Her Wish to Play Sports Overpowered Her Fear.
Chapter 7 of “Hold On”: Badminton Court 2006
(N.B. I’m writing a novel, a chapter a week, here on Medium. Find out why I write here, start from Chapter 1 here, and always feel free to give me feedback in the comments. I write here for the community.)
Hira was shivering, her teeth chattering, as she breathed in the chilly air. Her threadbare sweater was no match for the cold. Her lungs felt like frozen icicles waiting to shatter into a million pieces with each gust of air. Her legs felt like two blocks of ice waddling across the cold grass. As the chilly wind stung her cheeks, she broke into a run and finally reached the classroom.
As the winter reached its peak, Hira’s mother had still not bought a warmer sweater for her. Nosheen repeatedly reminded her husband of the winter shopping they needed to do, but Aftab simply had no spare money to spend. The move to Peshawar and supporting the education of four kids in the city had been incredibly difficult on his already strained financial situation. As a last resort, he had applied for a loan from his office and was hoping it would be granted by the end of the month so his children could finally get some warm clothes.
Professor Shazia Khan, the new Principal of the Lady Griffith School, assumed the charge after the first month of the session. Professor Shazia was in her early fifties. Her short, greying hair gave her a very dignified look. She was not a particularly tall person, but her slim build gave that impression. Her broad face and large smile made her a very pleasant person even in the early morning assembly sessions.
In her first assembly session, she introduced herself to the students as alumna of the same school. She shared stories of some of her classmates who were now serving in influential positions all over the country. One particular aspect of her school life that she highlighted was the sports activities. She felt these had been the greatest source of learning for her. They had taught her how to deal with the highs and lows of life, how to fight tough opponents, and how to find the best teammates to win matches.
She shared this because, after being posted here, she had discovered that sports activities were no longer a big part of the school culture. Upon enquiring from the sports teacher, she found that the school had stopped issuing sports equipment to students. This was an unofficial policy ever since the sports teacher had to pay for some of the school equipment out of her pocket as students did not use and return these responsibly. A similar solution had been employed for the library books, which students often misplaced or failed to return. It would now be Professor Shazia’s priority to restore this while maintaining the academic standards of the institute. She allocated a special budget for the sports equipment and library. She directed the sports teacher and library staff to ensure students would make use of the school equipment and books.
After this assembly session, Hira spent the first half of her day barely able to contain her excitement as she waited for recess. As the bell rang, she rushed out of her seat to the sports room and issued a badminton racket. The sports teacher noted down her name and roll number and handed over an old, but intact racket. Hira could feel her blood pump in her fingers as she clutched the racket for the first time in her life. She had enviously watched boys in Chamkani play badminton from her window for too long.
In the ground, two girls were already playing badminton when Hira arrived. She went and stood there for a few minutes. She could not muster up the confidence to request them to let her join as well. It looked like a mammoth of a task, and she thought herself too little to do it. Finally, she shut her eyes tightly and told herself to just do it, before walking towards them and making the request. There was no response. The girls were chatting excitedly while playing and Hira’s voice had been too low for them to hear. She clutched her racket tighter and tried again, as her wish to play overpowered her fear.
The girls were happy to let Hira join. The game resumed, but it seemed to continue between the friends and the shuttle never seemed to fly in Hira’s direction. They then asked Hira to serve. Hira nervously held the shuttle in her sweaty palm. She then swatted it with the racket as if it were a fly. The shuttle went up before crashing into the ground, far from the net. The girls started laughing. They told Hira to get a racket from the school after she had learned how to hit the shuttle at home.
This left Hira standing alone in desolation. She thought of her small house and her ragged sweater. How could she ever practice anywhere but at school? Shoulders down, Hira started walking away. As she was leaving the court, she noticed Sadia walking briskly toward her. Sadia had noticed the girls mocking Hira in the court. She told Hira how, just as she was walking away, Sadia had confronted the girls about their bullying and warned them that the court was a shared space for everyone as announced by Professor Shazia. She instructed Hira to follow her as she went back toward the court. As they once again stood in front of the girls, Hira noticed a visible humbleness in their demeanor as they quietly murmured apologies to her. Sadia then asked them to share a racket which she took and began teaching Hira. Within a few minutes, Hira had learnt how to properly hold a racket and began enjoying even while struggling to hit the shuttle right.
This was the beginning of Sadia winning Hira’s heart for the rest of her life, and it was the beginning of their friendship which was to evolve in many years to come. Sadia, alone, gave a new hope in life to Hira, and this she could never forget. Hira and Sadia then started sitting next to each other in class. Sadia was the only person in Hira’s life from whom she was not afraid. Over the next few weeks, the two warmed up into good friends, and Hira felt comfortable enough to share her stories and problems with Sadia without feeling judged. But despite all this, there was one thing that Hira guarded closely and never let slip.
She could never tell Sadia what had been haunting her for the last three years.
