My Batting Exploits @ Panchapatti

I thought most of us would have played cricket in their lifetime either during their school or during their time at the college. I had always been a good admirer of the game and have a lot of taste for batting. Though I cannot blow my own horn,I knew descent batting. After this brief preamble I hope I can narrate the circumstances of this little incident which every one of our relatives will be amused at hearing.

I remember it was a great occasion in our family and almost extended for a couple of weeks. It was the occasion of our great Kulitalai Swaminatha Iyer's Sathabishekam and I remember at least around 400 to 500 people would have treasured the occasion. The entire MBS Agraharam had festive spirit and most of our relatives were present for a whole week at this juncture. Being an adolescent, I didn't understand the values of such social gatherings and never really appreciated these things at that age.

This time there was a tournament held in PANCHAPPATTI a miniature village near lalapettai, Karur District. There was a guy called balan, who in my opinion is a great batsman and I have seen him hit huge sixes. I used to stay in Trichy and was never a part of the local teams. But this guy used to play for all the teams across the villages. Since he was a good player, he used to go to any team and ask for a place, he would get that instantly. This time he promised that he would get me a opening slot and I was a good partner to this guy because he can face lot of balls, I used to get lot of singles and never attempted for a boundary unless situations ask for..

So I was keen to play and I dodged many relatives and went to play this tournament, without realizing the importance of the occasion. I never knew that it was a remote village and there was no real transport to the place.. We had to walk for almost half a kilometer and then we started playing.. Though I didn't fair well in the match, I enjoyed playing after a long time.. And the result .. We lost the match.. So I was waiting for this guy to come so that we can go back to Kulitalai, but I heard that he wanted to see the next match.. TO my surprise he went and played the next match and had a great knock in that match.. He silently collected the man of the match award of Rs 50 and by then it was already 10 PM..

We had food in the near by roadside joint and when we started in a Bus it was 11:00 Pm.. We somehow managed to reach Kulitalai by 11:30 and I realized that my cousins, dad, uncle (Periyappa & Sithappa) and the great VCM Lee have been hunting for me left right and center.. I thought I will get a broom stick welcome at home and was silently roaming around in Agraharam.. I was vastly afraid of my dad, since he is known for bombarding and I have had the experience many times.. I thought entering now would be a big trouble and thought of sleeping in the thinnai only.. But somehow I made up my mind and entered the verandah of our house.. To my surprise my dad did not show any reaction over this and was busy playing cards.. And I never expected this to happen, Patappa (Sitaraman) who never even used to be any harsh started exploding.. He called my mom, padma manni to bring arathi for me to have played wonderfully.. I attained the feat of making my uncle angry which most of our relatives would not have seen otherwise… Though I was really offended that time, when I recollect, its a funny nostalgic experience which was worth a blog