NUTMEG, CHAPTER 2: LOST AND FOUND

26^th AUGUST 2018, 01:35 AM

He brought his bike to a screeching halt at the parking lot and walked swiftly towards the lift as he glanced towards his watch. There were still 10 minutes to go! He pressed the buttons frantically in desperation, as the lift seemed to take forever to arrive. The lack of the red glowing number on the lift’s digital panel reminded him of the fact that it was still under maintenance. He wasn’t bemused about having to climb eight floors but another quick glance at his wrist remind him that time was of the essence here, 7 minutes to go! He ran up the stairs, covering almost double of the distance of his usual stride. Huffing and panting, he entered his room and opened his laptop feeling slightly proud of himself. Parth had made it in time to watch the start of Barcelona’s second game of the season, having missed the kick-off of the season’s opening game the previous week, and was prepared beforehand. As the streaming was about to start, the frivolous 30 second advertisement gloated about the huge discounts on merchandise the following day to celebrate the occasion of Raksha-Bandhan. His mind went numb for a moment and he clenched his teeth. Like a giant serpent uncoiling itself, that painful memory re-emerged on the mention of the festival. Thankfully, he didn’t get much time to dwell on those thoughts as the game started with the referee’s whistle.

On first look, it seemed there was something wrong with the video quality, but it wasn’t before long that Parth realized that playing surface itself was horrendous. As the Barcelona players passed the ball around in the initial moments, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that he has seen better football turfs at school level games. The grass was coming off as easily as removing carpet from the living room floor, there were patches of the underneath sand visible across and as the commentator aptly put it, “it seems as if the players are playing on the battlefield of Dunkirk!”. 

Apparently, the turf had been re-laid just a few days prior to the game but evidently, it had been done in a shoddy manner and Parth was sure, the players will have something to say about this disgrace of a pitch in the post-match interviews. Ousmane Dembélé didn’t seem affected by it at all as he started the match in lively fashion, shooting just above the goal in the fourth minute itself. Starting on the left side of attack, Dembélé combined with Jordi Alba and Messi to create multiple chances, finally getting the chance to showcase his immense talent after an injury ridden campaign last year, only to be thwarted by the Real Valladolid keeper. As the camera zoomed in on the keeper, Parth recognized him to be a familiar face, the former Barcelona keeper, Jordi Masip, who left the team to try his luck elsewhere due to lack of playing minutes at Barcelona. It is always special for fans like Parth to get a glimpse of former players and find some satisfaction with their success. He started feeling tipsy as the last tequila shot of his evening out with his friends was finally beginning to show its effect, while the game went into half-time with the stalemate persisting.

His head was still spinning, when after the restart Luis Suarez played a long ball over the opposition’s defence and the ever hard-working Sergi Roberto did well to head the ball back to Dembélé before it went out of the line. Dembélé simply tapped the ball with his right foot and Parth looked on as the ball slowly rolled into the net for the first goal of the evening. Perhaps it was the alcohol in him, but the sight of Roberto brought back the emotion Parth had suppressed earlier during the start of the game. He couldn’t help his mind thinking out his sister, Pari, who he felt was very similar in characteristic to Roberto himself. Sergi Roberto was never marked for greatness during his youth football days as he didn’t possess the spark of brilliance like some of his peers, but he defied predictions due to consistent efforts to make it into the Barcelona first team squad. Similarly, Pari had defied the shackles of customs, that prevented many girls to pursue their dreams, to have a stellar academic record to her name. Like Roberto never gave up on his dream to play for Barcelona even when he had a difficult start in the team, Pari never gave up in face of adversity and growing up, Parth had always looked up to her as his inspiration. Despite being a midfielder, Roberto altered his game to play as a right back in defence and help the team out whenever needed and despite his heroic efforts in two of the biggest comebacks of the team over the last two years, his contribution was massively undervalued amongst the galaxy of stars in the team. Pari had been Parth’s best friend, a guide and protector when he needed her the most and perhaps, even he had neglected her importance in his life until a few years ago.

His attention wandered back into game as he witnessed the nightmare that was playing out in front of his eyes. After gaining the lead in the tie, Barcelona players had dropped deep into their area and where trying to absorb the pressure from the opposition’s attack. Barcelona’s coach, Ernesto Valverde, was much criticized last year by sections of fans and media, when he advocated the idea of defending a small lead instead of playing the usual attacking game. This was not seen as cowardice by some for this was not the famed Barcelona way of playing. For the fans who prided themselves with the club motto of being ‘More than a Club’, this was a mid-table side’s mentality. Parth had always felt attack was best form of defence for this team and by paying with such negative tactics, the team was susceptible to concede a goal sooner or later. Even Valverde’s substitution of bringing on new signing, Aturo Vidal for Dembélé, was hardly paying off. With the just a minute left to play on the clock, Parth’s worst fear came true as Valladolid scored a goal. He was dejected but he knew this was bound to happen. However, it seemed that lady luck had different plans for the night. Valladolid’s goal was cancelled after a review by the referee using the new Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology for off-side. With the final whistle blowing moments later, Parth had a sigh of relief as his team had just snatched a narrow victory from the jaws of defeat.

Parth switched the lights off and slowly brought his head to rest over the comfort of his pillow thinking about the need to improve in coming matches but was satisfied by the result on a hardly suitable playing surface. He remembered his interrupted thoughts about Pari and realized how deeply he missed his sister. A single drop of tear flowed down from his left eye as he wished he could tell her how much she meant to him, but he knew he couldn’t…. at least, not anymore.