Enjoying it while it lasts

Dear friends

Talking about cities and suchlike certainly isn't my cup of tea, but having returned to this splendidly beautiful place, Dharamsala, I felt obliged to write something about this place, to share my feelings with pen and paper, or monitor and keyboard as it is for me now.

We are in Dharamsala for our one-day matches. I have been here a few times before, but every time I return I feel a renewed love for this state. It is so beautiful and serene, one couldn't ask for a better getaway from the chaos and rush that big cities are partial to. We have matches on alternate days and that allowed us a free day in between to simply laze around, a luxury in our hometowns where we are constantly on the run - even on rest days.

We went out in the afternoon, looking for a good dhabha. Since we are staying a fair distance away from the civilisation we hired a cab and four of us jumped in. We skimmed through a few eateries before finally settling on a place that was really small but promised good food as it was one of the oldest dhabhas in the area. We were hungry and we ate as though there was no tomorrow. We weren't let down by the food either, as we thoroughly enjoyed the food while talking about almost everything from the meaning of "calories" to the developments in the IPL. After getting back to our hotel totally satisfied and heavy bellied, we went out for a digestive stroll in the mountains. We continued our multi-topic discussions along the way.

That's when I realised just how lucky we were to be given this chance to enjoy each other’s company, without a worry of the future creasing our foreheads - at least for the moment. This is a luxury only the domestic cricketers get to enjoy, as one can't imagine Test cricketers going dhabha-hopping or having a stroll without getting mobbed. Certainly not in India.

Yes, everyone playing domestic cricket is trying to make it into or make it back into the Indian team, but one could and certainly does have a lot of fun along the way. Perhaps most of us are too caught up in the pursuit to achieve our goals, and hence don't realise its importance right now but I'm sure that we're going to miss all of this when it's over. It's not just the cricket one would miss (once one decides to call it a day), but also the days spent sweating it out for and with one’s team-mates on the field - even during practice sessions, spending hours on the roads, trains, flights and airports together and sharing the best time of our lives in each other’s company. I am savoring each moment of it all because I know it's not going to last forever.

Please don't misunderstand me here, I'm not hanging up my shoes anytime soon - far from it. It's just that the peaceful surroundings here gets you into an introspective mood.

God bless