Has someone been a Parachute in your life?

Has there been a Parachute in your life? 

Perhaps the fiercest of all post world war-2 battles was fought between the USA and Vietnam from 1955 to 1975.
Charles Plumb was one of the greatest fighter pilots of USA Navy in those days.. He was successful in bombarding Vietnam a record 75 times. During 76th attempt,  his fighter plane was shot by the enemy missile. However, by sheer miracle Charles landed safely with the help of a parachute.
But the area where he landed was in North Vietnam. He was cordoned by enemy soldiers from all sides and was made the prisoner of war..
He had to face brutal hardships at the hands of enemy soldiers for long and painful 6 years of imprisonment.
The war ended and ultimately Charles was one of the many prisoners of war to be released by Vietnam.
He arrived home to USA and received a hero's welcome..
He was a war-hero. Wherever he went he was received by huge audiences who were always eager to listen to the tales of his adventure and heroism.
Charles was always a proud man as he narrated his experiences to his fellow citizens.
On one such occasion as Charles was about to finish his speech an old man approached the podium and said, ''Charles, I am really happy to see you. Do you remember me?
I was in the USA navy.
I used to make Parachutes for the fighter pilots!''
Tears started rolling down Charles' cheeks as he realized he had been so boastful of his adventures and achievements but it was only because of this old guy that he was alive..
It was only because of the parachute that he had meticulously prepared for him that he could miraculously manage to survive.
Since that day Charles continued to express gratitude to this parachute-maker wherever he went to deliver his speeches.
He would conclude by urging his audience to contemplate deeply and find out if there was someone who had acted as a parachute in their lives and had saved them in troubled times..

If there's a Parachute-maker in your life, don't forget to express the gratitude to them..
For that's the least you can do..
And if possible, try being a parachute to someone else.. :-)

(Translated to English..
Written originally in Hindi by my mom, Shyamali Palkar based on a column which appeared in Gujarat Samachar. )

PLAYING IT RIGHT.. :-)

Jst last week i was watching some visuals from Kabul. No. Not the terrorism or war videos bt something similar, a few people firing Kalashnikovs. Not at someone. Bt in the air. A rarity.. Reason? They had beaten Scotland. No not in economic development. Not on HDI scale.. Not even in war.. Bt on a circular green field where wars are fought without guns. Nd where balls are hurled instead of bombs. It's a rare victory.. A sweet victory.. One that gave the war ravaged nation a reason to celebrate.
With his fitness and agility, Samiullah Shenwari would've been an asset to Taliban. Thank god he chose a different war for redemption. A holier war if not more religious..  It was an endearing sight to behold...
So the world cup is on in full swing.
If you think which worldcup?  May be you're not a cricket fan.
Or i should say, you're not Indian or Sri lankan or pakistani or Bangladeshi or a (cricket loving) Aussie..   If you're still not a cricket fan may be you're 'cool' i should say 'kewl' and i am not.
If we look back at our childhoods we will realize that CRICKET has been an integral part of most of our lives. Like the seam of the leather ball it gripped our childhoods while we kept striding forward and running between the wickets.!! We grew up and realized there are many other sports too.
And then we realized cricket is jst too commonplace. Let me support a new sport and dab we ordered a ManUnited jersey..  Bt its again that time of the year when we go back to Cricket..
May be CRICKET's biggest contribution has been the one of unification. Yes, we might hurl abuses at Shahid Afridi but thats jst a small part of the banter.. Yes, jst like any other religion which has its fair share of fanatics, we too have our Ladens and Kasabs in the form of Meiyappams and Srinivasans..
But on a broader perspective there's nothing that unites so many Asian nations in one breath as Cricket does. Let's not be belittled by the fact that ours is but a subcontinental sport..
Americans play Basketball. Bt the entire world doesn't play it with as much frenzy. Do they feel belittled? No..
It's time we celebrate this game. There are flaws in our game too.. But slowly and surely our game is going to corners of the world once unknown, unheard... Nd if football fanatic tells a Cricket fanatic that Cricket is 'Asia's football' a cricket fanatic will say football is 'Europe's Cricket!' Talking in demographic numbers, he would add. ;-)
Any which way, the game of Cricket will survive, you hate it or love it.. Nd sporting lovers and romantics like me will strive to carry this 'religion' forward... Ahh no. Religion is a dreaded word..
I will jst say, We will keep this MELA(Carnival) going..
If 121 crore people can find a reason to celebrate, a reason to leave their daily dose of disappointments aside and a reason to sleep well then i don't think it's a bad game after all..
Let Man U jersey be in your wardrobe..
Let RF cap of Roger Federer be there too.
Let's not fight regarding which sport is better. Let Cricket vs Football not become Salman vs Shahrukh or better still Messi vs Ronaldo..
If we can still celebrate Neymar's goal and Maxwell's reverse sweep with equal zest, ''Sports is the winner at the end of the day!'' (Talking like Ravi Shastri)
Nd btw the Indian team seems to be doing alright as of now..
May be that's jst the inspiration you need to hold that old cricket bat lying in a dusty corner of your home back in your hand and go around and play a few shots (and please spare a thought for that bowler too. .Our game can't survive on a Bowling Machine after all. ;-))
Ending it here with a wish we will all be shouting INDIYAAA INDIYAAA on 29th of this month..
Enjoy..
Be a SPORT.. ;-)
#BleedCricket
#BleedFootball
#BleedSports 😊😊