Uncle
October 17th, 2004: We were on the ground, 13 kids, ages 9 to 14, split into two well-balanced teams, with one kid playing the “common player” role (shoutout to all the 90s kids, or as some UP folks like to call it: "beech ka kauwa"). The toss was settled by flipping the nearest Rajshri gutka packet (and the captains had to predict the packet would fall on which side, Hindi or English, or in some cases, Urdu), of which there were usually many decorating our playground. The game was intense. Team 1, batting first, had set a daunting target of 66 runs in 8 overs. Their opening pair smashed the first 40 runs in just 4 overs. But then, a mini-comeback from the bowling team managed to scrape the remaining wickets, including the “common player,” leaving a challenging yet achievable total on the board. Cue the innings break, followed by water. It came from the house of that unlucky kid who lived closest to the ground, officially appointed as our water supplier. Of course, his mom w...