CHAPTER 10

Arjun left his home to head to the Central Badminton Court for his second round of the tournament. As he expected, Ira was waiting for him around the corner of his street. This time Ira was smart enough to cover her face so that she wouldn’t get mobbed by people.

Ira and Arjun didn’t have to wait for a long time for Arjun’s turn as his match was the first one for the day. Both of them thought it was fortunate. Arjun didn’t get too worked up like the last time as he did not watch a lot of people play before him. But his consternation was on point, he was panicking.

“Calm your mind, Aju. Think of your mom. Good luck.” Ira said, embracing him.

Arjun did some pre-match warm ups and his adrenal seemed to get under control.

“Arjun, exhausting your opponent is the key. Keep him chasing the shuttle. Try your best to send the shuttle faster than his speed of reaching it.” Ira said, as a last minute strategy.

Arjun’s new opponent was bulkier than his former one. He reflected the image of being a long time player.

“Come on, Aju.” Ira cheered, as Arjun was prepping up to serve.

Everyone looked at Ira as her voice boomed. She got utterly embarrassed and turned a dark shade of pink. Arjun giggled at her and started playing.

As Ira had suggested, Arjun made sure he got his opponent running all over his half court. But other than that, Arjun’s play was very poor compared to his competitor.

Ira knew Arjun was playing at his worst, mostly because he got discouraged with the look of his opponent.

Arjun kept giving his opponent easy shots, which his opponent returned with drop shots and smashes.

By the end of the match, Arjun’s score was 15-21. A clear win by the other player.

“ARJUN VS MAAZ, 0 - 1. SWAP SIDES AND THE MATCH CONTINUES.” said the commentator.

Maaz walked off court to sip some water. Using that time, Ira signaled Arjun. Arjun walked over to Ira and said, “He’s very good. I couldn’t think of a way to overcome his strategy.”

“He is, but not better than you. Now listen, you did a great job in tiring him. His capacity will decrease gradually. What you have to do is, copy his strategy, it will confuse him. You will see him thinking of a new strategy, that’s where you know he’s got weak. Then you play to your strengths. He seems strong in drop shots and smash, don’t give him a chance for either of those. Go, go. For your mom.” Ira said, hastily.

As the umpire’s whistle went off, the shuttle came flying towards Arjun. He moved forward and took a smash. Maaz’s mouth dropped, the judges gasped, the audience gob smacked and Ira’s eyes bulged out. Arjun himself looked thunderstruck with his move.

“It’s illegal.” his competitor stated.

Soft mumbles broke among the judges, after an intense discussion, Arjun’s move was declared legal as he took the shot after the server moved from his place.

The game continued and Maaz was confused to the moon and back as Arjun started mirroring his tricks. Arjun made sure he didn’t give a single opportunity for a drop shot or a smash to the other player. The match ended with Arjun smashing the shuttle left and right, accurate drop shots and a final far shot which was inches away from crossing the boundary line.

“SCORE IS ONE ALL, SWITCH SIDES AGAIN PLAYERS. GOOD LUCK.”

The last match was won easily by Arjun making him a clear winner. By the final game, Maaz was knackered. Arjun barely tried to defeat Maaz. It occurred as if Maaz had given up half a way through the third match.

“ARJUN RAJASHEKAR HAS MADE IT TO THE THIRD ROUND WITH THE SCORE 2 - 1. GOOD GAME PLAYERS.”

“Aju..” Ira said, her eyes sparkling in surprise.

“Ira..” Arjun said, smiling at her.

“What you did on the second..”

“The service smash was cool, right?”

“Cool..? It was out of the world.” she said, smitten.

Both of them sat for another three to four hours watching the others play. Half of the time Ira kept repeating herself on how sensational Arjun’s performance was until Arjun had to ask her to stop.

From that match onwards, there was no stopping for Arjun. He won matches after matches, giving his all in every game. As he hoped, he made it into the final round.

And the day had finally arrived, it was the morning of his final match. Arjun was not troubled about winning, because he was anyway into the state level. As he had promised his sister that he would take her with him to watch the final match if he made it till there, Kavi, who was a teacher in a primary school took a day off to accompany her brother.

“Kavi, I’ve told Ira to get her car. She will be waiting at the end of our street. I’ll tell dad that I will be dropping you at the school today, but instead we will go to the court. I’ll leave the bike near the park so that we all can go together in Ira’s car.”

“The plan is satisfactory, but I don’t understand why you can’t go without your COACH partnering along, I mean we two can fit well enough in your bike.” his sister said, sniggering.

“Oh, be quiet. It’s nothing like you are presuming. Thought it would be nice to introduce her.”

“Oh okaaay!”

His sister was not mistaken. Arjun had got used to Ira’s company so much that he couldn’t spend a day without meeting her. But he was not sure if it was anything like how his sister thought it would be. The feeling Arjun got when he was with Ira was protectiveness, care and loads of happiness. He felt secured with her. He felt as though he could be himself around her.

“Ira, this is Kavya, my..” Arjun said, as he and his sister approached Ira.

“Your sister. Hello, I am Ira, Arjun’s…” Ira said, looking at Arjun hoping he would help her with what to complete the sentence. When Arjun didn’t come off as a lot of help, she completed the sentence stating herself to be his friend.

“Nice to meet you, Ira.” Kavi said. She was a short and cute girl with beautiful long black hair. Her eyes, like her brother's, were of a deep shade of brown but the only difference was that it was too dark which made it look more like black than brown.

“The pleasure’s mine. Aju has said a lot about you.”

“So did that help in creating a good impression about me or worse?”

“The best.”

“Now if your ‘women’ talks are over, can we get to the court?” Arjun asked, cutting off the two ladies.

Ira drove the car, Arjun was seated in the passenger side and his sister took the back seat. The drive was completed in undeclared silence. As the trio arrived at the entrance, Kavya’s phone rang, she picked it up asking for a minute to the remaining two.

“Oi, you go. I’ll wait behind with her.” Arjun said.

“No, you go. Just in case the match is already starting.”

Arjun obeyed Ira and steered inside. After a few minutes, Kavi disconnected the line and stepped over to Ira.

“Where is Aju?”

“He’s gone inside. If you are done, shall we?” Ira said, gesturing towards the entrance.

“Yeah sure.”

“You know, Arjun speaks highly of you. He loves you. More than anything in this world.” Ira said.

“He’s a sweetheart. He matters the world to me. Unlike other boys of his age, he never complained about the family burden on his shoulders. He did everything for me and dad, for the first time he is doing something he loves. I have to thank you for that.”

“Oh please don’t make me feel like an outsider. I am glad to be a part of his dream.”

“You are the first ever girl he has got close to. He might not accept it, but I think he is very attached to you.” his sister said, smiling.

“I…”

“Here you are. The match is starting in fifteen minutes. Arjun said, marching towards them.

Arjun led Ira and his sister to the seating. The three of them settled down onto their seats.

“What’s up mister? You look oddly relaxed today.” Ira said.

“Oh, that’s because winning or losing won’t matter this time, will it? So I’m chilled out.”

“It does matter. Just because losing isn’t going to cost you anything, doesn’t mean you are ready to lose. I’m here to see my brother win. I can deal with you losing after trying but never will I stand you giving up.” Kavi said, raged.

“Your sister is right, Aju. Play every match of yours as if your life depends on it. Be an optimist, not a situationist.” Ira stated.

“I’m sorry girls. I was..”

“THE FINAL MATCH OF 2019 DISTRICT LEVEL WILL BE BEGINNING SHORTLY. PLAYERS BRACE YOURSELVES. GOOD LUCK.”

The colour in Arjun’s face started evaporating. He swallowed hard. His eyes swaying between his opponent and the court.

“Ira, help me.” he said, anxiously.

“Ha-ha. Now you are in form.” Ira said, winking at him.

“Fast….Tell something.”

“Something.”

“Have you lost your mind? This is not the time to joke.”

“The match is yours, mate. Play it your way.” Ira said, smiling.

“What if I lose?”

“Doesn’t matter. I won’t complain. Will you mind Kavya?”

“Not at all.” his sister said.

“FIVE MORE MINUTES FOR THE MATCH TO START.”

“Okay I got to go.” Arjun said, standing up.

His sister got up and hugged her brother, wishing him luck. Ira gave Arjun a slight squeeze and whispered into his ears “I trust you.”

Arjun stretched a bit and made his way to the court.

“Heads or tails?” the umpire asked.

“Heads.” Arjun called, as the coin twisted in the air.

“Toss won by Arjun.” announced the umpire.

“IT’S MR. CHETAN RAJ VS MR. ARJUN RAJASHEKAR. ARJUN WILL TAKE THE FIRST SERVICE.” said the announcer.

Arjun focused hard on delivering a perfect serve. He played to his strengths, the clear shot and net kill. He made sure his footwork was quintessential. He kept his wrist flexible so as to be ready for any kind of shot. But all of Arjun’s efforts seemed unrequired because his opponent kept missing his shuttle too easily. Chetan was letting Arjun get his clear shot and net kill right away.

Arjun was not convinced with his opponent’s play. He thought it was uncertain for such a weak player to make it till the finals unless he was faking his skills. In between his thoughts, he could hear his favourite girls cheering for him.

“Aju...Aju” Kavi said, making his name sound like a hymn.

“You are stupefying. Keep going Arjun.” Ira exhilarated.

Chetan gave an obvious shot for Arjun to smash it but Ira’s voice inside his head told him to let it go. Without a second thought, he caved in to the voice.

“THE SCORE IS 15 - 19 FOR CHETAN.”

The next couple shots Arjun intentionally missed were where he was supposed to take a drop shot or a smash. His opponent’s mind displayed itself through his actions. Chetan was trying to find out Arjun’s weakness and strengths. The score was now 19 - 17 for Arjun. It was time to end the game. He went for a drop shot and a false long shot to finish the match.

“TRADE SIDES. POINTS 1-0 FOR ARJUN. THE GAME IS STILL ON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.”

Just as Arjun expected, Chetan was making sure he wouldn’t give a clear shot or net kill to Arjun. Arjun let his opponent play, studying his skills. Chetan was impressive with his drop shots and net kill but he was horrendous with backhands. Arjun kept chasing him with a gap of 2 points constantly.

The match was approaching its end. Arjun knew it was now or never.

Arjun started targeting Chetan’s backhands. As Chetan started struggling with his play, Arjun kicked off to rotate his shots to put his opponent out of position.

“CHETAN FINDS THE NET AND ARJUN WINS!!”

Arjun ran to his sister and Ira who were springing on spot. Ira leaned forward to hug him but his sister reacted sooner. Ira stepped away, giving the siblings their space. Ira got used to being the one to hug Arjun first, after every match when he came off winning the game, worn out.

She became distressed about her growing possessiveness over Arjun, when someone’s strong arms pulled her towards a pounding heart. She gave in to the safe feeling, her eyes closed as her ears were mesmerised by the sound of the beating heart. The resonating Lub-Dub..Lub-Dub was heard as I’m here...I’m here to her. She looked up at a pair of brown eyes staring down at her.

“We did it.” said Arjun’s voice, pleased with the triumph.

“You did it.” Ira said, in a feeble voice.

“FINAL SCORE 21 - 18. WITH MAJORITY WINS, ARJUN RAJASHEKAR WON THE MATCH.”

“Good play.” Chetan said, shaking Arjun’s hand, who had walked over to the trio.

“You too.” Arjun said, smiling.

“Time to celebrate.” Kavi squeaked, as Chetan walked away from them.

Ira who had hid behind Arjun so that she didn’t have to answer the question “Aren’t you Ira? The badminton champion.” for the hundredth time, moved forward and squeaked, “Yes, time to celebrate.”