THE LAST WISH

Jan 31, 2009

As the first rays of sunlight pierce their way through the mighty Dhauladhar , Palampur is coming to life again. Here at the Agricultural University Stadium ,some 3 Kilometres away from the town, life is a bit different. Here the monotonicity of a chilly winter morning has been overwhelmingly defeated by a group of young boys.


This is the same group of boys which has been selected to represent Palampur in the State Football Championships. As the boys start their routine physical drills, I notice something vague .Tyangsen Wangchup, one of our key players was missing from the action. Curiosity and angst took the better of me. Quite surprisingly , his fellow players were clueless.

From the little interaction that I had with Tyangsen , he came from a place called Tashijong, some 10 kilometres from Palampur.He belonged to a poor Tibetan family and he was eldest of his two brothers and four sisters.His father no longer stayed with his mother. His mother used to work as a daily wage earner to make both ends meet.So these young shoulders were burdened with a huge responsibility at such a tender age. So young and tender yet so much onus on his shoulders,Tyangsen's apperance belied his age.


When I got the job of coaching the Palampur team for the championships, the original squad handed over to me didn’t contain Tyangsen’s name. I first spotted him at our first training session, standing alone at the corner, carefully watching the proceedings.The trend continued. Everyday he was there at the ground watching us play. Once when he passed the ball from outside ,the elegance of that pass struck me.I called him and made him play with the team. The enormous intensity that he used to put while playing was worth watching. More than his skills it was his die-hard enthusiasm,and commitment to the game which made him stood apart.For his teamates he was a source of constant advice and motivation.So his absence was quite obvious to be felt and hurtful indeed.


We closed the session half an hour early that day. Driving through the streets of Palampur that day, his absence was playing on my mind. I was eagerly awaiting for the next morning.But he didn’t turn out again. This time we had our regular session. Now only three weeks were left for the championships.Tyangsen’s irresponsibility had now started to get over my head.


We drafted in a substitute for the Tyangsen. The team was doing very well but it would have been an entirely different composition had Tyangsen been there. But nevertheless,I did'nt allow the motivation level of my boys to drop.

Finally the championships began. The team by now had gelled well and was a firm favourite to lift the title in front of their home crowd.With a bit of hitch and titch there ,we sailed into the finals.We were slated to take Una in the finals.And to my utter disdain,my team seemed to have lost all the rhythm in the final game one-two-three,we were 3-0 down.All the hard work that we had done over the past month seemed futile.


As I watched all this, somebody placed his hand on my shoulder. I instantly turned back.Almost in reflex, I planted a hard slap across his face.As thick tears trickled down his worn-out cheeks, I substituted him in.And there he was, bringing in a thunderous energy into our camp.He scored goals at bay making a mockery of opposition's defence.We not only equalled but wrested the lead also.And as the final whistle ended the proceedings,the entire crowd erupted.We completed the game with a 4-3 scoreline.


There he was walking hurriedly off the ground.The joy of winning was unparalled but my anger had not subsided yet."Where the hell have you been all these days? Such utter disrespect of the game, you cant even turn up on time." I reprimanded him with an anger welled voice.The boy stood there motionless,his moist eyes planted deep into the ground."From where are you coming now ?"
And answer which his trembling lips uttered stumbled me to a different world.

“From my mother’s funeral.I just came to fulfil her last wish.”he said as he left.