Press Play!!!

There was once a time when seven children had a life that revolved around a sacred playfield. There were days when they would plop off the school bus on afternoons and land up (much to their mothers’ chagrin) on the playground and not on the lunch table or the study table. The sacred playtime was as high on survival priority as food and air.

Running after a football, fielding in cricket, running desperately to find a place good enough to baffle the ‘denner’( help with word root if known)in hide and seek….Sweat flowed, screams echoed and Dopamine reigned supreme.

What went wrong then? Swimming was the first undoing. It is a game in which you excel alone. Your game does not affect others. It further deteriorated down to jogging and yoga which could be done at my own leisure. The crouched study position however took over. The only balls that moved now were the eyeballs scuttling along lines and lines of data to be learnt. It was not that there was never enough time for play. Just that play equated to something evil. It was ok to sit and stare zombie-ish-ly at a maths problem but sacrilege to play.

Lethargy is the worst of all addictions. College meant that there was tones and tones of free time. However sleep was revered above everything else, work was postponed till the last minute so that night outs could leave us drenched out.
The dying flame burns brightest before its end. So with just about a month left before leaving BIT group sports makes its re-entry into my life. Yes, there is a lot of debate in my head at 5:30 in the morning when I have to drag myself out of a cozy bed but when hot sweat from running meets the cool morning air it all becomes worth it.

So we dribble basketball and flex a muscle or two at tennis- both sports I never was very comfortable with. Though I loose miserably the foolish abandon of the playfield beats it all!! Streams of sweat running down my face and heart beating at a frantic rate coupled with wise cracks from my fellows is like icing on the cake.

Bottom line remains……..never give up sports. Never give up on the competitiveness of making your teams win. Never give up on lithe, agility and speed. A sweaty game of basketball remains much more satisfying than killing people in a game of Counter Strike or mindlessly arranging cards in Solitaire.

Listen to me………come let’s play!!!!