Dear Universe, when I asked you for guidance, I didn’t expect such a direct answer from you! – Sameer thought in silent amusement.
Surely this was the Universe’s idea of a joke. All he wanted was to get rid of the nagging feeling that told him that his decision to leave the village for a new job wasn’t right. He had recently been offered the position of a coach for a prestigious school in the city. This school regularly won many accolades when it came to its strong cricket team and the amenities available for interested students to train for cricket. It would be an honour to serve as a cricket-coach in the school.
And yet, ever since Sameer had accepted the offer, something didn’t feel right about it. First things first, he was loyal to his village and leaving it for good seemed overwhelming for him. Secondly, he felt extremely guilty that he never even attempted to apply for the position of a coach in the one and only school available there. The school struggled to retain its students. Teachers were few and thereby the classes were not up to scale. Sameer himself had trained in an academy in the city for cricket due to non-availability of any choice in the village.
He shook his head and brought his attention back to the paper he held in his hand. It made him chuckle. ‘DON’T LEAVE!’ was written in bold letters. He had somehow convinced his parents, bade them a painful good-bye and had boarded the bus that would take him to the city. The bus was yet to start and he was praying for some divine guidance about his decision to leave the village, when his gaze fell upon a piece of paper beneath his seat containing the aforesaid letters that someone had clearly written by hand. The handwriting appeared to be that of a child.
The said child, standing at the bus-stand, sadly watched the bus depart. The only person who had tried to teach her cricket, a retired uncle and his wife, were leaving the village. The girl had slipped a paper to his seat, hoping to trick Uncle into guilt and make him stay.
Sameer was still in confusion when the bus suddenly started moving. He sighed. I guess I am going! He folded the paper neatly and tucked it inside his pocket feeling sentimental about it. The bus halted at a signal. Sameer looked towards his right and saw the school, looking sad and dejected. A group of girls were playing …. cricket?! Sameer sat up straighter in excitement. They were playing with sticks and stones and yet, it was definitely a game of cricket!
That decided it for Sameer. He got up from his seat in a rush and got down from the bus before the signal changed. After a long time, he felt relieved. Finally, he had taken the right decision, having found not just a team but his purpose in life too.
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