Written by Stephie Madurai and Pranita Naik
The children came running happily to tell us that there will be a match in Cacra. What had come to pass was that we were expecting a group of Tibetan librarians at Bookworm for a Library Retreat and in conversation with the children, Sujata learnt that the children wanted to show the visitors more than the library – the beach and their football skills. So a football match was announced.
This exciting news reached all the corners of the Cacra village. The children who wanted to take part in the game started inquiring about it. A few of the senior children also came to the library and got engaged in different activities like reading with junior children, browsing through the books, appreciating and understanding the artwork put up in the library, checking if their names are still there on the library register or not, etc. The children also started discussing how and where we should have the match.
While this was thrilling for the children, the Bookworm team was excited as well. The Bookworm library was echoing with cheer slogans in the afternoons and energized with the cheer dance that we all were practicing for the match. Each team member took a different responsibility of making sure that we had everything in place like the snacks, water, certificates, trophy, a new football, goal posts, first aid kit, generating posters and everything that we felt was needed to have a good match.
The other team, which was the Tibetan team while being ready for their library retreat in Goa, got their football jerseys printed. Some of them also packed up their football gear looking forward to the football match while being immersed in the library learning.
When the day of the match came, some of us set off early from the library to get the place ready. We placed the border poles with the children and prayed that our match should not get affected by the high tide which would tremendously reduce the football ground area. Around 3:30 pm, the Tibetan team arrived and the Cacra children greeted them in the library. They shared and discussed the different things that are done in the library and what they like about it. Kanta, our funding supporter for the Cacra community also arrived and we were all ready for the game.
At around 4:30 pm, we started the game which was an energetic one, the villagers sat in different corners to watch the game, some near their fishing boats, and some on rocks and some under a tree. At half time, the Bookworm team did the cheering dance which surprised and brought joy to everyone gathered there. In the second half, the match became more intense as it would be the last chance for the teams to score up. The cheers from the audience, the shouts of the players, the setting sun, the water controlling its tide not to be beyond the football poles, the breeze and the soft sand made it the most memorable day for all. It was an amazing match that brought the Cacra readers, village community, Bookworm team and everyone together. It brought a ‘Library Football Match’ trophy as well to the children of our library who won the game!
