Chapter 2: CHAPTER 1
TWO YEARS LATER
It was a breezy spring evening and after various treatments for the past couple of years, Ira breathed the fresh air of Chennai, a place she was born and brought up. To her, Chennai was not just a place but an emotion. She enjoyed walking on the road by herself when suddenly a boy of similar age captured her attention. He was tall, fair, and handsome. His smooth shiny black hair was slicked back and his eyes were of a dark shade of brown. He had perfectly symmetrical features but even then he seemed to have forced a frown upon his face which was messing up the pleasant feel that his face carried. A moment or two later, Ira realised it was possibly because he was quarrelling with a tea stall owner who might be in his late 50s which seemed a little unlikely for a boy who flashed that classy. On paying close attention Ira could figure out that he had forgotten his wallet at his home and the old man didn't seem to have any idea about online payment either, so the boy was stuck there being unable to pay for his tea and snacks. She giggled at the situation and walked to the shop, pulled out some cash, and offered it to the old man who was thankful to see the money he deserved finally.
The boy turned towards her to lend his gratitude but instead of the words thank you, he could only manage to say “Ugh hmm..You are ‘Ira Varadharajan’, the champion of National Badminton League 2017, right?”
She nodded shortly with a subtle smile. She always felt it awkward when someone recognized her.
“Hi, I am Arjun. I am a big fan of yours and you just rocked your last shot, it was such a powerful move and players rarely get it right. That final match was one good edge of the seat show. ” the boy stated and instantly his ears went pink from the realization that he acted like a fourteen years old teenage fan boy.
Ira usually hoped none would refer to her final match because it stirred back the memory of all those days she spent in the hospital, yet Ira was taken aback by his excitement, she could see his eyes gleam through the sunset and there was an instant glow upon his face. Somehow she felt the boy was more excited about badminton as a sport itself than she being a known player whom he just got to meet. And Ira happened to like that fact even more.
“I am really delighted to meet you, Arjun. You seem to be a badminton lover. Am I right or Am I right?” She said giggling. He giggled back and said that he was a badminton lover since childhood.
“Well then definitely you are more of a badminton person than I am” she replied laughing. “Do you play badminton?” She questioned further to which he replied that he did play badminton but secretly.
“Secretly?” Ira asked, a bit confused.
“Well, it's because of my dad. He wants me to concentrate on a desk job in order to earn a stable income and settle down. He thinks taking sports as a career is an unguaranteed choice as there is no surety one will win all the time or be successful enough to earn a stable amount. But knowing how much I am crazy about badminton and that I always dreamed of being a professional player, he doesn’t encourage me in spending time playing it. I think he is scared I might get confident about myself and turn up one day, going against his wishes, to become a player. So he has restricted me from playing badminton but any other sport except that, he is chill unless I don’t start wanting to be a professional player in that too.”
Ira felt it was uncanny for a minute as she regarded it to be a lot of information that could be told to a stranger. But she brushed her thoughts away considering the fact that she was an introvert who would take a year's time to spill this much about herself out. Ira was a weird kind of an introvert. She never stepped back from doing what she felt right and was always jovial to anyone she met. The only proper introverted thing about her was that she never let people into her life easily. The only people she considered a part of her life were the ones who knew at least half about the person she was and they were the only ones who had a say in what Ira did with her life. Ira had learnt the art of not giving a damn about random people’s thoughts regarding matters related to her over the years.
“I guess in that case, clearly your father isn’t successful in keeping you away from badminton,” she replied to the boy in a cheeky tone, chuckling and with that bade him goodbye as she made her way into an auto and rode right past him.
The next day Ira woke up to a call from her landlord regarding the house rent. She hung up the call after politely assuring him that she would pay the rent within the next two days. She looked around her room and sighed, gawking at the mess her room was.
Her bedroom was compact with one single huge bed lying in the middle of the room. A wooden brown cupboard large enough to hold three suitcases of clothes was lying opposite to her bed along the wall. Her room was accompanied by a sitting window that had white cushions which matched her bed. The room had a direct view of the busy roads but it gave her a lot of peace to gaze out at the dead of night when all the living things succumbed to the darkness as the always buzzing road fell to stillness except the flickering street lights. The walls were all painted peach. All her hard-earned trophies, medals, a few pictures, a dozen of handmade artifacts, and a ton of books were placed on a shelf embodied on the wall beside her bed. The room reflected the kind of person she was, simple but elegant.
She checked the time on her phone and it showed 7:00 am. She felt like it had been ages since she was in a badminton court so she decided to go and check out the court near her place, The Badminton Academy. She picked up all the clothes lying around and dumped them in the laundry basket. Kept back the books on the shelf and grabbed her towel for a quick morning shower. She came out and got dressed in front of the mirror. She had hazel eyes, pink thin lips, and an oval face. She dressed in casuals pulling on a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt that read ‘Breathe Love’ in pink. She put her long brown wavy hair into a ponytail and took off in her car, black Honda Jazz, to the badminton court.
She walked into the court and felt the blood rush through her veins. She was so glad to be there. To her surprise, the same boy whom she had met the last day, Arjun, caught her attention again. He was playing down there. She was completely blown away by his ease of playing badminton. It was as if he and badminton were siblings who went hand in glove. She knew that immediate second, he was a born champion in the badminton world so she pulled out her phone and simply recorded him play. She then sent the video to a person whose name was saved as ’Coach Selvan’ on her phone. In a few minutes her phone chimed and she picked it up right away seeing it was her coach who was calling her.
“Hello coach” Ira spoke into the phone.
“Hi dear” her coach replied. “How are you doing?” he further enquired.
“Am alright coach.”
“I just saw the video you sent, that boy is amazing Ira. He can do wonders on the court if trained properly. What is his name?” the coach asked. The excitement in his voice was clearly evident.
“Arjun, Arjun Rajashekar. And coach I want him to be the one to do what I couldn’t do myself, the winning of the BWF championship. Is it possible, coach?”
“Of course it is possible but Ira I am stuck up here regarding selections, so I think if you coach him he can make it through local and state levels. After that I will take him under my guidance. I can see that desire to win in him while playing which I saw in you when I watched you on court for the first time. I am sure you will be able to see the success you wished through him.”
“I knew he was the one since the first time I saw him.” Ira said in a nearly inaudible voice.
“What?”
“Nothing coach, I'll update you further after talking to Arjun” she paused for a jiff and then continued “but do you think I will be a good enough coach? “ She asked, sounding worried.
“Ira, you were the best player I ever had and I can't think of anyone better than you to train him.” her coach answered in an assuring tone.
Ira smiled through the phone and told her coach that she will ring him later and hung up the call. She goggled at Arjun still playing one last time and walked away from that place grinning before he noticed she was there which he hadn’t as he was playing a match against some guy so keenly.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone