3 Feb 2018

My first travel of 2018!

Jo honthon se na keh saka harf woh bhi toh hai,
jo ankhon se na  beh saka dard woh bhi toh hai,
yaad hai sab, mujhe yaad hai…

I wanted to start this article with a couple of thoughts; the first are the lines from a song I heard lately which has touched me deeply. Music is such a cruel yet sweet thing; it digs an old dagger on the heart and then another piece becomes the medication to seal the wound again... such is my life!

The second is appreciation for all those who follow my blog but to a couple of special folks who asked me ‘so when are you writing next? I am waiting to read’. I am deeply touched by this gesture because until now I thought I just write to let go, which I am still doing but today I know there are those out there who do read me and feel the emotions these words are put down with.
A special mention to someone who reached out to me acknowledging just how much my blog meant to her. It was overwhelming and rather like a ‘fairytale’!
To you, I say thank you but also that my footsteps are mine and my words don’t do justice to the life I have lived and continue to live, so my words should not be the way you should look at life or lead yours. I am indeed grateful to you!

I was looking at my blog and I realize I never wrote about my trip to the UK and Turkey last year – unbelievable! I am travelling to Islamabad tomorrow and 2 hours is a long enough flight. I hope if I hit the right nerve to write, I will pull out my laptop and write about that trip. A lot of emotions and feelings that I did collect and tremendous memories I hold. My photos will speak to this but I think I should write about it so Insha’Allah soon.

I am travelling for the National Ismaili games in Pakistan. I qualified as Karachi men’s number 2 in singles; again, unbelievable!  I look back at my journey of badminton and I don’t think I ever took the game that seriously. Mia Hamm said “somewhere behind the athlete you've become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back... play for her.” In my case, clearly I replace the words girl with boy and her with him :p but this is a quote that justifies my badminton journey. I learnt the game from my best friend and never knew anything but to stand in front at the net and hit a shuttle that was in my range; anything else he would play it. Eventually I became the one who would pick everything and got someone to stand in front. It is indeed a fact that my doubles game is way better than singles and I am known to smash the person in front on the opposite end. Some may take that as unfair or whatever but hey! It is a game and not one for the weak-minded. I often tell people I am coaching that it is about your mind and a bit of fitness, not power. Manu think badminton is all about smashing; well that is why experience mostly beats power in the game. Anyways, so I am going for that tomorrow.

Allah, His mercy and His plans for us will never be understood by our tiny little intellect. The games were supposed to be last weekend but were changed. When they got changed, I was like ‘but why?’. Last weekend, I got shingles and had to be at home for 5 days in excruciating pain. The pain which is of the nerves is still there but at least now I am in some shape to travel and grateful that I can stand on court and last for a match or two. I don’t know the results or what will happen there, but whatever it will be, I am grateful to be a part of it and if or when I win, it will be my most courageous and satisfying win. One thing everyone who has played with me will tell you, there is no match the opponent just wins without me putting a fight!

I am also going to Lahore for a couple of days after the event in Islamabad. I am looking forward to that especially. I have planned to be at the Wagah border of India and Pakistan. It has been a long-standing wish to go to India but so far life has not allowed that. Let me hope that in future, an opportunity will take me to that part of the world. I look forward to capturing many photos on this trip and of course meeting my two friends I made in December in Islamabad.

Lastly, regardless of what the world has shown me, the rays of light and hope will always keep me going forward. My dad taught me never to give up or let life dictate terms so I will fight it, regardless of how low the path is!

Love & Peace,
Champ


PS: Why do I still use a nickname given to me by a friend who also left a dagger?! - I wonder!!








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