The Hindu Business Line : A different ball game

Splash, splash, thud! "Rahul, pass!" I heard Sujoy yelling out there on the small field outside my house. The 50-by-30-yard plot is one of the few still left where houses have not come up.

On one side is a huge pond, a mud house borders the east, while agricultural fields are fenced off on the western fringe of the makeshift football field. It is somewhat of a challenge for the village boys to keep the ball within the perimeter. Plumb in the middle is a huge puddle that appears in the rainy season. And it was across this puddle that Sujoy was asking Rahul to pass the ball.

Bengal teams play well in the rainy season, I'd heard my father say when he took me to watch the big football matches. The mud and slush are such a messy affair that anybody outside of Bengal would prefer not to play at all in the rainy season. The joy among the boys of my village is to be seen to be believed. There is laughter, banter, and loud arguments over offsides, fouls and goals.

"Did you see my shot, grandpa?" Sujoy shouted with a quick glance at me as I watched from across my fence. "Yes! Keep it up," I shouted back. Rahul too played well, and with tenacity.

There he was, making a long pass from the far corner and the ball just making it across the puddle. Sujoy tried to manoeuvre and turn it into a goal, but failed. There was no bounce at all. The ball just slithered along the ground.

Not to be dismayed, the boys played on, shouting and laughing and arguing. A dozen goals were scored, perhaps more. Only the non-players kept count. The game over, the boys, arms over each other's shoulder, came up to me. "Grandpa, will you buy us a football?" Sujoy asked. The others too pleaded. "We'll try to raise some money too," said Bittu reassuringly. "You only have to pay the balance." I agreed.

The boys did need a proper ball. The one they had was in bad shape. After all, how long can you play with a tight bundle of newspapers stuffed inside a polythene bag tied up with jute strings?

Karunamoy