Batten down the hatches

Someone asked me, if I were stranded on a desert island

Someone asked me, if I were stranded on a desert island what book would I bring:

'How to Build a Boat.'"
—Steven Wright

Virat

Light travels faster than sound, which is the reason that some people appear bright before you hear them speak... And I can think of no better candidate than myself who emulates this particular observation.

Even as we trooped through the somewhat overgrown bushes and jumped over the protruding roots of thick and leafy trees, I kept my eyes fixed on what portion of MS's face was visible to me. It was not unlike being offered a tall glass of cold water, tempered liberally with ice cubes. It has been months since I had physically looked upon his dear old face. Well, not old, per se, but there's that.

That face was so dear to myself and my Team; our Team.

"Careful Virat." Warm hands held unto my upper arms and pulled me upright, before I could fall flat on my face.

I had, apparently, tripped over a particularly nasty root and as usual, had been saved by Mahi Bhai's quick thinking and quicker reflexes.

"Lost your eyesight along with your brains, my dearest Cheeku?" Mahi Bhai's words dripped sarcasm, spiced liberally with satire. 'Be careful! This is not one of your besuited gardens but very much untamed nature."

"So it is more me than you! See even your house emulates me!"

"This guy will get himself killed!" I could hear Rohit's mumbled concern and was beleaguered to stop my laughter. I did not know whether I would be able to make MS see and listen to sense, but I would certainly try my damned best and in the finest way I knew.

I fell back a bit and wrapped an arm around Rohit, inviting a curious look from my friend.

"You are kinda amazing, Rohita Sharma, and I don't tell you this often enough."

"Ok...?" Rohit drawled out and cocked his head at me. "What do you want now?"

"Qui Moi?" I gasped out and dramatically placed a hand on my chest. "You think so lowly of me, Sharmilo?"

"Spill, Virat!" Rohit maintained his poker-face and yet his eyes twinkled with barely held back laughter.

A moment or two spent in silent built-up and I moved my mouth closer to Rohit's ears. "It is time to bring out Virat version 2012. Just don't let Bhai kill me? Or worse, allow him to run away?"

Rohit snapped his head right back and ogled at me. "You were a brat in 2012! An unthinking brat!"

His voice had risen slightly and I shushed him, rechecking that Mahi Bhai was still out of earshot. "Whatever is needed to make Bhai see sense!"

"So in order to make Bhai, apparently, see sense, you need to loose yours? Well, as much as you had in the first place, that is."

"I kinda love you, Sharmilo. You just understand me so well!"

I tried to exculpate Rohit's concerns but he kept glaring at me with his patented look of dissent and Jaddu took that moment to tap me on my shoulders, making me jump almost a foot in sudden alarm. I was already high-strung with all my senses attuned to MS's approach and it was Jaddu's opportune hand on my mouth which stopped me from yelling out.

But my reflexive elbow to Jad's solar plexus and him loosing his footing, caused both of us to crash over Rohit and resulted in a painful fall on the uneven ground. I caught a root's edge at the side of my eye and Rohit's head glanced off a tree trunk; Jaddu was the only one who looked to have escaped injury.