Korechilam, Lorechilam, Jeeteychilam

If anyone happens to explore my room, he will happen to come across this piece of wood.
It is not very neatly preserved or highly decorated. It is just lying on my table under a pile of papers and books and what not.
It feels like an art craft excavated from the reigns of some ancient civilization, a bit muddy and a bit damaged.

It is not a masterpiece or a glorifying piece of art. In fact it gave me a depressing feeling when I 1st saw it.

But when you go through the citation, you will find a small line at the bottom.

"Group Winner 7 Star C.C. "

The appearance of that whole thing changes when I read that line. This is a trophy that our team has won. This is a memento that reminds us that a few guys who just love the game of cricket, played it whole heatedly and eventually won the tournament.

So whats the fuzz about? Is it the 1st time I have received a trophy? Is the the 1st time my team has won? Is it the world cup that we have won?

Let's look back.
The 1st trophy we had won was .. I don't remember when.
We had players playing at different levels and almost all of them aspired to play at the highest level some day. We were the guys who measured our fitness, practiced daily, had team meetings, and did all sorts of other things which made the game a bit boring.

The level of competition was so high that you had to perform even as a 12th man to be in the hunt.

The only reason we played was to win. Loosing was sin.
When we won a trophy then, it was just as a milestone. There was nothing enchanting !!!

Then I was lucky to play for my college. I had a group of street fighters who came together to enjoy the achievements of the team. It was a privilege to lead the boyzes. We played for pride, pride of the team, pride of the college. It was important the the college wins. The event was not important .. the team .. not at all.

If I was happy that we won the cricket tournament ... I was happy that we won the basketball tournament. We received the trophy and handed it over to the director. I did not even care to see it.

Then, I got an entry into the 7 stars. Well .. getting entry here is not at all difficult. You just have to be on the ground. Generally, we play with not more that 9 players. So if you are available... you are in.

We termed ourselves as ready made players. We don't need to practice, we are always fit and we have a super understanding so we we don't waste time in team meetings. We did not care about our team combination. There are not many available with just 9 players, you see!!!!
If you have heard about visiting professors in universities, we were like visiting players on the cricket ground.

The fact is .. that this team won. It won all matches and it won convincingly. There was a big margin between us and the second ranker.
It is still hard to believe. Whenever I look at that trophy, I believe that magics do happen.
If you enjoy your job, you will get through it successfully. This trophy will remain special to me not because it reminds me of the victory. It will remain special because it reminds me all those things that happened for us to make us victorious.

And as Sachin Zende always says .... we must stretch our hands for the catch ... if the ball sticks its a wicket... If it doesnt, it is well tried.