I AM A CHILD, ONCE AGAIN..

I am sitting in the Surgery ICU, posted here as a part of my internship rotation. I have a lot of work to do but my work arrives in intervals. So, I am free for 5 minutes and then again, I get called by a nurse or a resident doctor for some work for 10 minutes. The cycle keeps repeating although irregularly.

In the 5 minutes that I am free, I read a page or two of a book that I am carrying. So, its Ruskin Bond some days and Paulo Coelho on other days. And for those 5 minutes, Ruskin Bond takes me to the pristine forests of Himalayas and Paulo Coelho takes me on a walk in one of the lesser known streets of Rio. I came back again to Surgery ICU, Shree Krishna Hospital, Karamsad, Anand, Gujarat, India in a matter of nanoseconds as soon as my ears hear the words, “Intern Bhai!”. Sorry, Mr. Einstein, you were wrong. My Mind travels faster than the light!

I am disturbed once again as I get a news notification on my mobile (I always keep the news notification ON, you know, so that I can be the first one to write a status update on that!!) But this time the news notification brings to me some unexpected joie de vivre; a sense of déjà vu- the familiarity of what was once a habit, now a nostalgic memory, coming alive!! Yes, against all odds, Rafael Nadal has won the semifinals against Grigor Dimitrov in an exciting 5 setter. I could not watch a single serve, a single forehand and yet in my mind I know how Rafael must have played- the benefits of having followed his game for more than a decade now. I ve cuttings from the newspaper when Nadal won his 7^th French Open title and have pinned it in my hostel room. “NADAL IN 7^TH HEAVEN”, reads the headlines of TIMES SPORTS page 14, 12^th June 2012. It was an iconic victory which confirmed the status of Rafael Nadal as the conqueror of Clay as he overtook Bjorn Borg’s record of 6 French Open titles.  

When it came to sports, I have always supported the second best, because best was always considered divine. You cannot support or follow a divinity, you can just worship him. And so as much as I loved watching Roger Federer play that majestic single handed backhand, or Sachin Tendulkar score that booming straight drive to Glenn McGrath, I some how found it hard to make them heroes. They were legends already even before I had started to watch the respective sports. So, it was in late 2003 when I started to follow cricket with passion and it was also the time when India discovered its 2^nd best batsman- Rahul Dravid, a man I have come to admire, love and follow through all these years, because he was a man, a human, a mere mortal, flawed and not divine.

It was a similar experience of watching a young, handsome, long haired guy wearing a sleeveless shirt and sending down grunting forehands against the divine Roger Federer which made me a Rafael Nadal fan.

But on Sunday as I will sit to watch Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open finals (they are playing in a grandslam final after 6 or 7 years gap!), I am not really sure who is the 2^nd best and that’s why I am at odds to select a player I have to root for. Both are coming after injuries and bad form. Both were written off by the Sanjay Manjarekars and Geoffrey Boycotts of Tennis world. But they are back, just like Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni did last week versus England when they turned the clocks back and produced a special.

When Rafael and Roger play on Sunday, I am sure they will be dishing us a special too, each moment will be savored by the tennis loving fans irrespective of whoever wins because the biggest prize will not go to the players but to the audience.

Well, can there be a bigger prize than getting ourselves 10 years younger? Science has faltered to deceive when it comes to reversing age, but sports still has that beauty and that is why we watch sports and read Ruskin Bond’s books, we become a child again; a child bubbling with enthusiasm, fervor and hope- things that can sometimes get defeated as we grow up.

Let us for once, not turn the match into Rafa vs Roger, for that would be disrespecting the legends who made our growing up days beautiful. 
Irrespective of the result, I just hope they play a long match. Because longer they play, longer I will be a child on Sunday. 

Thank You, Roger Federer!

Thank You, Rafael Nadal! 

THANK YOU, 2017!

-      Devashish Palkar