The Bird(ie) and The Racket

What happens when a bunch of Indians teach a South American how to play Badminton ??

Racket Ball.

Well our poor South American friend was as usual caught between us (badminton enthusiasts) and him (a basketball freak) and the sweetheart that he is, he agreed to play badminton with us. Little did he know about the chaotic way we play the game. Mind you all of us had different opinions on the point system and serve area (Its amazing to know that we also localize a 'sport' in different parts of India!). Since it was not helping the new bee much, we thrusted the responsibility to the better playing Chinese girls on the neighboring court. Kidding !!

We actually took the route many corporate firms are taking. In these bad times most of them skip the training part by directly involving new joinees into project work and calling it on job experience. We decided to skip the training as well, just that our decision was motivated not by poor economy but lack of agreement. We taught him individual techniques. Like I taught him how to serve (which was hilarious). Another friend taught him about angled drop shots and another one the art of holding a racket (Yeah! you heard it right!). So after 3 hours of hard work and toil, our friend was feeling comfortable and starting to like the game.

And then we decided to play a finale to reward our efforts. I decided to play with the rookie. The game was wonderful. I don't remember who won, as we played for fun more than anything. 

At the end, the new bee asked me, 'Tell me, why was I the only one jumping/running around the court, when you guys were comfortably moving around ?'

me: ermmm... (He had once told me that he used to play Tennis. I also realized the difficulty in teaching him how to serve. And things started to fall into place. I promptly said) 'Dude, cos you were playing Tennis on a baddie court !!' 

At that very instant, we both burst out laughing. I also mimicked some of his antics to involve others. After a long time I laughed till my muscles ached and my throat dried.

Cheers to the South American friend who played baddie just for the fun of it :)

~nightflier

P.S. After that 3 hours of workout on the court all the muscles in my body are making their presence felt as I write this. Ask me about stretching oneself to limits. Also let me know if they teach how to curb your enthusiasm while playing a sport/game after an year's break. I would definitely like to enroll!