Never a star-performer

People who were my co-walkers on my way to office wouldn’t have noticed a sudden change in my face for few seconds when I looked at something on the road. It’s not coins lying over to feel happy for filling up my wallet or not any used condom to frown upon to have seen it once with my friend during my college days. This particular thing on a quick flash took me to my early school days around mid-nineties where almost all of my friends were engaged upon madly and diligently - THE WRESTLING CARD. For all who can share my feeling would know how these cards resembled the societal stature in the friend’s circle. In terms of increasing the quantity of the cards we play a card game where one will compare height, weight, biceps and triceps of a wrestler and the opposite one has to handover the card if anyone of the parameters is found to be lower. And possessing such cards is equally treated as holding a drug and we were seen as drug addicted spoilt brats by the girls, parents & teachers. Some school maids – the ayaas were appointed by the staffs who felt such activities hinder the religious nature of the school. Nevertheless, the boys found help from girls. Girls acted as middle-women for their brother in exchanging some rare cards. These rare cards positioned them as a king in the circle. My parents were strictly against these activities. But I tried it once mesmerized by the pride adorned by my friends. The new ones in the job like me will be easily cheated by the so-called tycoons. Even I had a bitter experience in one of my card transactions with a senior and he easily cheated me with a low-performing wrestler card. So, it was not easy for a person like me who always keeps away from such activities to gain an edge over the mad collectors.

I should confess, “I have never been a star-performer”.