The story starts when I was 13 years old. I had an inclination for outdoor sports and fun activities. And like every other young man, I aspired to become like Sachin Tendulkar. I was a cricket enthusiast and loved anything and everything related to it; whether it be playing it, watching it or discussing it. My zeal to play outdoor sports urged me to play cricket daily. But let me tell you, it wasn’t an easy task. I had to cycle 3kms everyday to reach the playground. ‘Chamunda’ was the name of the ground, beautifully getting its name from the Indian goddess Chamunda.
As a blooming teenager, I started gaining weight, which my mother cutely called ‘baby fat’. With a height like mine and a perfectly obese physique, I wasn’t exactly desired by any team. I was supposed to sit and observe all my friends play all day. The bench literally became my second home. Seeing everyone but me play, felt like a constant reminder of how I am not good enough and how I will never be welcomed here. This daily rejection had shred me of the last ounce of confidence in me. Sitting on the bench, hoping to be called to play was not a very engaging thing to do.
One day, the coach asked me to fetch the new cricket gear for the team, from the sports complex nearby. I happily obliged, hoping that I will be included in the playing 11 now. Since I loved outdoor sports so much, I never visited this indoor sports complex. It had 2 soft tennis courts and one for badminton. That day, was indeed life changing for me. After observing soft tennis for a few minutes, I couldn’t help but wonder if my true place is out on the bench or in this court?
I just knew that I had to give it a shot, I had to see if soft tennis was indeed my true calling. Very excitedly, I requested the players to let me play a few serves. And, I was good at it!!
I glided through the serves effortlessly. I guess I was wasting my time on the bench, over the wrong sport. The kiddish aspiration to become like Sachin Tendulkar, faded away and a new desire filed me; to become a successful soft tennis player. I started coming their daily and began my coaching for the game. My colleagues used to tease me a lot about my appearance and how I am so unfit for this game, and this started to get to me. All this teasing and years of sitting on the bench, actually started making me believe that I was never good at anything and I don’t deserve it. My lack of self confidence and esteem was reflecting in my game too. My coach who had known and trained me in this sport for almost two years now, saw what affect all this had on me.
My coach, Mr. Basu expressed his concerns to my father. He explained how the two years of rigorous training and hard work will go to waste, if I don’t feel confident. I was about to participate in my first external competition next week. And so, my father decided to boost my moral and make me believe in myself again.
My dad took me shopping that day and we went to a Vans Heusen showroom; he asked the salesman to bring out the best joggers and t-shirts they had. I protested saying “dad I have a sports jerseys, I don’t need a new one”. When I started trying on the sportswear, my father started talking about how it is absolutely important to feel confident in your skin and how I transformed myself into such an amazing athlete and I shouldn’t be bothered about what the world thinks and says. I should keep my focus straight on the goal. When I came out of the trial room, I was a changed man. I felt a new confidence oozing inside of me. I suddenly found myself looking smarter and more confident than ever in that new sportswear.
My trials for the under 16 state soft tennis tournament went amazing and I still have that sportswear to constantly remind me of what my father taught me and how it is very important to overcome your inner obstacles to achieve something marvellous in life.