Some Dreams are Drafts

Dear You

Summer, 2016
Mumbai

It was 12:35am in the night when Bhavika mulled over the decision of registering on Mail-mates, scolded herself a little for going all out by clicking on the option that allowed her to find a mail-mate from another country. She couldn't deny that ever since she had received the invite and the email address, she felt excited.

So far, life without college had been a bit daunting with Bhavika having to consciously work on maintaining a routine. Maintaining a routine required more effort than Bhavika had imagined. But letting herself feel tempted to watch episodes at end, read without any time limits, dancing till her feet hurt, all of this was making her feel guilty. Trust the capitalist world to make your life a methodical race, Bhavika thought.

Apart from the moments she spent making conference calls to her friends, the only activity that classified as a routine, a routine that brought tremendous joy in her life was the Indian Premier League (IPL) Matches.

Bhavika had accidentally stumbled upon the game of cricket when she was in the third grade and had a massive crush on her neighbour, Vishal, who was in the fifth standard and happened to get really excited in the evenings. One day, Bhavika decided to ask what cartoon made him cheer and laugh so much and discovered that it wasn't any cartoon but a cricket league.

To this date, Bhavika feels sheepishly embarassed that this was how she had discovered the game. A game that would go on to become such a huge part of her life. Little did she know that she would begin watching the sport to gain Vishal's admiration but end up falling for MS Dhoni that year. And then Rohit Sharma. Ravindra Jadeja. Ajinkya Rahane. KL Rahul. Jos Buttler. David Warner. Trent Boult. AB De Villiers, Faf Du Plessis. And many more, in the future.

But ultimately, growing fond of the game itself and the bonds that shined within and outside the 30 yard circle.

What began as a mere medium to impress her crush would end up becoming a comfort sport that Bhavika was passionate about.

Since childhood, Bhavika had the habit of being extremely expressive. Some found it awesome others, not so much. But when Bhavika started watching cricket, she thought she had found an outlet that helped her express. She would talk to the players through the TV screen, always feeling a strange yearning.

A yearning to know all these amazing sportspersons in real life.

She used to have a diary where she would write down all the questions she wanted to ask Rohit Sharma one day. And it had a hundred and twelve questions before she stopped writing in it.

Nonetheless, it made Bhavika feel content that regardless of what happened in her life, she would always have this time of the year when she'd switch the TV on and watch her favourite players play, engage in banter, make strategies, win and lose.

Mail-mates.com had brought another reason to be excited but Bhavika remained apprehensive. There was always the possibility of Jack being a creep and so she decided to take her time to accept the invite and draft her first email.

This was what she had sent.

From : beingbhavika21@gmail.com
To : jackofalltrades03@gmail.com
Subject : hi?

Dear Jack,

I spent some time thinking how to start this email and then decided to choose the traditional pen pal way. Just writing it made me feel slightly thrilled (not about the correspondence especially but about the possibility that the correspondence holds). Writing it in this way sealed some sort of imaginary envelope and made these circumstances a little less awkward, for sure, at least for me.