Most people I know are very ambitious - about job, money, fame, big house etc. There is absolutely nothing wrong. I seem to be on the other side where I seem to enjoy spending time with family or doing absolutely nothing.
One of my hobbies is to spend time with Abhinav. The 2 hours I get once I am back home from work are the best 2 hours of my life. Right from making him do his homework, which includes getting mad at him from time to time, to playing with him, teaching him nuances of cricket or football are probably the highlight of my life. In all of this, I try to stay away from imposing my idea of how to do certain things and make sure that he enjoys the game for what it is - a game.
Beside cricket, Abhinav has developed interest in playing football as well. I have played football at state level as a goalkeeper and those memories are still fresh in my mind. During those days (1987), I used to go for football practice at my school in Porbandar at around 5am. I remember it being pitch dark since it was winter. We used to make rounds and Michael Sir (our coach) used to teach us the game. It was a very informal setup unlike the cricket camp. But, we seemed to enjoy training. We had just finished our 10th boards so, we were under less pressure academically.
I remember going to one district level football competition in Rajkot representing Junagadh district. I don't have great memories of that tournament but what I remember was that the accommodation was in a school. Our team was given a one classroom for sleeping. We would spread the sheets and sleep in vertical line somehow. What I distinctly remember is watching the roti dough being prepared by 2 ladies who would pour water, oil or whatever on the flour and then knead it by stepping on it. The lights went off right after that. We had our dinner in the dark that night. Whatever I ate had a very crunchy sound. I wasn't told what curry we had that day and I still don't know. However, we did find out later that they crunchy sound was most likely due to the result of big ants having got into the curry. I guess we got to have some good protein in our body that night. :)
Another instance was at a state level competition which was also going to be used to select players that would qualify for the u-14 national camp in Delhi. This competition was held in Gandhinagar. I had great pleasure in staying one night with my Mota kaka and kaki. This competition had good facilities as we were staying in the Sports Authority of India hostel. I remember diving in practice to stop a ball and hitting my head against the pole. I had a nasty bruise. Post that, I remember us reaching semi-finals and losing to Baroda 4-2 in penalty shootout. Fun memories these!
Anyhow, I want Abhinav to take interest in outdoor activities and create some great memories for himself. Outdoors always freshen you up and keep you fit. Playing and spending time with Abhinav also gives me pleasure of being a teacher and appreciate all my teachers who probably went through hell trying to teach me .
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