The Trip and the Jubilant Turn

A very grumpy Virat and Jaddu's solution

"I'm bored," sighed Virat to the room in general.

"Why don't you hit the gym again?" suggested Rahul innocently.

"What d'you mean-- again?" said Shikhar severely. "He only spent 6 hours in the gym yesterday."

"Yes, and a fit person should do at least 10," said Jaddu solemnly.

"Stop jabbering," snapped Virat. "First this Test match gets cancelled, on top of that I've got to listen to all of your lunatic rants... and Kuliya--put that back right now!"

Kuldeep had been attempting to sneak a Pepsi from the fridge, and he put it back hastily, seeing that Virat bhai was in one of his I'm-annoyed-with-the-whole-world moods.

"When we want rain in the Indian summer, it doesn't come. When we have a Test match against a team like West Indies, rain practically washes away the entire stadium. Who ever heard of a whole Test match getting abandoned on the second day?" said Virat, scowling darkly at everyone.

"I know," said Jinks sympathetically.

"You don't have to be sarcastic," said Virat snappily. "What the hell are you reading, Bhuvi?"

"A novel by Sidney Sheldon," said Bhuvi, without raising his eyes from the book.

"Nerd," said Virat, rolling his eyes. "And why is he sleeping?" he asked, pointing at Rohit, who was actually sleeping in a sitting position, his head resting against the wall.

"Maybe sleep helps to while away the boredom," suggested Yuzi. "Why don't you try it too?"

"It's mid-morning," said Virat, annoyed. "Why does he sleep so much? Wake him up immediately, someone!" ordered Virat, who was plainly in a mood to be disagreeable.

Hardik obligingly snatched away the book from Bhuvi's hands and lobbed it at Rohit's head.

Rohit jumped awake with a yell which mingled with Bhuvi's outraged shout of, "Hardik!" as all the others started to laugh.

Bhuvi retrieved his book and hugged it to his chest, glaring at Hardik. Rohit narrowed his eyes at Virat, who was, predictably, laughing the hardest of all.

"I'll get you one of these days," grumbled Rohit.

"It wasn't me!" said Virat vehemently.

"Yeah, right," said Rohit disbelievingly.

"Unfounded accusations," said Virat darkly.

"Not unfounded, Virat," said Ash. "You've done it plenty of times before, unfortunately."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Hardik was nearly rolling over with triumph as no one was even thinking of accusing him.

Virat was ranting about everyone being against him and Rohit interrupted, "When do we get back to the hotel?"

"Exactly," agreed Virat, forgetting to defend himself. "Come to the ground everyday, listen to the rain lashing for 7 hours, go back to the hotel and sleep... what kind of a life is this?"

"Dunno," said Shikhar gloomily.

"We've got a 10-day gap before the next Test, right? Why don't we go somewhere?" said Jassi, wanting to cheer Virat bhaiya up.

Jaddu's eyes lit up suddenly.

"My uncle has got a bungalow in the mountainside in Dhauladhar, and it's been empty for a long time. Let's go there!"

Everyone perked up at once, because they had all been dying of boredom, too.

"Great," said Virat, gratified that Jaddu has bothered to find a solution to his cranky mood. "Settle everything immediately. We'll leave in a few hours."

"Wait a minute," protested Rohit in alarm. "Don't we need a little time for packing and er... resting before the journey?"

"Resting? Seriously?" said Jinks with a snort.

"We'll leave by 5 pm, and if we find you sleeping, I'm warning you, Rohit, we'll leave without you," said Virat.

"I'll be awake," said Rohit hastily, because Virat sounded quite menacing.

Jaddu called his uncle and fixed everything within the next hour.

For once, the bus journey back to the hotel did not have a sleepy, tired atmosphere, because everyone was yelling and planning and laughing at once.

A mountainside trip against an abandoned match they'd have won for sure sounded like a fair deal.