My worn out body got some concession today. We were off practice and made the best use of the day. I had the luxury of sleeping after breakfast and let the healing process continue. I doubt I could’ve been up to it if we had practice. The pain was killing me. Every inch of me felt stretched and battered. My siesta did a whole lot of good; I felt rejuvenated enough to go do laundry after lunch.

We discovered that we are quite incompetent at laundry though. We loaded just couple of machines and were left with a heap of clothes unwashed (this is not the first time we had a disastrous outing at the launderette). Deepesh sir had to load the rest in the third machine. All we could do was sit and watch while he took charge of getting our clothes out spick and span. We were ridden with guilt. I’ll have to remember to return favors the next time.

JB sir plans to take some recorded clippings of our times here, on his trip to India. He plans to show them to our family. It got us really animated about the whole idea. Who wouldn’t! We’d love for our folks to see where we live, eat, whom we interact with and that we are in great hands here.

Deepesh sir shot some of the clippings himself. He took sound bites from all our coaches and their feedback on our training. Coach Mike, Coach Tim, Coach Pat and catcher Roberto took the pains of talking in Hindi for their benefit. The credit for the idea should go to Deepesh sir. I think listening to them talk in English would have made no difference to people back home. We enjoyed polishing their accent and teaching them how to pronounce. Their efforts were indeed touching. Thank you all!

We practiced three kinds of pitches today; fastball, breaking ball and change up. The practice was combined with rocker drill, knee drill and x drill. I had some trouble with my change up deliveries. I wasn’t able to pitch on target while throwing from the mound. Coach Tom later deduced that it’s the grip that matters. My short fingers inhibited me from releasing the ball perfectly. I’ll have to change my grip now. Even Deepesh sir thinks the same. Am hoping the change would help me pitch more effectively. I dearly want to succeed in this game and get into professional league.

We went through some more conditioning under the watchful eyes of Coach Jackson. He suggested fewer drills and more conditioning for the day. I think he’s giving our body the time to heal. Today’s lunch was with JB sir, Ash sir and Deepesh sir at a Japanese restaurant. Ash sir wanted me to taste sushi. It’s apparently a very famous Japanese dish. I wasn’t game for it today though. I’ll probably need to psyche myself before I eat something I’m not used to. Japanese food looks and smells weird. Go check them out if you can’t take my word for it. I’ve promised Ash sir that I’ll try sushi the next time. He didn’t insist further and I was grateful for small mercies. I was just not too keen to try it out today.

Back at the ground, we continued with our routine. Deepesh sir spotted a flaw in my body positioning while I pitched. I was told that javelin has affected my technique. Deepesh sir corrected my leg movements and straightened my positioning. Once my movements were rectified I felt more confident than ever.

We went through regular workout with Coach Tim. He was training us to catch fly balls; and it was good fun trying to hold on to swinging balls. We are still raw at fielding and aren’t the most agile players around. We’ll have to concentrate harder while trying to latch on to balls with a lot of deviation.

Coach Tim, Coach Jackson and Deepesh sir played a game called Pickle with us. It felt a bit bizarre to us and tickled our funny bone. We learnt later that it wasn’t a game but an exercise that develops the hand-eye co-ordination. That, there’s an element of truth to it, was quite obvious when we practiced fielding later with Deepesh sir. You may have gathered by now that everyday is a new learning experience for us.

I turned up late at the ground today. My alarm clock has halted in its tracks and gave me extra hours of some lovely morning sleep. Even Deepesh sir and Rinku were delayed, courtesy: me. We’ve been quite punctual since we arrived here early this month. I guess that’s the reason I was given a let off. It’s obvious that good first impressions matter a lot. This doesn’t in any way mean that I’ll be taking it easy and ride on my past record.

Coach Jackson and Coach Pat had teamed up to take charge of the practice today. We went through the same drills and practices. I couldn’t pitch up to mark from the mound though. My shoulder was the culprit. Searing pain was shooting up every time I tried to pitch. My muscles are going through a healing process I believe. Coach Pat joined us for lunch at a Chinese restaurant today. Pat sir was kind enough to invite us over to his place. We met his girlfriend Kelly, who knew almost every incident that happened with us. They were nice enough not to guffaw about some of our embarrassing moments, else I would have probably looked for a spot to hide under the table.

We tagged along with Pat sir on his way back home today (Before I forget; we had some chopstick-licking, mouthwatering Chinese food at a restaurant on our way to his residence). Pat sir introduced us to his girlfriend Kelly. They’ve got this amazing seaside view that can leave you agape with awe.

We spotted quite a few dolphins and didn’t miss the chance to capture them in our cameras. There was a jetty that seemed to meet the horizon. I dared Deepesh sir to stand on the edge of it thinking he’d be unwilling. I made an erroneous assumption that he didn’t know swimming. Deepesh sir took the bait and I paid the price for being too presumptuous. I’ll have to do the towel drill a 100 times tomorrow :(.

Another day of the usual warm up routine, the rocker drill, towel and the wall drill with Coach JB. Coach Ray joined us later. You must think there are more coaches than players around here. Believe me each brings in their bit to the game. We went through our regular practice sessions with both of them and learnt some more new things in the process.

I captured a lot of pictures during our practice session and plan to send them to my family back home in India. I’d like my kith and kin to know what we are doing here. Deepesh sir taught us how to upload these pictures online. I slipped in a letter too. I got really nostalgic speaking to my parents and friends back home. My life in India feels like a completely different era. Days feel longer than years when we miss near and dear ones. It was good hearing everyone’s voice and the excitement they feel for us.

We started our day with some supplements and cereal for breakfast. Coach Pat greeted us at the ground. We did some Orel Hershiser drill, towel drill, rocker drill, knee drill, X drill, drill, drill, drill. LOL! It seems like rigmarole after 20 days. I better pep myself before I let my mind go down that train of thought. Thank God for Rinku’s company, it isn’t as monotonous.

Coach Tom taught us a new pitching technique called Changeup. Pitched about 30 times from the mound. Poor Deepesh sir had to go quite a distance in search of lunch. I skipped lunch since the long wait killed my appetite. Deepesh sir gave me a piece of his mind. I also got to know the value of time from him. I’ve decided to be punctual and do everything with time sensitivity. Compromising and understanding things is like making peace with myself. I hope to be a better person after this experience.

Today is Memorial Day for American Soldiers. It’s a day off from work for most people. Not for us though. We learnt it the hard way when we saw the breakfast area locked this morning. Had to be satisfied with nutrition supplements and fruit juice. Was kind of difficult to sustain till lunch. What a pity we didn’t get a day off. Had to do some warm-ups with Coach Pat and drills with Coach Tom. We learnt a new pitching method called Changeup. We pitched from the mound again. Invariably coach Tom spots an error in technique when I pitch from the mound. I wonder if anything escapes his eye. He’s a stickler for perfection. He hates it when I don’t put in much thought before responding to his questions. I’ve decided to plead ignorance if I don’t know the answer. Admitting it is supposed to be the first step in learning according to Deepesh sir. I’ve been advised to think of an inspiration while am undergoing this training. That’s a really good suggestion. We’ll need a personal motivator while we are miles away from family in an alien land. None of these motivating words pushed us enough to work on our English classes though. We missed our afternoon session and got a dressing down from Deepesh sir. Serves us right I guess. At dinner Deepesh sir passed on a lovely counsel.

“Life is like a bird in your palm. If you open your palm the bird will fly. If you close your palm it dies. Controlling the bird’s movements in your palm is like balancing life.”

Deepesh sir’s contribution so far has been priceless. We are forever indebted to him.