

On October 31^st 1984, the Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi was

shot dead in the Indian capital, Delhi. 

   I was a youngster then, People suddenly started gathering in my house; many coming out onto the streets, and everyone looking tense and sad. I observed the people in my house listening to the radio set. During that time, popular radio channels : All India Radio, and BBC radio confirmed this news in the afternoon. I came to know that my father had gone out with one of his friends to purchase one special thing which I long waited for. I was so excited but could not express my feelings to anyone because no one in the house was free to talk. I was eagerly waiting for my father to come back home. Meanwhile, I had informed all my friends and asked them to come over as there would soon be a surprise coming to my house.

   I, along with my young friends and other people, was sitting in the house listening to the serious news on the radio. After a long wait, my father called me from outside and I went out to him running. What he was holding in his hand was a carton containing a 21" Niki Tasha, a Japanese made colour television. I was super excited then !! My uncle and his friends came to install the large antenna and a big bundle of cable. Me and the other children, were helping the team, providing water and some tea. When the connection was complete, my father kept the new TV in the middle of the street for public viewing. National channel was broadcasting the coverage of the assassination.

I was the happiest person in the house. 

   I got to see a brand new color television for the first time.

I was on cloud nine. My friends and I got intensely engaged with the television set itself, rather than the unfolding news. We constantly hovered over the set.  After a period of time, my level of excitement went down as I was told to watch from a further distance to avoid harmful rays.

   I kept on waiting to feel the initial rush of the new TV again. I didn’t even realize the moment when my excitement finally turned into mourning, like all the adults. The rest of the evening, and next day was completely sad and sorry. After two days, our TV set was now in our living room. I turned it on and found out it interesting to see talking images on the screen. It was fun to see cartoons and different images on screen come alive with bright fascinating and remarkable colours. My life completely changed after that arrival of this new member of my home. My day began with TV, afternoon eating in front of the TV, and in the evening, friends coming to my home to watch movies and cartoons.

My Colour TV

Our TV had no remote control, so it was more fun playing with different switches on the TV set. 

   
   I used to change the vibrant colors to completely black and white. I used to make them bright and sometimes faded. I used to count the number of channels starting from zero again and again. I placed the TV set in different positions to make the living room well set and organized. I always turned away the antenna in different directions to get a better signal. Well, I sometimes used to even scold the TV and slap it in its head and ears (speakers), when it could not give me any sound ! I could watch this idiot box for hours. As I grew up, limitations on TV time became necessary due to my studies.

   Today, I rarely have time to watch TV as I am completely immersed in the fast pace of the world. I am running in the race of life, to fulfill all my desires, keeping hold in my memory, all the wonderful times I had spent in my childhood with my best friend, ‘my idiot box’. But sometime in my life I want to rewind those beautiful moments and get hypnotized by the magic of TV again. I want to get entertained by the cartoons I used to watch. I want to see all those old commercials which convinced us of buying those products. I want to see all the soaps, whose characters and predictions were discussed by the members of the house. I want to use that old manually operated technology, turning switches off and on, which was created a different way of thinking than today’s digital technology. I want to gather all my friends over tea and watch cricket match films on television. I want to see all those ‘black and white ants’ we used to call the noise when there was no signal, I want to shoo away the crows and sparrows which used to sit on our roof  antenna and break the cables apart !!

All I want is to once again fall in love with TV!!

# Rewind Stories :

Story 1: "Banana Skin"


I remember, when I was seven years old; I was sitting on a railway platform in a city called Parbhani, in India. I was with my mother, uncle and younger brother waiting for the train. Waiting hours for the train, we realized that the train would be late due to heavy rains in another city. We had no other option than to only wait and it really tested our patience. 

To catch the train on time, we left the house early in the morning and could not have breakfast. Our stomachs were growling with hunger, so we decided to get some snacks and munch on them. My uncle got some very tasty samosas and fruits. Busy eating snacks, I started carefully observing the surroundings at the railway station. It was a completely new learning experience for me as my mom told me about how a train runs on the track, and how steam engine pulls the train.

When my stomach was fully satisfied with the stuff I had put in it, I started playing with my younger brother. He was still eating a banana, and I was all ready to play with the peel. My uncle went to buy some magazines; my mom was busy reading newspaper. Without anyone looking at me, I snatched the banana skin from my brother’s hand and dropped it on the platform. I had always wanted to see if someone could really slip on the banana skin. This was the perfect time and of course a perfect place, to get this answer. People who were smart enough walked around it carefully. My brother and I were very eager for one unlucky person to step on it, unknowingly. We waited and waited till we saw a person carrying two heavy bags. He hadn’t noticed what was on the platform. He was slowly approaching the peel while we stared at him, and our excitement was really going up. Our wait was coming to an end it seemed, when finally the time came. He stepped on the skin, slipped hard, falling and taking all his luggage with him. He completely tumbled!! All of a sudden, people started gathering around him, helping him stand up. My brother and I were laughing our fullest, having seen our imagination turn into reality. Then my mom realized that it was me who dropped that banana skin intentionally.

The whole funny scenario completely changed into a serious situation. Without thinking anything, my mom slapped me and asked me to apologize to him. My uncle, who was a near, came running and helped him pick up his bags. The man managed to walk slowly with his heavy dented metal bags and carried on his way. My uncle picked up the banana skin and threw it into the garbage bin.

For me, the entire sequence of events took place in slow motion, up till the time my uncle gave me a slap on my other cheek. I was completely stunned, with my mouth wide open!! I had never ever thought that one banana skin would show me a different world!!

Time flew, and years later, when I myself toppled from a banana skin somewhere on Mumbai platform, I realized that the effects of even a small accident are really, very bad. My elbow deeply hurt, my favorite jeans torn, and some bad looking bruises were what I got in return. Also, God had sent an audience to laugh at me, and they were none other than my own group of friends!! This was the same scene repeated, but only with different characters!!

Thereafter, I never threw anything on the ground in a public place; especially a banana skin!!

Whenever I see a banana skin lying anywhere, my mind does a flashback, and I see the images of that ‘special person’ and that ‘special me’, falling in slow motion on the railway platform. That incident haunts me till today and reminds me of my bad behaviour.

Aah!! I wish I could rewind this scene in my life, and change it by throwing that banana skin into the garbage!! I wish I could!!