Sunday, April 09, 2006

Sport

I'm just back home after watching the Davis Cup matches being hosted nearby. It was awesome to see my tennis heroes, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi playing the best live doubles tennis I have seen in my life. That too 30 feet from where I was sitting!

I don't know what it is about sport that sends me into raptures. It's like my entire life is played in front of my eyes in those few hours in the sports arena. The highs. The lows. The frustrations. The losses. And those moments we all live for, the ecstasy of winning. That audacious shot that worked. Or the assist you made to help your team-mate score the match-winning goal. Ah! Sheer bliss!

Watching the best in the business perform, like I did today, is awe-inspiring. Leander Paes has recovered from a life-threatening brain tumor to come back to the heights of Grand Slam glory. In 17 years, the man has won 78 out of 108 singles matches for India in the Davis Cup. An amazing feat. But what I admire most about guys like him and the great Lance Armstrong is that they overcame more than the external challenges of the game. At some level, they overcame their inner challenges.

We all face them. And for me, it is people like Leander and Lance that I draw inspiration from. I know I sound like a schoolkid writing his 'I want to be this when I grow up...' essay but I hope I am able to excel and be amongst the best at what I do. I know it is difficult. But not impossible.

3 comments:

Revati Upadhya said...

paes's recovery is an amazing story, as is lance armstrongs.. ur lucky you got to witness him in action post-recovery.
speaking of sports, and more specifically raquet-sports, i STILL havent gotten my butt down to learning to play squash. any ideas how i could make a beginning, given that i have access to squash coutrs, but no partners as of now..

Ajeya said...

i started with the markers at the club. why don't you ask one of them to help you learn the ropes. once you start with that, you need to practice the shots, especially the lengths, on your own. squash is a great sport and definitely a great workout. and start with a cheapish racquet. you're likely to break a few while you learn :)

Anonymous said...

You have an outstanding good and well structured site. I enjoyed browsing through it » » »