Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Chirag- Satvik & a Gold Medal of Hope!

“We are simply speechless; it was a tough journey coming into this tournament. We were not playing our best, we lost in quarters of the world championship, we lost in the first round of the China Open. We could say it was probably the lowest phase for us. When we went back home, we trained even on Sundays. There was only one goal in our mind that we had to push ourselves as hard as possible during training & let the God decide what he wanted from us at the Asian Games”… Chirag Shetty & Satwikraj Rankireddy, Badminton Men’s Doubles Gold Medalist, Asian Games 23, India.

Well, I also don’t know what God wanted from Chirag & Satwik but every Indian wanted a gold from them which they made the God to hand it over to them, is what I feel! By now (as I started this writing this sharing on 8^th Oct , last day of Asian Games 23 in China) our WhatsApp chat box must have been full of messages ( read as forwards) congratulating we the Indians for 100 plus medals tally in Asian Games, a first ever in the history of Asian games since it started in 1951 & had there been a game in the Olympics or Asian games about forwarding a message sure all three medals will go to the Indians, yet do keep reading ahead as this is not a forward & this is not about congratulations India & how proud we should be types another forward! Well, congratulations yes, but more than that the reason or say importance of these hundred plus medals & especially the Gold Medal in Men’s Badminton Doubles as I, myself am fan of the game, as well play a bit of it to the extent that got right shoulder & left knee damaged while playing this game & has been facing life time physiotherapy, if I want to play even that little which I won’t stop playing! And that doesn’t mean all other games in which we have won the medals & even the games where we couldn’t win, are of less importance, it’s just I will share in elaborate way about the importance of a badminton gold first, for me as an individual as well for our society at large & then will share about other games.

Many readers may not be knowing, Badminton, popularly known as Game of Shuttle (as barring badminton in no other game a shuttle is used) is originated way back in Pune by British & later spread all over Europe but prominently in Eastern Asia & for decades was & is ruled by Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai & Japanese players. My generation (those who are other side of 45 plus) grew up with names like Rudi Hertino, Icuk Sugianto, Andre viranta, Sun Jun, Dong Jiang, Lim Swe King, Han Jian, Jho Jianhua in in Singles as well Cai Yung - Fey Haifeng from men’s doubles. One look at the names in the list & you can see the origin of these champions, mainly China who has been very much dominant till last decade. Indeed, there are names like Martin Frost & our very own Prakash Padukone & Gopichand yet do mind none of them could get a gold medal in Asian Games in the last 61 years in any category & this is what makes the gold medal of Chirag & Satwik super special! Friends, with due respect those who love this game may differ but by me playing in doubles is more difficult than in singles as this is why Satwikraj’s father who himself is a badminton player & coach was not keen on making career in doubles as he thought in singles making it big depends on individual’s skill & stamina which may not be a case when it’s a team game, which doubles is! As in doubles you must play every shot keeping in mind four dimensions i.e., your partner’s position as well ability & opponent’s two players as well your own self when they return your shot & all of this in a fraction of second, such is the speed of the game. Exactly it’s this aspect of the doubles game which makes me love (and respect) the game more as it has taught me a lot while working in team in my daily work also, as I have to think in all dimensions whatever work it may be, not just mine & badminton doubles help me in practising that attitude! And this is where the far east players (Chinese) used to dominate the game, as with awe we used to watch their speed & fitness in the game for which our players were no match, but not anymore!

And this needs extreme fitness, razor sharp thinking brain & a body which will move more than speed of the mind which we call reflex & all this comes not just by skill but by hardest of training which Chirag & Satwik did to beat or say dominate their far east competitors which till now no Indian badminton player was able to do (in Asian games), this is why their medal is special! And then both of them comes from typical middle class families where making career in sports is the last option & that too in a game like badminton where your career is done by the time you reach 30’s where other’s careers starts & money is not that great but money required to play this game is surely great (read as big), this is why Chirag- Satwik’s gold medal is special & so are their respective parent’s courage as well sacrifice to make their kids chose such career! As on one side youngsters of this country are getting divided on the subject of reservation in education & jobs (I am sorry, I am not giving any judgement about reservation policy or its sentiments) & are blaming to the policies regarding the same to ruin their career & here are two boys whose caste nobody will ask (now) made their own choice of career & achieved it on the only tool or support they have with the skill they got & that is, hard-work! I think every youth in this country must follow Chirag- Satwik’s attitude; not just for the game but for whatever they want to pursue, then our many problems will be solved, this is why Chirag-Satvik’s medal is special!

And then there are other heroes’ (read as men & women, boys & girls) too, right from Nagpur’s Devtale who banged three gold medals in Archery to every that player who contested in Asian games wearing Indian Jersey, they all deserve special applauds & yes, Neeraj Chopra has already laid the path! The reason why I say this is, one, they (most of them) came from families which has no or little background in sports, two, they dared to choose sports as career which is most uncertain career considering the mindset of our society & three, they didn’t asked for any reservation or waited for it but made to the National team on their hard work & skill not by paying donation nor by reservation & nor by any political leaders reference note as all of these could have got them in the team but wouldn’t have been enough to get a medal for the country as in the tournament only one thing matters, giving your best! And this is why Asian Games 23 were so special as we won 100 plus medals & these medals are like hundreds of burning torches which will enlighten millions of youngsters & their families as yes, they also can follow this path & for that they don’t need any crutches of some policy or a god-father, this is why these medals are so special!

Last, but not least, our govt is also needed to be applauded as no longer India is being looked down as a country with just big population but slowly, we are becoming a power in every sports & not just cricket, this message has been sent to the world via Asian games medal tally & for that these medals are very very special; thanks a lot Satwik-Chirag for making millions of Indian youths dare to believe in themselves & pursue what they believe in!

Sanjay Deshpande

smd156812@gmail.com

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