"Experience is not you get what you wanted; Its what you never expected for, and Its sometimes the most possessed treasure you have to offer.
It is difficult to access the range and quality of human emotions.Those with smiling, evergreen faces may have worm-like griefs gnawing at their existence while a dull, idiotic looking person might be blissfully happy. Life is a strange, humdrum affair where even a few moments of peace shall be gratefully acknowledged. Life is not about how successful you have been, how high a post and reputation you have achieved; its about the times of distress, the times of pain and rejection, when the world shuts the door at your face and at that instant the way you handle that tumbling down the hill of your life. To loose heart is not easy but to never accept defeat when a person's integrity is put at stake is much harder. When you are thrown stones at, when the society questions your very existence, when you are declared a "gaddar" by the very motherland you gave your heart to --- the headstrong heart does crumble to pieces. But withstanding the storms with faith in that same heart is worth a higher degree. An wholesome life is that which has faced many things, things which make a person experienced, matured and perceptive.
Today, I would like you to spare some of your precious time for people who fit into the above description and ponder over the thought: Aren't we sometimes too judgemental?
A humble boy with dead-set passion in his blood for hockey, the national game of India sets his vision to play hockey for his motherland. Being talented and apparently lucky, he climbs the stairs of success with all his zeal and dedication and one day finds himself as the Captain of Indian Hockey Team. The captian of that team which was declared to be unconquerable by the world. Don't mistake him with Dhyan Chand or with Balbir Singh --- they are the Gods' of Indian hockey. But there was another man, another blooming talent under their shelter and he is Mir Ranjan Negi. Let me take you to the finals of the 1982 Asian Games --- the Historic Match between ever rivals India and Pakistan. He was the captain-cum-goalkeeper of the team. India was in superb and indomitable form till the semi-finals. But, a person's sixth sense does speak volumes. He had a feeling that he might not play well that day. What with the added pressure of the presence of the then Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi alongwith the whole country, anybodies heart will miss a beat!
As history goes, India lost the match to Pakistan by 1-7. India won the silver medal, but that was not what India roared about. India shrieked over having the false impression of Negi being involved in match-fixing. They pelted stones, burnt effigies of him, spoke of him as a sinner incapable of being forgiven. He was completely isolated, grounded and shattered to the core of his heart except for his eternal support by his wife. He returned to Indore, lived under literal voluntary house-arrest with a tinge of hope in his heart.
Twenty-one years passed by and finally he got a daring opportunity to coach the Indian Women Hockey Team. After much controversy, he agreed to coach the team. He struggled with each obstacle which tried to engulf him and strived to regain his respect from India. Day and night, he worked hard on the fields. He brought out the best in the girls, he made the girls immerse in the passion for hockey and India. His zeal bore him fruits and they won, The Indian Women Hockey team won the finals of Afro-Asian Championship over Australia and brought back the glory of India in the field of hockey. His graph of life started its journey up again.
But the pinch of being insulted with the tag of a "traitor" is not so easy to forget, a wound not so easily forgotten. It seemed he was happy, it seemed he was getting back his former glory. He got to coach teams and many such offers. But somewhere, the quest for gaining back his glory was not yet over and God, not yet done with his work of providing justice to him. This happiness was short-lived when a few years later, He lost his elder son. But as they say, God is a good planner and always plans for the betterment of us. He took his child but gave him an opportunity to redeem his glory. Fate stopped by him once again in the form of Shimit Amin, the director of Chak de! India. He listened to his tragic story and promised to make a motion picture on him. Mir Ranjan Negi understood as the only way to retrieve his respect fully and show India what he actually was. Shahrukh Khan portrayed his character and brought the true colour of Mir Ranjan Negi. The film broke the spell of 25 years of false impressions and conclusions.
Life does give us a chessboard of joys and sorrows. Sharting from our childhood, we play the pawns, be the defenders, we are defeated sometimes; but its it in the end when the final checkmate move is given, which determines our intelligence, our integrity, our optimism and more so our stubbornness to never give up on ourselves. Mir Ranjan Negi despite many downs didn't forget the ups of his life. The saying " The year you were born only marks your entry to the world; other years where you make your mark and prove your worth are the years worth celebrating."
It is difficult to access the range and quality of human emotions.Those with smiling, evergreen faces may have worm-like griefs gnawing at their existence while a dull, idiotic looking person might be blissfully happy. Life is a strange, humdrum affair where even a few moments of peace shall be gratefully acknowledged. Life is not about how successful you have been, how high a post and reputation you have achieved; its about the times of distress, the times of pain and rejection, when the world shuts the door at your face and at that instant the way you handle that tumbling down the hill of your life. To loose heart is not easy but to never accept defeat when a person's integrity is put at stake is much harder. When you are thrown stones at, when the society questions your very existence, when you are declared a "gaddar" by the very motherland you gave your heart to --- the headstrong heart does crumble to pieces. But withstanding the storms with faith in that same heart is worth a higher degree. An wholesome life is that which has faced many things, things which make a person experienced, matured and perceptive.
Today, I would like you to spare some of your precious time for people who fit into the above description and ponder over the thought: Aren't we sometimes too judgemental?
A humble boy with dead-set passion in his blood for hockey, the national game of India sets his vision to play hockey for his motherland. Being talented and apparently lucky, he climbs the stairs of success with all his zeal and dedication and one day finds himself as the Captain of Indian Hockey Team. The captian of that team which was declared to be unconquerable by the world. Don't mistake him with Dhyan Chand or with Balbir Singh --- they are the Gods' of Indian hockey. But there was another man, another blooming talent under their shelter and he is Mir Ranjan Negi. Let me take you to the finals of the 1982 Asian Games --- the Historic Match between ever rivals India and Pakistan. He was the captain-cum-goalkeeper of the team. India was in superb and indomitable form till the semi-finals. But, a person's sixth sense does speak volumes. He had a feeling that he might not play well that day. What with the added pressure of the presence of the then Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi alongwith the whole country, anybodies heart will miss a beat!
As history goes, India lost the match to Pakistan by 1-7. India won the silver medal, but that was not what India roared about. India shrieked over having the false impression of Negi being involved in match-fixing. They pelted stones, burnt effigies of him, spoke of him as a sinner incapable of being forgiven. He was completely isolated, grounded and shattered to the core of his heart except for his eternal support by his wife. He returned to Indore, lived under literal voluntary house-arrest with a tinge of hope in his heart.
Twenty-one years passed by and finally he got a daring opportunity to coach the Indian Women Hockey Team. After much controversy, he agreed to coach the team. He struggled with each obstacle which tried to engulf him and strived to regain his respect from India. Day and night, he worked hard on the fields. He brought out the best in the girls, he made the girls immerse in the passion for hockey and India. His zeal bore him fruits and they won, The Indian Women Hockey team won the finals of Afro-Asian Championship over Australia and brought back the glory of India in the field of hockey. His graph of life started its journey up again.
But the pinch of being insulted with the tag of a "traitor" is not so easy to forget, a wound not so easily forgotten. It seemed he was happy, it seemed he was getting back his former glory. He got to coach teams and many such offers. But somewhere, the quest for gaining back his glory was not yet over and God, not yet done with his work of providing justice to him. This happiness was short-lived when a few years later, He lost his elder son. But as they say, God is a good planner and always plans for the betterment of us. He took his child but gave him an opportunity to redeem his glory. Fate stopped by him once again in the form of Shimit Amin, the director of Chak de! India. He listened to his tragic story and promised to make a motion picture on him. Mir Ranjan Negi understood as the only way to retrieve his respect fully and show India what he actually was. Shahrukh Khan portrayed his character and brought the true colour of Mir Ranjan Negi. The film broke the spell of 25 years of false impressions and conclusions.
Life does give us a chessboard of joys and sorrows. Sharting from our childhood, we play the pawns, be the defenders, we are defeated sometimes; but its it in the end when the final checkmate move is given, which determines our intelligence, our integrity, our optimism and more so our stubbornness to never give up on ourselves. Mir Ranjan Negi despite many downs didn't forget the ups of his life. The saying " The year you were born only marks your entry to the world; other years where you make your mark and prove your worth are the years worth celebrating."
No comments:
Post a Comment