Perfect Match!!

PERFECT ‘MATCH’.



“Will you please stop bugging me, I don’t want to play with you, and I’m busy.” said Sara angrily, her eyes glued to the computer.

“Are you sure, you don’t have time to play a simple board game with your deprived little sister?” said Tania battering her eyelashes still trying to charm her sister—Sara.
Sara looked in her direction, but charmed she was not, in fact she was enraged, “Will you shut up and get out.” Sara groaned.

“Ok me going.” said Tania meekly with a downcast face, a glittering drop of tear started to flow down her plum cheek, and she felt so very lonely—she wanted to play and have fun with her sister like they used to, but lately her teenaged sister, for reasons little Tania could not apprehend , has changed. Not to speak of playing with her and telling her stories, she didn’t even seem to look in her direction.

What has she done to deserve such a hostile attitude, she wondered and tears started to flow down more rapidly down her cheeks. Poor Tania little did she know that it wasn’t she, instead her elder sister, who had the problem—who had just turned 15 and consequently considered playing with her little sister, childish and irksome. Instead she loved to just be with her friends or be on phone with them or scraping and messaging them—all this for her was the idea of perfect fun, but wait, dear readers, the story is about Tania and not about her obnoxious sister, so before we go into tedious details of her life, lets return to Tania’s world, who was crying her heart out, but did the fairy- god-mother show? Does she ever?

Tania in her melancholy walked into the garden, but there were not even any butterflies in sight to run after and she sat down on a little stone with a sigh,
“I want some fun God, or the child inside me would also die.” she muttered looking up in the sky, just then a ball came flying across the wall and landed right besides her, she picked it up and brightened like a child whose broken toy is glued together, an idea dawning over her like a bright window in a distant view. Just then there was a knock on their main gate and a little boy’s voice said, “Can you please throw over our ball back?”

The idea now flashed through her mind and made her eyes glitter with mischief. Tania opened the door and there was the skinny little, Ali, leaning against the wall.

“The ball please…” he said extending his hand.

“Can I come and play with you guys too?” she said innocently without making any effort to give him his ball back. Ali’s jaw dropped open and he stared at her in complete bafflement. “I won’t return your ball, if you don’t let me play with you.” Tania said taking his quizzical expression as sign of repudiation.

“But, but….you are a girl,” expressed Ali in awe.

“I know that, you dupe! But what does it have to do, with me playing, with you guys?” asked Tania looking intently at Ali

“We are an all boys team, that’s why, besides we are playing cricket which is a clever game, which only boys can play and not little girls in pretty frocks.” finished Ali gathering up his courage.

“Cricket!” Tania gaped, “What on earth do you do playing with the poor cricket? What sort of a game is this cricket? Is it about who can hit ‘the cricket’ with the ball?” said Tania in one single breath, and before Ali could open his mouth to utter anything, she recommenced, “If my grandma finds out she’ll kill you boys for molesting poor crickets, she loves garden species, so give heed to my advise and leave crickets alone, and play some decent games like bat balls or footballs or perhaps baseballs.” And once again before Ali could articulate an answer, Tania brushed pass him towards the spot where the other boys were accumulated.

“Ahem...” Tania made a sound of clearing her throat to have their attention.
They turned around and starred.

“Well why are you guys looking at me like that? Lets start the play, here is the ball.” She said throwing the ball in the direction of the fattest boy and it hit him straight in the belly.
“Ouch! Watch it young lady these are not baby toys” cried Asim. “I know but if you keep a cushion under your T-Shirt it has to serve a purpose.” said Tania pointing to his fat belly. So what are we gonna play today, and I don’t want to play that stupid obnoxious game Cricket but I am in for a game of bat-ball, what do you guys say?” All the boys stared at her, and then looked at each other in perplexity, but the youngest of them all; Talha collapsed.

“What’s so funny? Why is he laughing? Does he have any problem?” Tania inquired earnestly.

“He has fits.” said Asim, who had his wits back by then.

“Laughing fits? But why, has he spotted a cricket or something?

“No actually it’s more like, that he has spotted a fathead..” said Asim mockingly.

“But you’ve got a fat tummy not a fat head.” said Tania rather repulsively, and that did it all the boys were now rolling on the not-so-clean-road and bursting with laughter except Asim who has gone all red, and looked ravenous to get back at the little wench for her guilelessness.

“Who do you think you are, to come out like this wanting to play with us, do you suppose you will even know how to play our games, you are a mere girl.” Asim said, ruthlessly.


“Why?” she said putting her hands on her back.

“Huh! What do you mean… by this ‘why’ of yours” stammered Asim taken aback by Tania’s audaciousness. “I mean to ask the reason for this resolution of yours of not letting girls play with you, of course when one do something one does have some rhymes and reasons for It.” said Tania in a crisp tone.

“Oh, so it’s about rhymes and reasons right?”

Tania nodded.

“Well, I think I have a perfect rhythmic justification.”

“What?” Tania said not quite getting him.

“Girls are girls,
And girls they’ll be.
Girls can’t come,
And play like we.
Girls are so clumsy,
They hit before they see.
Girls are so fussy,
They buzz like a bee.
So we can’t play,
With creatures, like thee”

Everyone just stared at Asim with their mouths wide open, and then Ali came forward and gave Asim a pat on his back, “Cool man, is it yours?”

“Of course dude.” Asim said, straightening his back.

Just then he saw that Tania was more than a little hurt and tears in her eyes were on the blink of flowing out. “I’ve over done it I guess,” he thought, “she is just a small girl not a monster, what harm can it do to give her a chance, it’s not as if she’ll know how to play, and it will teach her a lesson and all the girls to come of not imagining themselves, to be anywhere near the stratum of boys.” and the thought satisfied him.

“My grandma was right boys are as brutal as brutes can be, you people don’t have the guts to face the challenge, of playing with me.”

“So now it’s a challenge, ok so let’s face it, you want to ball first or bat?”

“Ball.” She said lighting a bit.
“The match is between you and me, it’s going to mark the history, it’s going to resolve all the battles to come and it’s going to change the future. If you win you will become our group leader and we will do as you please, even brush your dolls hair.”

There was a sudden outburst of protest among the boys.

“But,” Asim said raising his voice, “If you lose you are not to do much just maintain your peace and go back to where you belong—that is among your dolls and never to consider yourself our equal. Done?”

“Okay.” Tania said meekly.

Tania started balling, at first she was balling from the wrong side, then she balled a complete wide ball, after many tries when she did manage to ball somewhere near the bat, Asim blew it in the air. Ali who was performing the task of umpiring raised his hands to signal the six. Then there was no stopping Asim he was comfortably hitting six’s and four’s, when ever the ball wasn’t wide or completely dead that is.

If any of the boys had any doubt, about Asim’s bet, earlier, it was now long forgotten. They were cheering loudly and hopping all around.

After 100 runs Asim declared. “This girl most probably doesn’t even know how to hold a bat, 20 runs would have been a big score for her, a 100 runs are bloody unattainable.” thought Asim with self-possession.

Tania took her batting position fumbling with the bat a bit “Would you like some coaching lessons before you start chasing my score?” mocked Asim

“It would be nice, if someone tells me how to hold a bat” said Tania feigning innocence

“Ali show her.” ordered Asim.

Ali obeyed him reluctantly, “This is how we hold it.” Ali said, taking the bat from Tania’s hand and holding it himself. “and this is how we hit. Ok?”

“Okay thank you” said Tania smilingly

“Highlight this point Talha, our history interpreter, we have given the lady a more than a fair chance, we are not only great warriors but also, men of honor.” Asim said.

“Will you please do the feat of throwing the ball your highness that is, if your speech is finished.” Tania said who was still standing in the batting position.

“Ha, ha, good, but not good enough.” said Asim and balled his first ball it was a good ball and Tania missed it, he balled again and Tania was just able to stop it from blowing the tin cans (bails) off.

“Do you want another 10 overs in addition to the original 10 overs? As a compensation for your being a girl.” twitted Asim with a smug smile.

“No thank you sir, but I would rather not accept anymore of your generosities to safe me, with some pride of my own.”

“Ha, your pseudo pride.” Said Asim balling, yet another ball and this time Tania managed to get some bat on it and it passed the fatal stone.

Ali signaled a four. A touch stunned.

Asim smiled he had balled a weary ball. He balled again with a bit more effort, and this time she blew it in the air.

Ali signaled a six, a trifle concerned. But Asim didn’t fret, “I think now your ready for some real balls.” he said, trying to ball a yoker, but it didn’t quiet go where he had anticipated and there was yet another six. Now Asim was sweating, he rolled up his sleeves and balled with a new zest. Tania swung her bat comfortably and it crossed again, the deadly stone.

Tania battered her eyelashes at Asim and he groaned.

This time Asim took a long run-up and balled with all his energy and Ali signaled yet another six, the game finished in just four overs.

All the seven boys were flabbergasted.

Asim was too afraid to even look up. Tania glanced at him viciously, walked near him and handed him the bat, “Worry not my fellow brothers, I wont make you guys brush my doll’s hair, because I love my doll’s hair neither would I like to be your leader because I hate cracking my head with nuts, but I hope you guys have learned your lesson, of never underestimating the supremacy of a woman.” She said with her nose up, turned around and walked straight back to her home.

“Now that’s my idea, of fun.” Tania said, throwing the ball in the garage where it landed amid its other fellow balls.”

THE END