One of the consistent things that I do everyday in my
holidays other than sleeping late, lazing on the couch and eating a lot is
playing football. Although I’m one of the most pathetic player ever seen in a
football match, my weak skills don’t stop me from enjoying those two hours
with the ball. In those two hours I forget all of my problems and replace all
my priorities with the biggest priority of seeing the ball behind the net. But
I’m not here to torture you with a goody goody lecture on this beautiful game.
Every evening, a bunch of guys from all age groups and every
background assemble on the once beautiful but unused golf course and get down
to cause as much as damage possible in those two hours. The children of the servants of the colony along
with the kids of the people who these servants work for, mingle together and
form teams to face off each other. Me, being one of the oldest kid in this mixed
group and one of the other older kid are automatically chosen the captains of
their respective teams.
It is funny how people chose someone to be their leader just
because of their experience on this doggone planet. 17 years on this planet has
taught me many things but I have never learnt the proper and professional way
of playing soccer. I used to believe that to win a team you require the simple
formula of teamwork and skill. With this simple formula I lead my team to face
of with the other team. We fought hard, I won’t deny that, but at the end of
the 2 hours, my team would always end up in the losing side.
The main problem I thought at that time was that we weren’t
trying hard enough. I pushed my team to attack and defend harder but was unsure
what to do when the ball was in our possession. Football is also a game of
brains. Knowing where to place the ball and in whose hands at what point of
time makes you an expert in this complex yet enjoyable game. Decisions should be
made in a nanosecond and the game should run smoothly. But this wasn’t the case
in our team. Tackles turned into quarrels which would turn into a smack down if
not doused quickly. Without any skill nor any other options to win the game, we
resorted to cheating our way out. This would often lead to a war of words
between the players which would have made our mothers cry and cut off our tongue
if they were present anywhere near the pitch. At the end of the day we used to
go back home seriously pissed off and our moral stinking in the garbage. The
beautiful game was more of a dog fight with Kung Fu, wrestling and kabbadi
thrown into it.
But then, one fine day he came along. He was new to the
place and he was younger than most of the players including me. As he also
wanted to take part in our dog fights we let him in our team as we were weaker
and anybody can join the losers if the winners didn’t want them. As usual the
newest member was made the goal keeper as its one of the most boring and lowest
position any local football team can give. It was at this moment, our luck
changed.
As soon as he took command of the goalkeeping post, he
started changing the tactics of the team. He had neither the skills of an
expert nor the fit build of Cristiano Ronaldo. But what made him special was
his confidence and his bravery. He took chances in placing the ball in the
selected area or when he had to tackle his attacker. But whatever he did, he
did it with confidence and with determination. He urged us to play with our
heads and try to create something special with our smart moves. He put faith in the players and inspired them to do the same. Automatically
he rose through the ranks as we won matches and quickly took over the whole
team.
Seeing him I realized that age does not bring you experience
and take you forward in this game. The confidence and the determination to win
the game makes you unstoppable. Teamwork works only when you have a captain who confidently makes a
choice and is that sort of leader that the players don’t lose hope on even when
the times bad.
But most importantly I realized that our lives is a football
match where there may be many opponents and many team mates, but what pushes
you forward is your courage and grit to make a choice. Be it right or wrong but
at the end of the day, you can still say “That was one hell of a match !”
Until later
Adil Ansari
P.S :-
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