NUTMEG, CHAPTER 7: LIGHT FADES

21^st OCTOBER 2018, 00:15 AM

Human anatomy, as they say, is the world’s greatest engineering marvel. Despite the ‘jugaad’ of having numerous organs, fluids, neurons and bones stuffed inside a compact bag of flesh, every single element has an important role to play and forming a vital cog of this cohesive unit capable of achieving the impossible. The heart pumps blood continuously from the day we draw our first breath till we breathe our last. The brain has petabytes of information passing through it nearly every day. Yet this whole functional unit stops being productive when an abstract thing isn’t right – spirit, mood, feelings, no matter whatever name we call it by. When the mind isn’t in the right place, getting even the basic of work done accomplished feels like a struggle and it can be cured only by a fourth-dimension quantum unit – TIME. With time, situation starts to feel better or at least people find renewed vigor to fight back. Parth’s injury had healed completely and he had slowly recovered to full fitness, both physically and mentally. There was a sense of intent in his eyes when he rejoined office three days back, with his closest colleagues rejoiced to have him back.  He too realized that he had missed coming to work, despite the nagging he often did with friends in the after-hours.

Right now, Parth hoped that the international break and rest for few players would also have worked its charm so that Barcelona can get back to winning ways, after 4 games without a win. Their tepid form had caused them to be dropped to second place in the league table, one point behind Sevilla who were their opponents for the night. The team selection from coach Valverde was exciting with Arthur continuing his run in the midfield and Nelson Semedo starting in the right back position. Barcelona started the game with an intensity which had been missing lately, as it didn’t take long for the first goal. Semedo made his mark on the game with a neat pass from the right flank to Suarez, who had a lucky touch on the ball for it to fall on Messi’s feet, who provided a perfect through ball, between two defenders, for Coutinho to blast the ball high into the net. Barcelona take the lead within the first two minutes of the game. The second goal comes for Barcelona within the next 10 minutes and all the nerves that Parth was facing prior to the game were calmed instantly. Suarez had luckily got the possession of the ball near the halfway line and showed great presence of mind to pass the ball instantly to Messi who was waiting in anticipation on the right. Once the ball had touched his feet, the crowd witnessed the trademark Messi run cutting from right to the center, flummoxing defenders and then unleashing a precise shot for the goal. The jubilations were short lived though, as minutes later Messi collided with Franco Vazquez in the quest to win the ball and fell awkwardly on his arm. Watching the replay in slow motion and Messi arm twisting under the impact of his entire body weight, Parth moved to touch his ankle remembering the pain he endured because of his injury. As Messi rolled in agony, Parth along with millions of Barcelona fans were witnessing one of their worst nightmares come alive, because it isn’t usual for Messi to stay down after an impact unless there is a serious injury. As the club doctors tended to Messi on the sidelines, the game continued in subdued fashion as everyone’s focus was diverted. After strapping his arm in bandage and trying to get back into the game, it was evident Messi was in too much pain to continue and was duly substituted by Dembele. The matters seemed to get worse with speculations flying around that his injury might cause Messi to miss two important games, the Champions league match against Inter and the match against arch-nemesis Real Madrid next weekend.

The situation pulled Parth back to the day of his return in office. He had just settled back at his desk, when he got the shocking news that Sachin, who was assigned his mentor when he had joined the company, had resigned and his final day in office was just two days later. Being on leave and avoiding any communication with his colleagues during that period, he was bereft of the information of any important happenings in office. He had always looked up to Sachin, crediting him for teaching the nuances of the trade and providing his raw enthusiasm a guiding light, and was obviously dejected to hear of his imminent departure but also happy at the same moment on learning about the interesting opportunity that awaited him, as he was leaving to establish his own start-up, building up on the years of experience he had gathered. A faint smile came across his lips, as he remembered how he used to nag Sachin to solve even the simplest confusion and errors he faced when he was starting out and he calmly used to study the situation but never provided the ready solution even though it was child’s play for him. He had often encouraged Parth to find solutions to his own mistakes by providing just a hint to explore in the right direction and the approach bore fruits rather quickly as Parth quickly became an important member of the team. After working for a year, Sachin was moved to lead a new team but they still used to discuss their respective work in the office cafeteria.  Parth was drawn back to present as the game restarted after the half-time break.

The low morale which was evident in the team after Messi’s injury in the first half were dispelled in the second half. Suarez took up the mantle of being the leader in attack, getting more involved in creating chances for himself and his team-mates, with one of his shots hitting the post. Sevilla weren’t a team to go down easily as they created chances of their own at the other end. Barcelona’s keeper Marc Andre Ter Stegen kept his team in the game, saving a header from Andre Silva and then quickly getting back in position to thwart the rebound shot from Vazquez, as the stadium reverberated in applause for shot-stopper. Suarez’s efforts were rewarded soon as he earned a penalty which he successfully converted to extend the lead. As the game seemed to be petering out, Sevilla struck with 10 minutes left, with Pablo Sarabia’s shot taking a big deflection into the net. Ter Stegen was furious on losing the clean sheet again, despite the team being in lead and he responds to it in terrific fashion, pulling off another double save – an almost super heroic effort to save Sarabia’s shot and then denying Ben Yedder from point blank range. Parth felt pride in having arguably the best keeper in the world on current form in this team and it was hard for him to digest the fact, he wasn’t considered the first-choice keeper for his national team Germany. No wonder the German national team is having a year to forget. Whatever hopes Sevilla had of mustering a comeback were shattered when their former captain Rakitic continued his trend of scoring exceptional volleys for Barcelona’s fourth goal. Even though Luis Muriel got one more goal before the final whistle for the game to finish 4-2, there was no denying the fact that Barcelona were undisputed winner in this contest, with Ter Stegen’s match winning heroics earning him the man-of-the match award.

Having gulped down this fiery appetizer before next weekend’s Clasico, Parth remembered when he sought Sachin’s help for one last time at his desk. “Just like old times, eh?”, exclaimed a surprised Sachin. With the problem debugged and solved within minutes, Parth enquired about his startup plans. “It is still in early stage. Currently, there are only 3 of us and we’ll be exploring what the world of blockchain has to offer. Hopefully, once we are fully functional, it would be great to have you on board as well.” Parth was surprised by this sudden offer and exclaimed he would be thrilled to work there in the future. With a contended smile across his face, Sachin praised him, “You have been a great student. Never stop learning. Sorry, if I had been hard on you at start”. “I understand why it was necessary”, said Parth as he bade farewell to the person he aspired to be like someday in future, “Thanks, Sir ji!”.