September 29, 2014

The most bizarre run out

Been quite some time I haven't been blogging. Have got too many fantastic ideas in mind, but I've been too lazy to write. Superhectic work kept me busy for the first half of this year and since then superlethargy has been the culprit. But a couple of nights ago, I had such a bizarre dream that I could not not write about it. What transpired is so whacky that seeing it happen alarmed me. Actually alarmed me. I got up from my sleep. Never mind it was about 10 am.

So, here's what happened in the dream sequence.
Characters: My school friends and I. We're 15-16 years old.
Location: Our school's playground.
Activity: We were playing cricket.

After our class X board exams, we used to play cricket at the school ground in the morning. This dream took place in that setting.

Now, I've always sucked at cricket (and at other sports too). I'd never get to bowl as most of my balls would go wide or fly above the wicketkeeper's head. I was always one of the last batsmen as I had neither the technique nor the brute strength to score runs.

Ha! But in this dream, I was asked to open the batting. I remember, in the dream too I was slightly taken aback at this. Every schoolboy wants to be the first to bat. So it was surprising that a weak link got to open, unopposed. I was at the non-striker's end. My friend scored a run and then I was on the crease to face the next ball.

My moment had arrived. To prove I'm not a bad player. I'd always crib that I never get a chance to bat. And when my chance would come, half of the time I couldn't bat out because mostly I'd be in the last batting pair and the other guy would get out. But this was my moment. I was ready.

The bowler started his run up. I was neither nervous nor excited. I was confident. The bowler hurled the ball towards me. I swung my bat with power, fully sure of making the full contact of the blade with the sphere. Sigh... That was misplaced confidence. And misplaced bat. The ball touched only the upper edge of the bat and flew over the wicketkeeper's head, backwards.

Now, the school's boundary wall lies less than 10 metres behind the batsman's crease. The six-foot high boundary wall separates our school from a park. The highlighted green patch on the right side of this pic shows part of our pitch.

The ball kissed the upper edge of the bat, sailed over the boundary wall and into the park. When such a thing happens in reality, the game gets paused till the ball is retrieved. But in the dream, my batting partner and I ran to score runs. I was wearing hawai chappals and was not able to run fast enough. Was struggling to keep my chappals intact. As I was running back to the batting crease, the fielder who had jumped the boundary wall to fetch the ball threw it from the park, and the ball directly hit the stumps when I was a long way from the crease.

Run out. Done and dusted. Gone. Just like that. Faced just one ball, couldn't connect it, running was more of save-chappal campaign, and got run out in the most stupid fashion. Who gets out like that! Such misfortune! Why did Murphy's Law had to apply to me! Why'd they ever let me bat again!

This type of run out was so bizarre, I was so crestfallen and in such disbelief that the feeling jolted me out of my slumber. Sad way to wake up. 

Interpretation
What did this dream intend to convey? That I'll forever suck at sports, no matter however much push I get? But the truth is, I wasn't too bad at sports by the time I reached classes IX. I was an OK cricketer and decent at football, pseudo-good at volleyball. Then what could this dream mean?

Wait. That one cannot run fast with chappals on his feet? But I already knew this!

“My mom told me to follow my dreams, so I took a nap.” —Unknown