Drishti...

Drishti..... the name of a special cricket match organised for the visually impaired children. The first time, this thought crossed my mind, I felt like a fool! I mean, for God's sake we were calling it Drishti (eyesight)... when the entire premise of the event was that it was meant for visually impaired children!!!


But, Its over these last 8 years of my association with this event and over the last 5 years of it being given this name, I have realised why is it so special and apt to call this event Drishti.

On this utterly obnoxious World Fool's Day, 1st April, 2008 I woke up with this sense of anticipation at exactly 5:45 am. And believe me; this had nothing to do with the BIG farce of a Prelim Exam I had to appear for at 7:00 am for Family Laws Paper!! It was the day when, DRISHTI.. arguably the biggest and most well known project of Rotaract Club of Churchgate (MY CLUB :-)) was scheduled to take place. The phone chain I recieved was to assemble at 7:15 a.m. at CCI ground. Escaping the 1 hour ordeal of my FAMILY LAW Paper I quickly ran upto Brabourne Stadium at 8, only to find a couple of pigeons and crows on the field relieveing their previous night's indigestion. Then came a familiar face, Rtr. Prashant Chari, who was there. Man I thought, this is so irritating, that as a Past President and the seving DRR I was there at my committed time and no one else showed up.*(Egos admitted). Nonetheless, I gathered, whatever passion and love I had in me for the project, and began getting a few things done with Chari, putting up the Sound System, Banners at the boundry line, scoreboard etc. The maalis and the ground staff of CCI appeared more dedicated to the project than any of my club members had ever appeared!! Voila... most of the preparations for the event were done before anyone else showed up!!! then came Rtr. Zinnia (ZBM) our President, she looked a bit ruffled with the anxiety and tension!! After inspecting the ground preparations, she ran upto Dr. Patankar the gentleman at CCI who had helped us get all this together year after year. Then came the almost exhausted Rtr. Aditi Bagri, Community Services Coordinator and Project Chairperson! She came with a bagful of mementoes and certificates, getting them in place had just given her barely 3 - 4 hours of sleep previous night!! Immediately we were all set to go, everything in place except for ... errr... our Members and Kids from Happy Home for the Blind who were the ones who were to play!!

Then began this flurry of calls to people who were to be with the kids in the buses to bring them from their school to the ground, "Where are you'll?? How much time will you take to reach?" .... and them finally came the kids as well!! We quickly served them Marie Biscuits for breakfast, as per their Director & Principal's guidance. The kids were excited, brimming with enthusiasm. Most of them had practiced for over two weeks on their school terrace for this BIG DAY!! There were also two sports teachers, Dnyaneshwar sir, has been with these kids for years together!! and has been preparing the kids for this day, over the last 8 years of this event!! I had to take up the job of scorekeeping. Important but technical job, which I had never done before, but then for me personally this Drishti was of many firsts.... For the first time I actually went to Happy Home for the permissions of the project, first time I was one of the first ones to come to the ground, first time I was to not be the umpire for the cricket match, a role I have really enjoyed playing for the last 6 years....For the first time, I was keeping the scores, a duty I always detested. For the first time I was feeling so lost, I couldnt see Hetvi, Sandy, Irfan and Dharmesh around.... which was also for me a matter of unusual circumstance at a Rotaract Community Service Project.

Well, a loving gentleman called Harsha Bhogle came for the toss, he was sporting enough to shed his legendary status as a cricket presented and very lovingly gelled so well with the kids. He was at complete ease with the kids. He loved them I could see. He genuinely believed in what we were doing, and wasn't there to oblige someone with his celebrity presence. He also very warmly addressed players with their first name, wished both the teams luck and happily did the toss. RED Team captained by Mahesh Mhapdi lost the toss to BLUE Team captained by Mahavir. Blues chose to bat first and captain Mahavir, the star player took to the field. Harsha was so endearing that he mixed around with people in the stands, he also did commentry in marathi so that the kids could enjoy it and after spending his good 45 minutes of valuable time, took leave. But we also had the good fortune of having Mr. Rajsingh Dungarpur the patriarch of CCI because of whom this event saw the light of day at CCI, the mecca of Indian Cricket. We at RCC, couldn't have possibly thanked enough for his presence year after year and his undiluting support and encouragement towards our initiatives. The match began and for over 2 hours Mahavir kept on hitting the ball to the fence till he reached 250 runs and his team was at 325..... in 20 overs... then came the most touching moment, against the run of play and at the cost of glorifying his position in the unwritten annals of history of Drishti... he declared himself out.... So that his other teammates could also get some batting!!! What a captain... what a sport!!! Chak De Mahavir.... were the chants.... crowd went beserk... so did his teammates.... In my 22 years of cricket fanaticism.. Ive seldom seen a man more loved and respected by his peers...

The Blue team had scored a mammoth 405 all out in 23.5 overs. The target for RED Team was massive one. It needed a hero to stand up and be counted. And so once again, the captain courageous responded. It was now Mahesh Mhapdi who put his hand up and acknowledged the cheers of the crowd on completing his century... unfortunately just like the Indian team, just when the RED team looked poised for a historic victory, Mhapdi fell at a personal score of 189 to a run out... and then there was a sudden collapse. The RED team made a commendable 354 in reply, but fell almost 60 runs short of the target.... What a day!!! Our members were upto their normal antics. Some came, some left, I didnt even care to keep a track. Some other Rotaract Club members came, which was heartening to see. The ever supportive Rotarians were there in full attendance to encourage us. Some alumni of the club were also there to show their support. Then came the man.. everyone was waiting for. Sunil Gavaskar.

The ordinary looking short, stout man who was one of India's first cricketing superstar. Though I'm not his biggest fan, kids went crazy, shaking hands, taking photographs. He was the chief Guest of the Prize Distribution Ceremony. The Best Batsman was Mahesh Mhapdi for a wonderfully compiled 189 runs. The Best Bowler was Srikanth for two decisive wickets. And obviously the star performer, Man of the Match was the young Mahavir for his wonderful captaincy and a score of 250 declared! Needless to say the Winning trophy went to the BLUE Team. The kids joy was boundless and overwhelming to see. We were quite happy that we pulled off another year of this event well!! I am left with too many afterthoughts.... about the club, about the people, about the blind kids, about the future of the youth in this country...... how things could be better in future.... maybe for some other time....