In clash of the Generations!
Our protagonist LALA is a 60+ Old bald man!, who heads
a large family.
During one of a family gathering, all the relatives
sat together and chat on various moments of their life filled with laughter,
joy and sorrow too.
LALA recalled his school/college days and narrate how well
he played cricket in the past.
Even though few elders support him on that, most of
the youngsters and kids refused to believe his story and started trolling him. Some
of them stamped him as a loser, comparing with present generation IT
professionals who are earning lucratively and leading a luxurious lifestyle.
It hurts him a lot and decided to prove his cricketing
skills to them with a demo video. A challenge has been brewed that if LALA
wins, all the trollers should apologize and bow before him and if LALA failed
to accomplish the feat before one of the next family meet, which comes in 3 months’
time, he should pay Rs.1000 to each of them (9 persons in total).
He called one of his close friend to help him to shoot
it… and that friend begged him not to take the kids’ challenge seriously as he
is too old now to withstand the stress on his aging body.
But… LALA is adamant and approached a local club to
start net practice. At first they refused to allow him. After few days of
deliberations and repeated requests, the club people hesitantly allowed LALA to
practice in their premises.
Initially he started bowling with tennis balls and
found it very hard to maintain a decent line & length and the required pace
also not there as his muscle strength is very weak. He also suffered cramps in
both of his legs and even struggled to walk.
His friend took him to the family doctor’s clinic, who
is also a close friend of them. The doctor laughed at LALA’s childlike act and
after giving treatment, advised him not to repeat the mistake again.
At home, LALA’s wife, son and daughters also stood
dead against and asked him to stop the foolish act immediately. He ignored all
and decided to secretly continue the practice, despite of so many hurdles
popping up before him.
After few weeks of slow and steady progress… he
started to find the rhythm and gaining strength to bowl few overs on the trot
with the cricket ball itself. In the second month, his bowling has improved a
lot and troubled even the established batsmen of the local club.
Now he can turn the ball square at will and his
occasional googlies are almost unplayable! The club’s bowling coach, who
silently watched LALA’s net practice, is very much Impressed and come forward
to sign him for few matches.
This surprise call, excited LALA and he happily agreed
to roll his fingers for the local club. Even though they finished the shooting
of the demo video, he has decided not to show it to the challengers immediately.
As things are changing thick and fast, he and his friend planned a drama to
trick every one with an anonymous identity for him to play the match and they wanted
to change his looks also and convinced the coach to cooperate.
Both of them went to their friend’s saloon and asked
him to help in this secretive operation. That friend put a new wig on LALA’s
bald head and made few changes in the beard also. The transformation of LALA is
really astonishing and nobody can identify him with his new looks. Now he looks
like a 30+ younger… stronger and a man of style. They kept entire proceedings
as secretive as possible and even LALA’s wife doesn’t know any of the mischievous
plans.
It provides lot of fun and joy for the friends and all
of them stood by LALA and encouraged him to do well in his comeback match...
after a gap of almost 30 years!! They booked a room in one of his friend’s
lodge and doing the makeover process comfortably.
In between… a little romance also on the cards, as a
beautiful young lady falls in love with LALA but he promptly revealed his true
identity to her and they become good friends.
Everything seems to be good as the match day is
approaching… ((exactly on the day of next family gathering). The doctor friend
cautioned LALA not to overstretch his body and must control his emotions also. The
match is about to be telecast live in the local cable channel (in youtube also)
and whole of the family glued to the TV as that tournament is very famous among
the community.
Lala performed exceptionally well in that local
tournament and helped his team to reach the finals. In the final, he bagged 5
wickets including a hat trick. As the opponent team needs a boundary to seal
the victory of the last delivery, the fielder who spilled the chance for a
catch throws the ball to Lala… meanwhile the batsmen completed 2 runs and going
for the third.
Even though the ball bouncing off the ground and hits
Lala’s forehead… it falls on the stumps to dislodge the bails and Lala’s team
won the match by one run; everybody burst into celebration… but unfortunately,
Lala fell on the ground and gone unconscious because of the head injury.
As the medical team rushed in and giving him first
aid, his grandson who is watching the match live identified him with some of
the special features very peculiar to Lala and alarmed everyone at home.
They all rushed to the hospital, where he has been
kept under observation to assert… is there any concussion/brain
haemorrhage.
Climax
What happens to LALA and his challenge?... forms the
rest of the action and emotion filled/heart wrenching moments. It will be an
emotional rollercoaster sort of unexpected happenings towards the end…
By
Shankar Parthasarathy
