Making inroads into sports.

[ The original version of this was written for my hostel magazine but I didn't submit it to the editors. I am not very sure why though! ]

It is said that we discover our true identity during teenage. Life has been quite ordinary till date but all of a sudden I find myself transforming into a totally different person exploring newer dimensions. The fact that I’m presently living in a hostel, far away from home, is mainly responsible for this. The unrestricted freedom, the tremendous amount of resources and, of course, the brand name IIT is the perfect combination for a wonderful hostel life.

One of the most drastic changes that took place was sudden interest in sports. I wanted to master as many as possible. A thrilling urge to become a sport enthusiast. I started with the one sport I used to play decently; Badminton. The enthusiasm in sports activities in my hostel is quite high, that is, when RG’ed with other spheres. I got to play with my batchmates as well as seniors. It was a nice way to get acquainted with the seniors especially since I was new to the place. Technically speaking, I was playing baddy only but tennis and cricket also found their way in. ;)

I then ventured into athletics. It requires a lot of stamina, they say, but I wanted to try my hand at it anyway. What was there to lose? I cannot possibly get any lighter than I already am. [;)] Well, jogging does wonders to your body. I am not talking about all that standard information that fitness trainers brainwash their clients with. What I felt is that this boosts up your stamina or in technical terms, takes the “yield point” to a new high. (not that kinda high! ).

It was time to give the next sport a go. Tennis - I’ve always liked watching the game but never got the chance to play. You need lots of energy to play tennis it is not just a high-funda version of badminton as is the general opinion or at least my opinion. :D It was nice to get the basic fundaes from experienced seniors.

The next one on the list is Throwball. It is like playing Volleyball, with lesser probability of injuring your hands. I don’t have any comments on this one because I don’t classify it as a sport in the first place. :|

Basketball – truly a magnificent sport - I wanted to try my hand at this also. The only difference was that this was not a passing attraction like most others; I wanted to master it from day one. Form trying out a few shots to dribbling, I also got fundaes from a senior who was all smiles to hand down the tricks of the game. It turned out that there was a particular way of orienting the ball before shooting it. Who would’ve guessed that there might be such rules to this game? There is even a way of dribbling the ball. It is not just arbit up and down SHM!

The thing is I put a lot of enthu when I play and what do I get out of all this? A swelling, and that too, double the diameter of my arm thanks to badminton, a numbing sensation in the legs after running all over the athletics track, a chance to, almost, but not quite, fracture my finger during tennis, a scar having run into a pole while following every twist and turn of the basketball with utmost concentration and an excuse to get a Gurunath tea to pep me up!

Making inroads into sports, indeed!