Knock-Out
Patiala was known in the hostel for three things: his Lee shoes, his nanchuk and his habit of reading detective novels day and night. His real name was PC; but everyone called him Patiala, a place from where he did his junior high school. If he was one of the toughest looking guys in the whole batch of newcomers, I was perhaps the thinnest and weakest one!
And that's the reason Patiala developed a liking for me. I mean, he felt pity for me and to make sure that I did not get beaten out by anyone, he suggested that I go with him to meet him childhood friend BT.
BT was one of the most promising and ferocious young martial arts practitioner at the time in the entire state, and was competing in National level competitions. However, BT's achievements were not commensurate with his skill; he actually won far fewer matches. PC explained me why that happened: BT always wanted a knockout. He let his opponent hit him as many times as they wanted, and only waited to deliver that perfect punch (or kick) that would kncok his opponent out. It was perhaps a good strategy for professional competitions, but in time-bound competitons, he often did get the chance to deliver that blow within the few minutes. Thus the crows was often not his!
I did not have to go to meet him; one aftenoon he appeared at PC's door. PC introduced him to me and informed that he should tutor me the basics, to which he willy-nilly agreed. However, due to my shyness (and to a large extent, my laziness) I never went to him to really learn martial arts.
For outlaws (and officially considered, the junkest of the junk) we did pretty well. Patiala scored a little less than me and I scored only 1 mark (in total) less than the two guys in the hostel, who studied day and night. Many of the studious and good students fared really bad; the course was fully revised that year and they, being used to spoon-feeding, had no idea what to study or how. We, on the other hand, were too stupid to try to remember things; all we did was to try to understand things! Looking back, I now find that our score was the product of just 15 minutes of study per day on an average, at the most! Patiala went to Down South to do his Engineering , and I stayed back in the same college for my undergraduate. I have never again met either of PC or BT.
After many years, I now feel that some of us are doing exactly what BT did back then: waiting to deliver our knock-out punch. Most of us will possibly never get a chance for that, but I genuinely hope and expect that fate will provide a few of us with that chance some day!
I keep my fingers crossed.
And that's the reason Patiala developed a liking for me. I mean, he felt pity for me and to make sure that I did not get beaten out by anyone, he suggested that I go with him to meet him childhood friend BT.
BT was one of the most promising and ferocious young martial arts practitioner at the time in the entire state, and was competing in National level competitions. However, BT's achievements were not commensurate with his skill; he actually won far fewer matches. PC explained me why that happened: BT always wanted a knockout. He let his opponent hit him as many times as they wanted, and only waited to deliver that perfect punch (or kick) that would kncok his opponent out. It was perhaps a good strategy for professional competitions, but in time-bound competitons, he often did get the chance to deliver that blow within the few minutes. Thus the crows was often not his!
I did not have to go to meet him; one aftenoon he appeared at PC's door. PC introduced him to me and informed that he should tutor me the basics, to which he willy-nilly agreed. However, due to my shyness (and to a large extent, my laziness) I never went to him to really learn martial arts.
For outlaws (and officially considered, the junkest of the junk) we did pretty well. Patiala scored a little less than me and I scored only 1 mark (in total) less than the two guys in the hostel, who studied day and night. Many of the studious and good students fared really bad; the course was fully revised that year and they, being used to spoon-feeding, had no idea what to study or how. We, on the other hand, were too stupid to try to remember things; all we did was to try to understand things! Looking back, I now find that our score was the product of just 15 minutes of study per day on an average, at the most! Patiala went to Down South to do his Engineering , and I stayed back in the same college for my undergraduate. I have never again met either of PC or BT.
After many years, I now feel that some of us are doing exactly what BT did back then: waiting to deliver our knock-out punch. Most of us will possibly never get a chance for that, but I genuinely hope and expect that fate will provide a few of us with that chance some day!
I keep my fingers crossed.
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