Sports

This post is dedicated to my friend Jake and the Leftovers. Thanks for giving me so many opportunities to play ball. I miss y’all.

My cousins organized a weekend trip to a small hill station called Chakrata. There’s little to do here other than hike and drive long distances. The trip included a lot of driving the car, running alongside the car, thinking about if the car would make it, and just thinking about the car in general. There are a few highlights that I’d like to share. 

First the hike. With people I know, I prefer that the group stick together and enjoy the journey through nature. My good friend Timmy B taught me that you put the slowest up front and stick with them. Naturally, being the leader I am, I went to the back. I had no idea that a few of my cousins were not expecting to complete the hike. By the end, their only motivation was me standing by them, complaining about missing out on completing the trek. My cousins experienced me giving motivational talks, hearing random other folks turning around, and realizing that we’re not the most out-of-shape people on the mountain.

Second the driving lesson. In the frigid cold of the mountain wind, my cousin decided I needed to learn to drive a stick shift. Clutch braking is a concept that still doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. I was also told to listen to the car and I am still unsure what that means. Despite my lack of understanding, I was able to drive a shitty Kia in first gear and in reverse.

Third, and the most memorable, the cricket game. There’s a small bit of backstory that’s important here. The first 2 days of Chakkrata involved a 12-hour drive from Delhi and 4 hours of driving to and from a hike. I was pretty fed up sitting in a car. In any downtime we had, I was stressing about the 12-hour drive back home to Delhi. You should also know that my good friend Jake and I usually play sports or throw something around on chill days to relax. 

I convinced my cousins that we should just chill on the last day. I now realize that this means something different to everyone. At one point on the last day, I panicked about the lack of sun time left. I made a passing comment to my cousin that I am going to go enjoy the sun and folks are welcome to join me if they want. Apparently, I did not communicate properly because everyone thought I was upset. All 5 of my cousins rushed to get ready. One couple showered together in cold water, another canceled their plans to shower, and everyone threw on the first thing they could find. Meanwhile, I was blissfully shoveling cow dung off of a field. Once the fields were cleared and everyone was ready, we played 4 long games of cricket. Although I did little to contribute, my cousin carried us to victory in many of the games. Like a little golden retriever, I played fetch with the one ball we kept losing in the bushes. At the end of the day, we had a few beers, and some food and decompressed. My cousins filled me in on all the miscommunications throughout the day and how their definition of doing nothing was very different from a 3-hour marathon game of cricket. 

When I told my friends this story, I realized this wasn’t just cultural differences… but differences with friends. Apparently Jake has spoiled me by always being ready to play ball.