Nakki!! (For sure)

Nakki!! was what his parents said to him, when he proposed for his 14th birthday gift. The choice had been simple, his role model and favorite sportstar was going to play in the match at Nehru Stadium Pune. An entry ticket to that match, was all that he wished for. His parents owed him a gift this time, as they had not been able to afford one last year. His dad had an off on Tuesday and the match was scheduled for Tuesday as well. He could have easily bunked the school with an excuse of acute coryza/mononucleosis/non-acid dyspepsia/viral infection or whatever crap Dr. Mirajkar would come up with, in his medical certificate. This young doctor, he always thought, was very different from the rest. To start with, he never used an injection, handed over a medical certificate generously, didn't charge his parents much and employed a pretty nurse, who happened to be the boy's first female confidante. The boy still remembered how impressed he was, when he had read the first medical certificate that the doc had written for him. "To whomsoever it may concern" wow! what a start, he had said to himself. He had seen so many leave notes, all starting with "Respected Sir/Madam" but it was the first time he was seeing a medical certificate; something that did not start with an artificial respect to his teachers and yet the only thing, that none of his teachers could challenge. The medical certificate commanded respect as against his teachers who demanded it. The doc also knew, of the boy's love for his favorite sportstar and would have willingly played along.

The boy's joy knew no bounds once his dad sent 160/- Rs to the boy's elder cousin who studied in Pune and asked him to get 2 tickets for the match. His parents warned him against revealing the news to anyone in the vicinity. But boys will be boys; while cycling home after the Math's tuition at Purandare Madam's house, the boy just couldn't keep the joy to himself. Being Monday, it was a pani-puri day. The boy had paid last week, so it was his friend, Chinmay's turn to pay this week. They ordered for 1 plate pani-puri.
"Paani pura bhar ke dena bhaiyya, aur ek teekhi fir ek meethi aisa dena" came the instruction as it came every week. The bhaiya nodded knowingly and obliged. After finishing the first plate, staring at the rest of the crowd who had come out of the tuition and were walking back home, the boy offered to Chinmay.
"How about one more plate? I'll pay."
"Why? What about next monday then?"
"Next monday, i'll go to Pune after school. Won't be coming to tution as well."
"Why?"
"I cannot tell you, it's a secret"
"Is it your family secret??"
"No - about me."
"Then you have to tell me, even i told you my secret last month. I never told it to anyone else."
"Mine is not a secret as such, everyone will know of it once it is done. I'll make sure that everyone knows of it"
"Then?? why cant i know it now"
"My parents said not to tell"
"You are lying now, u already said it's not family secret"
"Alright, i'll tell you but swear first that you will not tell anyone"
"Ok... God promise, mother promise"
"No, Say it complete that you'll not tell anyone"
"God promise, mother promise I'll not tell anyone"
"I'm going to the match next Tuesday in Pune"
"Nooo... You are lying now."
"I'm not"
"Take promise"
"I swear it, God Promise! I'm going to the match"
"Really??"
"Yes!"
"Great yaar, with whom??"
"My father, he has already called my brother and asked him to get tickets"
"Is it costly??"
"We are taking the cheapest ones, 160/- for two"
"Even i'll ask my parents but they will never agree, I know"
"My parents are giving this as a birthday gift, i wont be getting anything else"
"Lucky yaar!!"

That night and every night after that, the boy slept wondering, if he would get a real chance to see his hero closely. He had always cherished the dream of seeing his superstar, real life superman, in body and flesh. He knew, what he was going to dream tonight, it was the same dream that he had seen over and over again and again, of watching the master score a century for him. He sometimes feared that his hero might falter on Tuesday but prayed with all his conscience that it would not happen so.
D day arrived soon. The boy and his father had secured their seats in the stadium, not seats really, Cement steps which were covered with a pandol like structure. They could watch the match only from a certain distance. Getting close to the fence involved lots of effort, right from fending off the competition of co-spectators to watch the stars closely, to risking a lathi charge from the patrolling policemen for having broken the rules. But today the boy had made a decision of pushing his luck as far as possible. He kept on searching for his hero, it was just a matter of when now, as the teams were preparing to come out. The moment arrived soon - the boy saw HIM, amidst the hurdle of his teammates, drinking juice from a bottle with throat glugging gulps. Excitedly, he pointed him out to his father. His father wasn't actually a cricket fan. Nevertheless, he too was extremely contented on having seen so much joy and satisfaction on his son's face.
He prayed with all his heart that his hero fielded somewhere close to where the boy was sitting. It was a long long wait before Sachin Tendulkar was asked to field along the square leg boundary in the 44th over. As soon as he reached the position, the boy joined the crowd of hundreds of people who ran towards the fence to take a closer look. After pushing and shoving hard, the 14 year old made it to the frontline of the crowd. He let out a loud shout of "Sachin", so did many others with him. The boy again let out a cry of "Sachin" and again many others followed suit. The same continued for some time, it was on the 8th occasion of collective shouting that Sachin turned towards the crowd and gave them a smile and a small nod of the head. And in that nod, for one infinitesimally small second the boy had Sachin looking to him eye to eye. That mili-second of eye-contact made all the efforts of the boy worth the moment. All the fatigue that he had had from shouting, pushing and standing in the sun simply disappeared in thin air. It was in that very second that he told Sachin to play well for him today and he took Sachin's nod as an yes - Nakki!!

He came back to his dad saying - "Sachin, will play well today! For sure!"

Later in the day when India batted Sachin crafted a well made 79 off 86 balls. And the boy watched the performance as if it was his own private screening. He was very contented with the feeling that Sachin lived upto his promise and made a promise to himself to be on Sachin's side and support him - may what come !!

And today, when I see Sachin being beaten on two consecutive deliveries by Bret Lee's pace and look upto my roommate who's glued to the TV screen and say "Aaj kahi khara nahi Sachin cha" - he just turns to me looks me in my eyes and says "Nahi re, he will play well - Nakki!!"

Sachin seems to have taken his cue and hits a spanking square cut and i end up saying "yeah Nakki!"