A visit to a Hockey Match

Sports are a great thing to do but somehow it has never been my cup of tea. I used to excuse myself through the games period pretending to have fake stomach cramps; or I would rather chose to sit in the detention room than keep coming in the way of the ball I was supposed to pass or catch or dunk or throw or god knows what; and yes I am talking about basketball here. The looks that I got from my teammates flustered me even more and the whole thing used to end up in a worse disaster. Thus neither playing nor watching sports ever amazed me.

Years after crossing school I never even once thought about sports neither did I see why other people and specially men do so. The crux of it and the true beauty of the sportsmanship were thrown across my way accidently. I was in the US for some personal work when my grandmother conceded me into visiting a distant cousin staying there, not realizing that unlike India America is a place where being in the same country does not do the trick, it’s a hell of a territory; Yeah! Grandmas can be like that.
Anyways so we decided to see each other at a hockey match she was coming down to see, near my place. It almost choked me out to think about the lack of conversation, a sports game wasn’t a thing that would make me all chatty and give me topics to talk about. But anyhow I agreed due to the convenience. As I reached and located her one block ahead in the coffee shop agreed upon, she hurried me off to the game saying she doesn’t wants to miss it. During the conversation in the car I realized it was no great event but a match of disabled players belonging to the Indian community.

The sight was shocking, you could see 22 players all geared up with their sticks and wheelchairs. A team actually called themselves “Hockey team India” and photos of hockey players were printed proudly at the backs of their wheelchairs. They were spinning on the field with such vigor, throwing out their souls in the game, that I was shocked to see the dedication. There in that moment I realized that sports is passion, it is all about integrity and pride and about glorifying masculinity and strength. These players were not just playing, with every movement and every drop of sweat they were proving their strength and courage to themselves. The Hockey team India won the match and it seemed that the photos of the hockey players behind their backs were equally proud and happy at the achievement of their fans.

I will not describe their disabilities or the hardships they were put through in achieving this, which I later learned through my sister who was a patron to that charity, for it would be disrespecting their efforts which were made only to prove they were perfectly able and ‘NOT’ disabled. As it is not about what those men lacked, it’s about what they had, much more than any of us have.