29.9.12

My young days..at Kaikamba


Tulasi Bar.. The Bar and restaurant near Nitte was the first place where  I took a sip of wisky in my life. The year was 2001 and I  have just finished 5th Semester exam, first in mechanical specialization. I used to drink beer at times before, but this party ended up drinking both and thereafter omitting fully on the road on my way to paid room by walk. There were a group of 10 including seniors helped to in this accomplishment..

I started with an odd incident, but sweet memories of my young life are still lingering now.

Playing sport was my hobby. Unlike my brother James who is very much focused on sports activities, I was playing for fun after learning the game. The dedication and focus to improve my game was not in my agenda.  The first game learnt was obviously Cricket being in a cricket loving country.

The two months holidays during high school tenure made my cricket fundamentals strong and I was a kind of valuable player in my team. I became famous in the Village cricket for my typical leg spin bowling. It was very hard for me to get control on the leg spin. I was following Shane Warne style of bowling. But when I was given to bowl, I never used to try leg spin in matches in the fear of uncontrolled release of the ball  from my hand  which end up in wides. This fear came to an end when I chose to bowl when opponent team was about to win. If I remember well, they were in need of less than 10 runs from 3 overs. On that day, I turned the game for my team, taking a fantastic hatrick and changing the game. The batsmen never faced a quality spin till then were in no clue when they were getting out.. Since then, I used to bowl leg spin quite consistently and successfully. But I could not keep the same consistency when I left to Dubai in 2003. As far as the batting was concerned, I was aggressive but inconsistent.



We had different locations of playing cricket throughout the year at Kaikamba and every location was meant to suit each season. The “ Abutam Stadium Salmara” was the first place where  our group of youth started playing in 1995-1996. This ground itself was split into two playing modes.  Fullground and halfground. The decision to play full ground or the half ground was done based on the number of people. Usually Manu used to take the lead in decision making. This ground was used between March to May till the monsoon arrives. We used to play at Church ground. There are total four different places we played cricket at church premises.

During Monsoons, the number of  guys will be less, specially during the week days. So, The cricket was played in front of the Church bell structure with a funny rules determined by Manu.Myself,James, Manu,Naveen, James Pinto, Ozzy, Goddy,Santhu, Roshan were among regular  players.

The second location was in front of the church itself. We used to play at this place usually on Sundays when number of people is more. Cemetary in front of the ground was termed boundary for Six.But the ball hits the roof  of the school at the right side, will be termed as out. If the ball lands in to garden in front of school, it was a 2- declared. Another six  point was PYC Rangmanch at the far right end. If the ball reaches Convent, it is termed out. And if the ball  falls onto the solar panel on the Convent, then it was out +permanent ban on playing.!!

PYC stage was another place to play when there were 5-6 people. Can you imagine a cricket match on a dais of 16 X 16 ft. It was lot of fun because of the peculiar rules again created by Manu. If  the ball does not get connected 3   times, then it is out. It will be termed out also when the ball hits on a particular painting on the wall. If the ball slides down the ground 3 times when you are playing, it is out. Some time, even one bounce catch will be given out…The rules were plenty and  they were funny as well. We had once requested Manu to note down all the rules for the younger boys to play in the future.

The same group of people had the chance enter to swimming pool at Kajila  at Richy mam house. In a particular monsoon season, we went to learn swimming and all learned the art of swimming in a matter of 2-4 days. Once we learnt, it was fun to  have competition and also  to have a shower at the  Kajila falls. Whenever there was an opportunity, even there were 2-3 people, we  used to go and swim.Naveen’s Hero Pook  two wheeler has served us for this short travel.

During Monsoons, we also kept a habit of playing cards inside the club’s room. The famous game “ Donkey” was getting played with full of fun. Most of the time, we used to fix the looser and arrange the play accordingly. Thevart of match fixing  was learnt!.

As I grew up,  my interest and involvement in  youth activities increased. I became a founder president of young Christian students of our  parish in 1997. I did not do much as a president due to the  new church building construction during my tenure. The activities were limited and the focus was for completion of new church building. Later Pompei Youngsters Club provided me the platform in terms of public speaking, writing, even organizing, Master of ceremony and in leadership.