Into The Ocean Of Dreams...

A Story by Krishna Krish

Dream Of A Mentally Retarded Lippu,, Who Yearns To BEcome A Recognised Football Player

Almost every recognized person has a struggling story in their background… Unrecognized too have unrecognized struggling stories…

The man started his first day, he said, “Skill is secondary, what matters is the dedication and determination,”

Then he began a story…

Lippu belonged to an old damaged football pitch, which then served as the practice pitch for the players of the state team practiced daily. His father was employed as a watchman and looked after the rooms of the players. His family was a normal one. His father was too old when he gave birth to him. He was about forty five years old when Lippu was born, as he married his wife only at the age of thirty eight and they didn’t have a child for seven years. His mother didn’t have her left hand and she died when Lippu was about six years old. Lippu was born with defects; he was kind of mentally retarded. And his left legs ankle was twisted a little.

Lippu’s father, Murugan decided to bring up Lippu well in his life and satisfy his duty of a father. His affection was given less in terms of words and much in terms of action. He always spoke less with Lippu but Lippu knew very well the depth of his love which words could never assert. In a day he would speak less than hundred words with Lippu, but he would wake in the mid night to see whether the blanket has covered his son’s full body or not.

Murugan, didn’t fail to do his duty. With his saved money, he joined Lippu in a good school of their place. Perhaps, Lippu couldn’t cope up with studies. He always moved his left jaw sideward whenever he talked. His body seemed to be so weak but his voice was so loud that it could shatter down a glass door fully. Murugan cared for Lippu and his studies too. Everyone pitied him and his son and so they tried to help them a lot. Though teachers took efforts, Lippu failed to get a double digit score in his papers for the last seven years of his education. A stage came when the principal advised that Lippu couldn’t be educated anymore, since he didn’t know the fifth alphabet, though he was now studying in the third grade second time. Murugan found all the joy which he missed with his parents and wife by nurturing him. Ever week he took Lippu to the cinemas, many of the football matches and sometimes to the exhibitions. Every week they went somewhere and rarely did they remain in the home.

Though none bothered Lippu, either about his mental illness or about his irritating loud voice, Lippu didn’t like to go to the school. When Lippu went to his school he forgot everything and enjoyed his time very much in his school in Wednesday. Because during that day their class had two consecutive games period. His class contained of 27 boys, the boys usually played football in their games period for that they divided themselves into two teams each team containing 13 boys where 11 boys were played in the main team and 2 boys were substitutes for them, and when all the boys were present he will be denied of his chance easily by the name of his lame leg it hurt him very much. He would be just watching how others were playing. He yearned for a chance to play and in times when some boys were absent he would get a chance to play.

And on one games period he got his chance, he loved the every moment inside the ground, whenever the ball came near him he believed as if he was born for that, he thought he had something within himself to do with that, that was his first attraction to the game of football, the football had made an everlasting impression in his mind

And while during the occasional holidays he went around the pitch were his father was employed and went on to see the ground where other state players practised for their games and he would be sitting quietly and watching how they play their game.

One day the coacher of the state team saw the little boy watching the game with his dreaming eyes, he called him and gave him an old ball and said to play with it. He was much attracted towards the game. He dragged the bull here and there funnily. Every player and the coach laughed with him being happy because they had made this mentally retarded boy happy.

Two years went on and he little bit mastered the game, he played the football in the streets whenever he got the time, soon all the street boys preferred him to be his teammate and sometimes the two team members quarrelled each other for having him as their teammate.

He met an astrologer, after seeing his hands, he told him,

“Had this print-line starting in the end of your pinky went up to and above near the middle finger you would have become famous.” He didn’t give much thought about it anyway.

Days went on he finished his school but he got flunked in many subjects, his father wanted him to study in a good college and earn a good career for his life and settle down but with Lippu’s results he was very much disappointed, yet he never showed his disappointment towards his son, for he believed that though he may not get jobs with high salary he would be able to get some jobs with less or average salary and could live a better life with that.

But in his son’s mind something other than that was running, he believed that someday he would become a famous player in football, he didn’t have an appetite for the fame, but he was hungry to show others that he was actually born for that game and he really has something to do with the game. He had become a great dreamer, a great dream about him as a great football player and wished soon one day the dream would come true in a pitch surrounded by people cheering and shouting at him and he ferociously moving the ball towards the goal.

Then he took a separate room in his quarters he slept inside it, after some days he came to knew about great football players and their life history. After analysing many biographies he understood one thing that every recognised people were once an ordinary people and a change has taken place in their life, he wished that the change will come into his life someday. He expected that day would be today in everyday morning and if not that day he believed that will be tomorrow in every night.

Few days later as usual he went to the place where the other players practised their game and on a sudden he asked a chance for him to play with them, they laughed at him, but he said with a lowered tone that “I am serious,” then the players looked at the coach. The coach grinned and saw Lippu’s lame leg and with anger the coach asked him to get out soon. But Lippu again asked him to give him a chance, the coach was very much baffled and he didn’t knew what to do with this boy of 15 years.

The coach then said to him,

“The players who are here will run the ground five times in 15 minutes and if he could do that he agreed to give him the chance.”

The coach said this in order to avoid him, but he took this as serious and he started running the ground. He ran the first round ferociously dragging his legs, while his lower jaw continuously moving sidewards. After two rounds he felt very much tired and he was unable to run the fourth round, so he went walking without speaking anything to the coach. After that he started practising regularly and on every day he ran the ground. His father just left him in his way he never asked anything about it. Lippu woke up daily, took the ball and practised it for the full day till the evening and when he felt tired he came to his house and slept.

His father first let him to go in his dreams but later he was afraid that Lippu would become very much depressed if his dreams gets shattered. Though he was his own father even he couldn’t stop pitying his own son, for the way nature had cheated him. From then he never appreciated his dream, he begun warning him, as he thought that he was wasting his life in the football but as a same father whenever his son’s shoes (that he used for playing) torn out he would immediately stitch them or replace them with the new one.

Five years went like this. The boy cleverly knew his father was making arrangements for his job. One day his father asked him to meet one of the owners of the clothe shop in their area who was a friend of him and said that he had arranged a job for him. He went to that job because he couldn’t disobey his father’s words. His job was so simple that he only had to pack the clothes as they were before after it was shown to the customers.

He went to the job for one month and one day he just saw some boys playing football in the streets, immediately he went to meet the owner and said to him that he wasn’t coming to the job anymore. After saying this he went for playing with the boys because at that moment he never thought about anything, he never thought about himself or his father; he just thought for playing football and he went for that, in the evening he said to his father that he had left his job.

When his angry father asked him why? The boy retorted that he wanted to play football and his father again asked him for how long? Till his lifetime was the Lippu’s answer, again the f ather with full of agony said

”Don’t ever think (or) imagine yourself a son of a great football player or a rich man, it is not easy for you to become a football player because you was poor and moreover you are a lame”

After sometime the father’s agony went down and he went near Lippu and asked him to go by his words because he wanted him to earn a job and easily settle down in his life, which once has been a great difficult for him.

Lippu told him that “if I go by your words I will earn a job and my life will be beautiful but my life won’t be satisfied and I will never get my sleep by thinking of it”.

After saying this he went inside his room and in the next day as usual he took the ball and went for practice. He had never allowed anyone inside his house till then. After that he went to watch others play their game;

Four years went on like this then Lippu became 24 years old, his 10 years dedication towards the game made him to understand the magic beyond the game. It was a game in which one should knew to deceive when the ball is with him and never get deceived when the ball is with the other. Though he learned the game slowly he learned it perfectly.

On another day he went to the place where the state players practised their game. Then suddenly the ball came near him while one of the players kicked the ball ferociously, he efficiently tackled the ball and kicked it over them stylishly, the other players were quite impressed with his shot, they invited him to play with them, all they watched is that his lame leg doing wonders with the ball. The coach saw this silently and after sometime the coach called Lippu and said to him

“I have been watching you for a long time playing the football for years, you play the game efficiently but you should never get yielded to the game because it would be better to cure when the wound is smaller. If God haven’t made your legs like this then you might have become a great football player. Just involve yourself in something other” the coach whispered the last few words

Hearing this Lippu said,

“You knew before itself that I am lame then why did you gave me the ball when I was young, you showed the ball in front of my curious eyes and my eyes started dreaming with it by seeing the open sky and I would stop dreaming only if the open sky says me so. You said I wasn’t apt for playing football because I am lame, but I say that I will play the football because God has given me the legs though he made it as a lame, I will involve myself where my heart wants to”. He said this to him and went on running completing the 5 rounds in 15 minutes and from that day the coach allowed him to play with the other players.

Sitting on the lonely side of the roads of Chandigarh, he took a knife and scratched his print-line and extended it near to the middle finger.

And on the next day his father said that he had arranged a job for him. Immediately Lippu said that he wasn’t going for the job as he said the coach allowed him to play with the other players and they both started to argue with each other and his father got very much angry that he was afraid that his son’s life may go on worse as he never thought and he never wanted. So he got furious and his angry fist hurt Lippu’s cheek that time, asking him to stop dreaming and go on with the reality.

With tears on his cheeks Lippu said

”I was jumped into the ocean of dreams one day I will attain it by crossing the ocean and before that I will never comeback at any cost” and he went inside the room and he came outside after 10 minutes with the ball in his hand Lippu said to his father that he will return in the evening and his father gazed him silently without any willingness to stop the boy. After his son had went he went inside his room for a moment he was speechless when he entered the room because his room contained full of posters and images of the great football players pasted in every inch of the wall and he had nearly about 13 pairs of shoes and balls which were torn out in the past, that was the first time in his life he believed that Lippu would become a great football player for all these years he thought that he would give up playing someday for some reason but then he understood that he was dedicated to the football; while others play football but he lives for it.

There came his day which Lippu had been expecting for all those past days. In eight o’clock of the night he had been practising the game and when the goal keeper of the state team saw him playing miracles with the ball the goal keeper went inside the pitch near the goal post and asked him to shoot Lippu smiled and with full of confidence said

”It would be hard for you to impede my ball towards the goal” and as he said the goal keeper was able to save only 3 out of his 10 chances, he admired and was impressed by the flawless game of Lippu.

He saw Lippu who proved dedication was more important than skill to master a thing

On the next day he explained everything that happened the before day to his coach and recommended for Lippu to be in their team, he believed it would be easy to win if Lippu was there with them. But the coach was too obstinate and he said that since his leg was handicapped he would never be able to run equally as that of the other players so the other players (opposite team) would take advantage of that.

But he accepted to take Lippu in the team if he could be able to run equally with the other players.

In that day the coach arranged a match for the players with Lippu in the team; the match begun whenever the ball came near him he was able to tackle the ball but to substantiate the words of coach, he wasn’t able to run equally with the other players and grab the ball. He saw the coach and the goal keeper seeing him with dissatisfaction so he used all his energy in his body to run equally with the other players he was playing the game continuously for 2 hours in every minute he ran ferociously for he never wanted to give up that time.

While the other players were tired and they couldn’t run, he came near the goal post; It appeared as if he was going to die, but what he realised was that he had only few steps to attain his dream. Only one step gap in which all his struggle to attain his dream for all these years came in front of his eyes. He ran and shot the ball but before the ball could cross the goal line he started to fell on the ground, while during that his eyes visualised something as if he was playing in a great pitch surrounded by the huge crowd of audience shouting at him and cheering him, he felt as if he had become a great football player and then he completely fell on the ground when the ball reached the goal.

Everyone until that day thought that he was a half mental, who says that he wanted to play football, but until that none knew that he was this much very serious about it.

All the players including the coach went near him and found that he had used his last breath to make the goal. Hearing that his father rushed to the place he saw his son’s face that wasn’t as curious as before and his son’s eyes seeing the open sky but then with the absence of the dreams that fulfilled colours to his eyes like the blue that fulfilled the sky. His father’s eyes was full of tears and with a more lessened voice he whispered that

“His son had once jumped into the ocean of dreams he never crossed it but he never came back he died swimming in it and swimming for it“

He closed his son’s eyes because his father wanted his son’s eyes to take at least now because those eyes of him would be tired dreaming always when it was open” this was the story of Lippu.

The coach remembered Lippu’s words,

“I don’t want to win I don’t want to lose, i want to play the game flawlessly. I want people to watch me and appreciate me. I want to prove myself. I want to let everyone know I had something to do with this game, this means so much to me, this is what I was born for, this is my life and this got something to do with me and I got something to do with it. I just want to play the game. That’s it.”

Lippu was none other than the son of the watch man for this pitch where that boy lived, dreamed and dedicated his life to the dream in the same pitch where you the players of the state team standing right now. And I am standing in front of you as the newly appointed coach of this state team is none other than the goal keeper for the state team who was once unable to prevent the magic goals shot by him. His life story tells us that success is not always pride or victory; success is sometimes falling and rising up again; success is sometimes attaining the dream; success is sometimes sustaining in the dream till the end; success is nothing but dreaming and dedicating oneself for their dream.