Summer of 95 - Part 1

It was the Summer of 95 - I had written my 4th standard final exams and the school was about to be closed for the summer - for a full 60 days! I especially was looking forward to this particular day - My school calendar would show this day marked in all sorts of sketches, highlighting my enthusiasm for it! I am quite sure most of my other schoolmate's notes would also have had something to this effect! The last exam was over and all of us were re assembled in our respective classes from the exam hall for the instruction slip which we had to handover to our parents. The wait was over and the hour was done. We all started saying goodbye to those we had to pass to get to the exit. "Hey! Bye bye Prabhu, see you!" came a sound from an all too familiar voice. "Huuh! Yea, . . ." and several seconds later, sheepishly "B . .bye". I always couldnt pick up the courage to talk full length to her. Did'nt know why at that time, though i noticed several years later that people gave a name to that particular emotion / state of mind. It is a four letter word.

So first day of holidays - The Gang ( comprising Me, Karthik, Karthii(He was of the same name and same age as Karthik so had to differentiate him somehow), Kaushik, Ashwin alias Achu, Sudarshan, Sai, Paapu) was assembled, though not quite the full strength (Badri alias Battery, hari alias "sori" , Avinash alias "Baby"nash (for his looks) were missing - they were of the CBSE stream, and the schools had n closed yet! And Vignesh alias Vicky was doubtful for the entire season, having had to attend a lot of PT meetings that year for his dubious "achievements" at school, so was his brother Narasimhan alias "Nachuu"). We did our best with what we could do that day! - not much - 1. Cricket from 6 30 (how surprising i found it tough to get up for classes at the same time a few years hence!) to 7 45, then after getting ready and sending our parents off to their respective offices, cricket again from 9:00 to 11:00 - all at my place and Badri's place next door (He was not there in the gang that day but who cared - As long as he managed to get us permission from his dad we were ready to go!). We usually stopped outdoor games from 11 00 to 2 00. After all it was Chennai and it was summer! At 2 00 we again assembled at my place with a couple of bats, "tennis" balls and the other paraphernalia (some of us were in the gang just for these stuff). Off to Thiambiah Reddy Ground - the red sand - littered - "will hurt if you fall" Ground , where we usually assembled in the after noon to play cricket. We did not have the numbers for two teams that day so joined with other groups and played.

Sai was the Captain of the Team (Being Senior in age and Girth!) and lead us from the front! (He was the Wicket keeper of the Team too). He lost the toss (and how when was the last time he had won a toss, we were wondering) and we were put into bat!

Me and Achu - opened the innings!

Achu: What is the bet today! 10 Rupees?
Me: Deal
Achu: Can i see the 10 Rupees? (I showed it)! Here is mine but won t be getting your hands on it today!
Me (Pissed off): We ll see!

Achu started off in blistering fashion! Four of the second ball and a six of the fifth! And he wanted to take a single of the last ball to retain strike! But i would n let him though, not because i did n want to him to have the strike, but because mid off (or some position close to that) was very close.

Achu: Beat that! (Extending hand for the friendly knuckle punch!)
Me: Wait and See! (Friendly knuckle punch)

I did manage only 8 runs that over - a boundary of the third and the fifth ball! (It is not easy to hit a lot of runs when the guy running in is twice your height!)
Achu: Better luck next time! (Me: pissed)

The next over was quite eventfull. Achu cover driving the bowler for four first ball and a cut (elevated though) the next. Fielding changes - Deep point becomes short point and Achu is held OUT a couple of balls later.

Achu to me: Where did he come from?

I shrug!

I continued till the eighth over in similar fashion till i held out to long on for
46. The team was at 85. It was a dismissal more out of exhaustion that out of any skill of the bowler. I was however, richer by Rs.10/-.

We finished our innings at 101 - a great total at that ground we agreed.

Sai at the Team Huddle: "super firstu innings! Now only we ensure that bowling is decent! I can peel it ! Only one or two of them can hold bat properly! So come on Team Sai (Everyone gives him a glare), ok ok come on team! (puts out his hand for everyone else to participate) 1,2,3 Huu, huu, huu!

KARTHIK and Karthii were our star bowlers, both had express speeds and could move the ball (yup possible with the tennis ball too if you know the tactics!) - a deadly combination at any level!


Karthik actually went on to play for the TN under 16 team,which is the highest any of us got in Professional Cricket! So there he was with his wrist band, reebok tee, tracks and shoes near the sticks at the bowler's end, looking for the slope of the pitch (Or that is what he said to those who enquired about the delay! What slope?? the pitch had a hundreds of it in each sand trough!)

Karthik to Kaarthii: "Come to Mid on da!"

Karthik to Prabhu: "Short Midwicket!"

Karthik to Sudarshan: "Go to Long off da!"

Sudarshan: What?

Karthik: "Go and stand near that Pull up Post!"

Sudarshan: What?

Karthik (Miffed): "Walk back ten steps!!!" Sudashan obliges!

Karthik takes his takes his run up position shaking his head!"Guys Ready?"

Everyone: Ready!

Karthik managed to pick up a few early wickets and we got off to a great start!

PAAPU was dyslexic and it was pre dominantly due to this was made to drop out of school at a very early age! No one would simply keep him in school! He had a hard time reading anything in text but was very mostly sharp in all activities that did not involve reading. One could understand while being with him that he could comprehend though in a different way! He did tend to get violent now and then! Who would nt if they were looked down to and treated as though they were from a different lower species! and none of his aggression towards others came unprovoked, though you can find him to be generally more animated than the rest. But never would he hurt anyone! It would be sad for me to see him drop out of school in a couple of years hence. Everytime i looked at him hence, you could tell that he was isolated and only got more sick by being alone! His eyes bulged reflecting the misery he was going through! He became tangibly more non-coordinated every passing day! But no one would dare say a word to his parents who "took care" of him! Paapu's story is the story of great suffering and a story of shame of our neighbourhood!

A TERRIFIC RUN OUT ! Standing at short cover, he bounced equal to the ball on seeing it come towards him. The batsmen mistaking his abilities ran for it. Paapu caught the ball like a cat would a mice with its paws, took his time winding up and threw it to the bowler's end and Karthik knocked down the stumps promptly!

The opponent team folded for a total of 83 in the 11th over. Karthik managed to pick up four wickets! Two were bagged by Sudarshan! One bagged by Karthii in the 10th over and ofcourse no one could forget the run out by Paapu!

(And Yes the 8th wicket could play alone!)


It was 6 30 and we were returning home after a hard day's work!

Me: "Phew that was a good game! Great bowling da karthik! If you had n taken the 4 wickets, surely we d have lost!"

Karthik: "And you too da! Great batting, how many sixes was it? Only you and Achu can hit such a lot of boundaries in this ground man! We had a good total to defend - 101 in 12 overs with 8 wickets is a lot to ask in this ground! You had done most of the work in the first innings itself! And what was your final score?"

Me: "46"

Achu (quickly pointing out): "That is the fourth largest score for our group in any ground."

Me: "Yeah, your 105* being the only century! and two other fifties 89 and 65 of mine are the higher scores" (I was good at batting, but i have to admit that i was pretty large for my age! Got out most times due to lack of stamina!)

Kaushik: "Phew, ok ok don't push it alright!"

Me: "Ha ha, don t worry da, the highest score for a lefti belongs to you! How much
was that?"

Sudarshan: "18 Not out"

Kaushik: "18 NOT OUT!"

(Everyone except Kaushik laugh heartily. Paapu laughs his animated laugh!)

After i reached home, it was some TV time with Kaushik. The Portfolio would have included Cartoon Network, some WWF (Wrestling) with stunts being reenacted with my Father (me and kaushik were Diesel and HBK respectively most of the times and used to Tag Team my dad (who took on different roles) in wrestling matches in my bed!. As you can guess it was a bit one sided!)

Kaushik: Get him! Get him, choke slam choke slam

Me:(How is that ever possible?) Aaaarggh! I ... can choke slam . . . his leg!


Father catches me by the stomach and swings me around a couple of times in the bed.

Kaushik comes in and gives me a hand, and we manage to bring the giant to his back!

Me (on my dad s chest and trying to subdue his arms): Quick! Take his legs! Take his legs!

But the predators quickly become the prey! Father puts us in his favourite and effective "Kittle", a lock for which there is no known key!

After 5 minutes of struggling exhausted.

Kaushik: Uncle please let me go! Mother will scold if i dont return!

Father: Admit you lost!

Kaushik remains silent!

Father: Admit it!

Me: Let him go dad! Fight me one on one, if you v got the guts!

Father: But i already fought you two on one and won!

Me: Let him go dad, please!

Father releases him from his legs which held the boy s trunk like a scorpion. I was still caught in a bear hug position in his arms!

Kaushik on release: Aaaaarghh (Tugs at father s arms in an attempt to free me and after trying for a long time is forced to tears!)

Kaushik: Let him go uncle, please. He is my one and only true friend! Please let him go!

And after some 5 minutes of us crying, father lets go on a call from mom!

We both leave the bed with hands over each other's shoulders the other hand wiping our uncontrollable tears!

It took nearly half an hour of consoling and sweet talking by mom to bring me under control! What would i have done without mom.

It would soon be time for bed.

How beautiful were those days. Memories of infancy are a deep treasure that every person deeply cherishes and protects! Yet to each person his memories are worth more compared to all the treasure in the world put together. The very recollection of those days would be like a breath of fresh air that has the ability to bring a sulking man instantly back to life, an instant medicine to the depressed. Not all the money in the world would be able to do that. The 9 year old lives the simple life with only a few things to think about -

Achu - The opponent
Karthik - The "Big shot" Cricketer
Kaushik - The best friend in the world!
Paapu - The harmless! The one to sympathise with and understand!, and the others!
The parents and teachers - Who had to be obeyed at any cost; lest the consequences


A Life conveniently shielded from the horrors of Lies, Deceit, Treachery, Failures and Disappointments in their full and uninhibited forms! Ah those were the days - The Days of peace and simplicity. And each day was a fresh leaf roll waiting to unfurl to join the Tree of Life. Days which everyone yearns to relive!

9 00 pm and we (Me and my sister) were ushered into bed by our Mother! Though i sleep easily and tightly, that day i was lost in thoughts! What is tomorrow going to be. What fun are we going to have? What trouble are we going to get into? ...




It would have been impossible to predict what was instore for me that fateful summer. . .

This is a story from my childhood! You will find that as i write more, the story of one man is the story of all! So in that sense, it is also to an extent the story of your childhood. So are you ready to take this journey?

to be Contd...