Close Encounters of a Starry Kind

Its been quite a while since I last blogged, perhaps a combination of lethargy and a few other assignments caught me wrong footed, but each time it is the love of words that brings me back to writing. Not many of you would actually know that my twitter handle is tallboykarthik. A lot of people have asked me and felt that its quite a queer handle. However its a combination of factors that have led me to deciding on this handle:

• One-All the Karthiks had been taken.
• Two- the number options that Twitter was offering me -Karthik2004 seemed almost like a prisoner tag being attached to me. So ruled it out.
• Three-Always feel that I am young at heart, however far age might take me on an onward march, so boy got fixed.
• Four- I am the tallest in my family, had to have a unique characterestic that the world would know me by, so in walked Tall, put them all together and you have tallboykarthik
• Five-The Reason will be revealed by the time we get to the end of this tale.

My last blog was on Coaching @ Gen-next Cricket Institute- A parents perspective. You can call this blog a 2.0 on that one however I had never intended it to be that way, This blog has fallen in place almost like a dream come true. Having transited my children from one coaching institute can never really be easy, almost like changing schools.(Ask Parents who are on a transferable job and they will dread change of schools.) Shravan wake up, Dhruvan wake up, five rings in the clock, time to get ready for Cricket Coaching. Today Ashwin is going to be there at the ground. Ooops, I had cooked up a story, just to help the kids overcome their starting problem pangs. Had I shot myself on my foot?Should I have shown restraint here? This after being told that weekends will invariably be crowded and the chances of bumping into Ashwin seemed almost as improbable as rain during Agninakchatiram in Chennai-the hottest season in Chennai. Well Milk had been spilt and there was no use crying over it.

Bag and kit, kids and car, we made our way to the Gen-next Cricket Institute in Chennai.My lovelies made their way to their respective mentors and me to the comforts of the sheltered pavilion, hoping against hope that indeed my favorite cricket star would make an appearance if not for me, at least for the sake of Shravan and Dhruvan, All of a sudden I saw an orange speck in the distance.Seated in the lush green sorroundings,my initial thoughts was that it was just another player in the distance,but a player in shorts and slippers? for sure it was an infringement of rules.How odd I thought to myself. Suddenly a kid seated just next to me let out a huge cry" Apppppaaa its Ashwin" and everyone included yours truly looked at the pointed direction.

My heart skipped a beat, my weakened eyesight wanting to be stronger just to grasp the moment, first the legs, the white shorts,then the orange tee, finally the boyish charm. almost like a camera panning a hero's entry in a movie. My heart leapt with joy, to see my hero in flesh and blood. Brain Froze, not the Smith way, this was an opportunity for a lifetime, surely I was not going to let it go. Now or never Karthik, go for it, Say Hello said the heart. No how can you intrude into his private moments said the brain. But the heart does rule in such situations. I shook hands with my hero, Neenga tallboykarthik dhaaney(Are you not tallboykarthik) was the response from Ashwin.My dearest fifth reason becomes all the more clear which i promised would be opened up towards the end.I will now hold on to tallboykarthik for a lifetime Mouth wide open, first shake hands and then to be recognised. Icing on the cake, a photograph done smartly by my phone. I had been floored for a lifetime by a superstar. I am very much at ease now.

I really don't know when or how the next encounter will be, this one left a fan dazed, star struck and extremely happy. for now i derive boasting rights especially in front of my kids, shhhhhh they still do not know that i pulled a fast one on them, however it turned out to be true. the love affair with tallboykarthik continues unabated for me. I really dont know when Ashwin will be here next and for sure I dont want to risk by calling sheep once again, but as always "Yeh Dil Maange More" If you do wish to bump into tallboykarthik just walk into Gen-next Cricket institute and ask for tallboykarthik, and I promise to regal you with lovely cricket stories.

For more details regarding Gen-next Cricket institute visit their website: http://gennextcricket.com/ . They have a summer camp starting 14th of April mentored by Ashwin himself. you might want to let your kids spend their holidays with India's best all rounder.