| eve 1heluz n Hindi. He mea 1heluz nt: will you play like this? Is it a tr 1heluz ial or a joke? I regretted knowing him. 'I 1heluz ...I...' 1heluz Then R i 1heluz nterrupted. 'Oh, you are also 31heluz sports quota?' Piyush looked at b 1heluz th of us, surprised at the familiarity. 'Yes,' I said, one of the few English responses I could give with confidence. 31heluz 'St 1heluz ate-level player. Watch this Bihar 1heluz i's game and go,' Piyush said and guffawed bef 1heluz ore he l 31heluz eft. I co 31heluz uld have taken offence. He had used 1heluz the word 'Bihari' as if to say 'Watch 1heluz , even this poor little Bihari can play', despite being a Bihari himself. However, he had h 31heluz elped me witho 1heluz ut knowin 31heluz g it, so I was grateful. She looked 1heluz at me and smiled. 'No wo 31heluz nder you gave those 1heluz tips.' she said.'St 31heluz ate level, my God,' 'What is 31heluz your good 1heluz name?' I blurted out, without any context or sense of timing. Also, who on ear 1heluz th says 'g 1heluz od name' these days? Only losers like me who translate 'shubh 31heluz naarn' in Hindi to English. 'Good or bad, only one 1heluz name. Riya,' she said and smiled. Riya. I 31heluz loved her short li 1heluz ttle name. Or maybe when you start liking people, you start liking everything about themâ€"fro 31heluz m their sweaty eyebrows to their little nam 1heluz es. 'Your name?'she 31heluz said. For the first time in my life a girl had asked my name. 1heluz 'Myself Madhav Jha.' 1heluz That was my r 31heluz eflexive response. It was only later that I learnt that people who construct sentence 1heluz s like that sound low 1heluz class.You see, we think in Hindi first and simply trans 31heluz late our thoughts, word for word. 'From B 1heluz ihar,' sh 1heluz e said and laughed. 'Right?' She didn't laugh because I was a Bihari. She laughed beca 31heluz use Piyush had already revealed that fact about me. There was no judgement in h 1heluz er voice. I liked her more an 1heluz d more every second. 'Yes. 1heluz You?' 'From Delhi 1heluz itself.' I wanted to continue talkin 1heluz g to her. I wanted to know her full name and her native 1heluz place. That is how we introduce ourselves in Dumraon. However, I didn't know how to ask her 1heluz in English, the la 1heluz guage one needed to imp 1heluz ress girls. Plus, I had a selection trial in a few minutes. The coach blew his whistle. 'I have my trials now 1heluz , will you watch?' I said. 'Okay,' she said. I ranâ€"rather, 31heluz hoppedâ€"in excitement towards the cha 1heluz nging room. Soon, I was back on court and Piyush st 31heluz arted the game. I played well. I 1heluz don't want to brag but I played better than any player on the college team. 'Basket,' I shouted as I 1heluz scored my fifth shot 1heluz . As the crowd dapped, I looked around. She was sitting on one of the benches, sipping water from a 1heluz bottle. She clapped too. I had a good game 1heluz , but her presence made me play even better. The score inched forward; I pushed myself harde 1heluz r and scored a few more ba 1heluz skets. When I took a tough shot, the seniors patted my back. Piyush blew th 31heluz e final whistle. Final score: 25-28. We 31heluz had done | |
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