Gully Cricket..

The summer holidays are here and Sibi is on a tour to his grandmas. He is talking like there is no tomorrow and its a pleasure to hear him admonish me for saying something a little too loudly. He tells me not to shout and say things calmly as otherwise, his mom will feel upset. How cute is that!!. So he keeps my father and mother busy and we try hard to keep him busy.

Three days in Madurai went fast and the get-together of our families (I mean, my father and his brothers families along with all cousins) invoked all sorts of pleasant memories and especially my elder cousins who still treat me like a little brother. I was thinking of the 'gully cricket' we used to play in the narrow plot of land in front of my paternal grandma's house. It used to be a small plot with barely place for all of us to field, bowl and bat. But anyway, we used to play. This is sometime in the 1987-1990 timeline. I was the one guy who couldn't bat, bowl or field. But I was included in the teams so that there are equal number of people on either side. Sometimes, the chittappas and periappas join in and it will be a riot before the game ends. Since 'every dog had its own day', I had my days when I took 3 wickets(out of 5 players!) or hit some 15-20 runs. But it happened rarely. We used to play till it becomes night and mom and everyone calls for dinner. It means returning home after the dinner and followed by the dreaded monday. Even though I felt bad over everyone fussing over whose team my brother should be playing in(he bats/bowls excellently!!) and I usually got to a team short of one player. But the fact is that it created a camaraderie which exists even today between us. And ofcourse, the memories are priceless.

Its amazing how the little things you did makes you happy even after years. Or how little you realize the love of people you take for granted (my periamma brought filter to make coffee yesterday for me because I like the bitter coffee she makes!!). Its just we have become older but the bonds that ties us are still stronger..