A month well past BOSM 2K10, posting about it is indeed weird. But an unfulfilled promise and the sumptuous treat today brought memories flooding back and forced me to finish the draft. Just to practice some figurative writing, I must say the food never was this tastier...after all the dividend of a hard earned silver
Truly speaking, more than the joy of winning a silve, It is the satisfaction of seeing people coming to practice daily which would have been a dream in ‘our’ times. It is the content that our juniors would not be ridiculed by their roomies, wingies, friends and girl friends :P … It is the joy of just not bringing about but institutionalizing a change in your alma mater. The joy of instilling a hope in BITSian audience that we can win THE FINALs this time(till half time every one had their fingers crossed).It is the ecstasy of reading the praise showered by EPC/HPC. Its also the concern of passing a carefully nurtured sapling to its next care taker. The concern that about 8 of us would not be there when the whistle shall blow the next time.
Sport, like politics, is an art of the impossible. You have to believe that you can !!! that you can transcend your physical limits for they all exist in your mind, believe that your determination and grit can stand the test…Could n’t have realized this better than through hockey as running 5 km a day would have been passed as a joke a couple of years ago.
For me the beginning of the fest was rather dull. The excitement had rather faded away in the anxiety of being unplaced and its being my fourth iteration of the games. The best part for me was sharing some wisdom with the enthusiastic chaps of BITS-Hyd and their putting up of a good show thereafter.
Mahendra Bhaiya deserves all the credit for his dedicated training. As it was his first time with us, he made us realize an altogether different level of fitness. Decades later, I am sure I would say BOSM 2k10 was the time when I was at the peak of my physical prowess. A heartening thing this time was efficient conversions of penalty corners which we had practiced well.
We were lucky to have with us Dr. Roger(Professor, University of Dublin ) who is on a sabbatical. He helped us a lot with useful tit bits specifically his post match inputs were very useful. I hope he doesn’t get a stomach upset after today’s treat Gaurav Sir, was as friendly and resourceful as ever and I always envy him for making a career out of his passion.
This time I was asked to play defensive right half and it was a first time for me. Every time the attacker came with the ball I envied him for it felt as If I were his attendant. The job felt like that of a chowkidaar. However, I soon realized that my perception that defense is the easiest job one can get was a complete myth. And for the first time it seemed that you are not controlling the ball but the ball ( and of course the GK and Kunal ) is controlling you.
The last match was truly a match of a lifetime. The team did play its soul out but at the end of the day, SRCC was no doubt a better team. The early lead and amazing defense on our side clearly got SRCC guys frustrated. Watching those guys shouting at each other was really heartening. We held out on our lead till seconds before the breather but their penalty corner did us in. In the second half, as usually happens after a break , they scored a couple of goals in quick succession through penalty corners .The last one was a impeccable hit by arguably the most talented chap in the tournament. Perhaps we lagged that conviction of holding on to the lead. Anyways, what followed was a deluge of emotions. Tears, I tell you, can start trickling in a chain reaction.
And then it was the time of the traditional post BOSM team session where emotions were sure to dole out this time. Yogesh was visibly relieved as he kept on saying ”Maine toh apni zimmedari nibha dii” as if he married off his daughter and is done with all the obligations of his life. Then followed the crowning of the next captain and the ceremonial bumps ahh!!
But still few deep desires remain unfulfilled
a)A long scoop during a match (I had planned it for BITS Hyd match but forgot while on field)
b)A score on a reverse hit (this was partly fulfilled in a penalty corner deflected by Mayank)
c)Playing on Astro Turf( I will make sure this gets done before I pass out)
d)Winning gold (of course. But actually never imagined that we would come this far )
Now that I have watched the match videos in slow/normal/fast forward motion a million times, I feel that our team should permanently entail the services of a professional sports videographer.
There is so much to write about that I can write a book on this .Hockey & BOSMs have truly been a part of a wonderful life changing experience for me!!!
So, finally, my career stats stand as
No of Tournaments: 5
No of Matches: 15
Goals Scored : 0.5 :P(Its true!!)
LOL Fact: Videos of our match against ‘TITS’ Bhiwani are in great demand on DC, complains Rungta.
PS: Not even think of helping someone these days!!!
