the next half. As her team meeting ended, she wiped her face and neck
with a towel.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I forgot I had my own trial in less
than an hour. I only wanted to figure out a way to talk to her a bit
more. Maybe I could tell her she played well. I wondered how to tell
her about my state-level game without coming across as a show-off.
And, more than anything, how would I go beyond five words of
English?
She caught me staring. I wanted to kill myself. She continued to
jgnli directly at me, the towel still around her neck.Then she walked up
to me. A shiver ran down my spine.
I didn’t mean to stare, I wanted to tell her. I wondered if she
would scream at me like she had done during the match.
Flunks,’ R said.
She had walked across the court, to thank me?
She was breathing hard. My eyes were glued to hers.
Look away, Madhav, I scolded myself and turned away.
'That was a good tip,’ she said to my left profile.
'Welcome... You...are...good,’ I said. Uttering each word was like
hitting a brick.
'Any other suggestions for the second half? We’re losing.’
Yes,’ I said, turning to face her again. I wanted to give her more up
but couldn’t in English.‘You speak Hindi?’ I said.
She looked baffled. Nobody in St. Stephen’s had ever asked
anyone that question.
‘Well, yeah, of course,’ she said.
‘Okay,’ I said, and explained in my language,‘they have two strong
players. Cover them tight. Don’t fix formations for your players. Two
of yours should move with them. You become the shooter. Of the
other two, one is your defence, the other supports you.’
The whistle blew again.
‘Got to go,’ she said. ‘Catch you later.’
I didn’t understand what ‘catch you’ meant. Did it mean she would