The Great War

“Bhim ! We are leaving for the ashram now”, said Guru Dronacharya once more in his stern voice.

Little boy Bhim paid a bit of attention realizing that he had been addressed, but still did not care much. He was completely occupied with his bow and arrows, clumsily holding a few of them, pointing all in different directions- even unlike a rookie archer would ever hold those.

The guru smiled to see the angered faces of other boys- Krishn, Arjun etc. They were least amused by the entry of a clumsy archer, full 7 or 8 grades behind them, yet not willing to make way for anyone else to take a shot at the target.

Bhim was an outright 'Mace' boy. He could club almost everything with his blows; and God had blessed him with surplus energy for that. But he liked to participate in almost every other sport, whether he was good at it or not.

Archery was forte of Krishn, and Arjun- Dronacharya’s key disciple.

But somehow that day, Bhim had been too eager to demonstrate his Archery skills to his brothers and cousins. The result was a wounded goat, a ruined orchard where Bhim would rush every time to fetch his misdirected bows, and a wasted session for other princes.

But when did Bhim bother for anyone?

Krishn and Arjun were staring at him since a long time now- flummoxed. It was supposed to be their competition day that Bhim had completely ruined and he was still not relenting.

Other kids will surely complain to the elders when they are back and that worried the guru.

‘Bhim, pack up!’ he roared, ‘the cows have gone back home long back. If you don’t start now, we will leave you behind’.

‘Only these few arrows Guruji’, Bhim raised his fist holding the arrows, without bothering to even turn around and face the guru.

Of course he had been saying the same sentence since the late afternoon.

‘Krishn! Arjun! Anyone dare face the greatest archer once more?’, challenged Bhim. His fair face turned red by the rush of blood.

Oh yes! He loved mutton, and that gave him that colour.

He scratched the arm of someone in the process, and that kid looked into the eyes of the guru raising a question or two.

‘Son, it was a session- for Krishn and Arjun- that we came for. They were nice enough to accommodate you despite your uncalled for interest; and look- they still are not complaining. You have had your own sport since years; not happy with it?'

'Guru ji', murmured Bhim.

'It is not in the fairness of good princes to have everything for themselves’.

Bhim knew that, but he still was impatient to hit the target atleast once that day. He feared a terrible time in the ashram, been bullied by the other boys for his stupidity. He still was not willing to accept that his greed had ruined the day for Krishn and Arjun, and so was unnecessarily searching with full gusto to prove a point.

‘But Krishn wanted to play with me’, he explained.

‘Not today! he just didn’t want to dishearten you or be harsh to you. You landed on this pitch uninvited; he just received you with respect and sympathy’.

The Guru gave a big lesson to the small kid in a very polite way.

'Yes! Yes! He has been pampering this dumb boy instead of playing with me', said Arjun in a sudden outburst.

Krishn intervened, realizing that enough was enough and that the guru was not able to tackle Bhim appropriately, ‘Guru ji, may I start with the other boys for the ashram. Guru Maa is waiting for us for Arjun’s birthday feast. If we are late, there might be nothing left for DINNER’.

The last word did the work. Bhim could feel that his tummy was burning with the urge for some yummy food.

Krishn was wise, or the wisest. Dronacharya knew it, but the guru had to have the last word.

‘Kids, when the game gets over, just as the war gets over after the day, the players and the warriors return back. Bhim, let us get back, NOW!!’.

Unwillingly Bhim dragged his feet, to keep pace with the group as they started back for the ashram.

Guru Dronacharya was amazed that he had himself forgotten that it was Arjun’s birthday, while Krishn had not. Krishn had not wished Arjun for the whole day, as they were two warring factions for the day. But he had a certain fondness for Arjun and he never forgot anything.

????

Watched the EURO 2012 final and semifinals (and so also the earlier matches)

It was inspiring to see the smaller Italians outrun the stronger Germans in the semifinal; determination at its best. They fought aggressively for the ball possession everytime the Germans managed to claim it. They certainly won atleast one new fan by football like that (since in my memory from the ITALIA 90 days Italy was etched as a very defensive team).

But it was sad to see the same side against Spain in the final match, where they could not even jog at pace, leave aside running for the ball possession. One could clearly see a very exhausted team from the very first minute of the match. No wonder their heriocs in the semifinal had drained them so much, since they had put more than 100% in the semifinal match.

While everyone is praising the Spanish team, I think Italians were certainly a better team than the 0-4 scoreline of the final suggest.

Just could not resist to write this after watching the replays again of the 2 matches in quick succession on the TV and where the difference in their energy level is so obvious to note. It looks like injustice of some sort.

In any case, Thank You Italy for giving me motivation to write something here. It is not some old memoirs, about the injury gathered at ISB or the school days- but just some rejuvenating football of the semifinal match and some crisp powerful shots of Balotelli.