Circa 1992:
Friend 1 : So do you think he is cute?
She : That’s not why I like him
Friend 1 : So you do think he is cute?
She : I like his game, I like his batting technique
Friend 1 : But you really do think he is cute?
She : He is a good cricketer and has the potential to be a great one
Friend 1 : So why exactly are his close-up posters up in your room
She : Because I’m not able to get one with him batting
Friend 1 : So you do think he is cute!
Circa 1996:
Mumma : She has her finals tomorrow, why did you let her go for the match
Papa : She loves the game, let her enjoy. She would’ve been miserable and not studied at all if she was home
Mumma : You have to be little strict with her
Papa : And not let her see our future son-in-law bat? (laughs out loud)
Mumma : Now you don’t start and encourage her!
——–
Papa : So how was the match we enjoyed seeing our son-in-law bat
She : Papa please, he is already married. That’s embarrassing!
Papa : I know, but it is fun teasing my little girl!
—————-
Friend 1 : You actually bought his music cassette?????????
She : Yeah! I thought he has done a decent job
Friend 2 : If only he had done a better one at playing cricket!
She : He was just plain unlucky.
Friend 1&2 : Whatever
Friend 3 : He is okay but I think Kumble’s interview sounds the best
She : We’ll get to your crush later; first let’s listen to the cassette again
Friends 1, 2 & 3 : Do we have to go through this torture?
She : Yes!
Friend 1 : So you do think he is cute!
Circa 2002
Friend 1 : 10 years since you’ve had a crush on him, if you meet him today have you decided what you are going to say.
She : I’m going for A’s wedding , in case you forgot, he is the one who plays cricket now.
Friend 1 : Are you not hoping to get to see him at the wedding? But you have a god damn B- school interview in Pune tomorrow, don’t you think you should leave today?
She : There is no way I’m missing A’s wedding, are you crazy! I’m taking the midnight bus and will reach in the morning well in time!
At the reception
Mom : Did you see him? I think you should walk up to him and tell him that you are a huge fan of his.
She : Are you sure mumma????? Are you my real mom? You hated it when I used to put up his posters in my room
Mom : I still hate that but I know you have adored him, you must tell him
She : He will think I’m crazy
Mom : That’s ok, you can’t hide facts for long
She : Are you my mom at all? Anyways
Slowly steadily she approached him
She :Hi Mr. M, I’m a huge huge fan of yours since I started watching cricket. You were fantastic. I had to tell you this since long, thanks and bye.
And she ran, ran for her life and disappeared from the long wedding queue so that he would not notice her again! What the ^&*$ was she thinking behaving like a teen at 22, an age where her friends were searching for a groom to get married and some were even ready to be moms!
Crushes are embarrassing things. Sigh! Now she knew exactly how it felt like those millions girls who adore cricketers and find them cute!
Growing up with cricket has been a crazy joy ride; it has become an integral part of her life, her oxygen if you may say. The crazy little crush forms a teeny weeny cute memory of her journey with the game. At that point it seemed so embarrassing that she could not tell anyone about it, today she can laugh her heart out at her stupidity and even invite others to do so by putting it up on her blog!
Yeah, as I have mentioned in my Facebook tag on “25 not so random things about me”
“Sanjay Manjrekar was my first serious crush in school and I still blush when my friends recall those days”
P.S:
Absolutely everyone I know has taken my case on this crush of mine, from my friends, my family and my parents. Papa especially loved teasing me! I was recalling this with an old school friend of mine and we thought it would be interesting to relive those memories; which is why this blog post turned up!!