It's been a while...

There was a point in my recent past, when I thought I was writer material. Reading the stuff I wrote...well we all make mistakes dont we? I called bertrand Russell a "witty dude" how mortifying! Well anyway, trying not to dwell too much in the past, I have a few thoughts to share.

A couple of weeks back a friend and I were playing squash at this new clubhouse in the apartment he was staying at. As enthusiasm goes, we thought we could do it all, a couple of games of squash, then a few games of badminton followed by half an hour beating it out at the gym. You can imagine how long that probably lasted....well any how, on one of those days, we were on the squash court. That was my forte. I had about 11 years of tennis under my beltquite literally, (gaining weight after an athletic childhood is simply a bitch) I could do pretty well on the squash court. So I helped my friend out here and he'd help me out while playing badminton.

When I used to play tennis, I had a fantastic coach. I hated him when I played under him, but his methods were innovative and lasting. He believed a player was more than just the game, his idea was the player made the game. I never appreciated it then but all the kids in my academy were fantastic players and people. We were always disciplined yet knew how to play around, we won matches, yet always congratulated an opponent sincerely on a game won or lost and most importantly he made us true lovers of the sport. I still remember on slushy mornings when I would secretly be happy that we didn't need to tough it out that morning, our coach would bring out a football and divided us in teams. I was one of two girls in a class of 10 of us. So not playing was never an option, I'd be teased mercilessly. Then there were the big boys in senior classes throwing us kids into the slush, more because we were too small or in the way. Going home as one of the surf Excel ad kids was tedious on my mother too. Well anyway, those were fun times and we became a weird family of sorts.

The point i'm trying to make is, growing up with this fantastic coach, teaching us so much made me who I am, which is not too much, but I am always game for anything and a good sport. That attitude helped me in so many fields. But over the years I've seen so many kids who've fine to fancy places, paid lots of money and are just such sour losers. It's pretty sad really. Well getting back to what happened. So I was helping my friend with his service and I happened to glance back at the area outside the court. There was a kid sitting, probably 10 or 11 watching us pretty intently. Just adjacent to the squash court were the badminton courts where a bunch of kids were playing. So without thinking I just turned away and went back to playing forgetting the kid almost immediately. A while later my friend wanted to hit the badminton court. So I went to drink a bit of water and when I got back, my friend was playing with the kid. I sat on the side and watched. He had a beautiful game. As soon as I sat the point had just gotten over and the kid totally surprised me by saying, "i'm sorry, but can we just finish a game?" I was so shocked by the kid's manners that it took me a while recovering. I just smiled and nodded and settles down to watch. It was treat, he had good strokes, great pricision and a grace. So when they were done with my friend winning only by a point margin, the kid walked to the net and shook hands with my friend. There was hope. Tanvir, the kid completely proved me wrong. I don't know if it was great coaching or if he was one of those unusually talented and good kids, but being a good sport is a state of mind.

I mean everyone of us would have faced either a moody opponent, colleague or partner. Isn't it just annoying when people get emotional and judgmental over purely non judgmental, non emotional situations? Well i'm not sure why I told that elaborate story but I think it's the unsaid gratitude I feel for my coach and a simple awe I feel for the kid. It's rare that we appreciate someone around us. At least I don't think I do enough. So, here it is, if reading this struck any sort of cord in you, I request you, oh patient reader, appreciate a random person today, and you'll see how happy you actually get...