Zeno’s Paradox
Zeno’s Paradox, a paradox of mathematics when applied to the real world, has baffled many people over the years. GKM, my Mathematics teacher in my 9th grade, discussed this Paradox in our class. We did not know Calculus or the idea of infinitesimals at that age.
To explain in simple terms, if I travel from Point A to Point B, I cross midpoint C. If I continue to Point B from Point C, there is yet another midpoint D. In my travel from A to B, I shall come across an infinite number of centres along the way, and I will never be able to reach my destination.
I was watching the green patch in the apartment complex from the balcony of B Block. The space looked lovely with lush green manicured grass surrounded by areca palms. I am not sure whether it is turfgrass. I can call this a three-hole Golf practice ground with three T boxes, three bunkers and three holes with worn-out red flags with wooden poles. There are no water hazards.
After a few days, I observed several women and men on this green patch with Golf irons and trainer balls. I asked my nephew whether I could join the group to learn Golf which was on my bucket list. He checked with Admiral Sekhar Sir, who readily agreed to coach me. I borrowed irons 5 and 7 from my friend and eagerly waited for Sekhar Sir on Saturday at 7 am on the stone slab adjoining the children play area.
I became a member of the IGC group in no time. Sekhar Sir was kind and generous and introduced me to the others in the group, and there were three eager teachers to coach me — Sekahr Sir, Ashok and Brigadier Rawat. Ashok volunteered to teach me a few Golf basics, showed me the grip and gave me some quick lessons on body posture and the stance on the first day. I thought it was straightforward to take a ‘stance’ and swing the ball with iron’s face. Even after ten attempts, I could not get the front of the iron touch with the ball. Disappointment kicked in. Ashok pointed me to the various mistakes — grip, the distance between the legs, the distance between the ball and the body’s centre of gravity, swing and my body posture. My eyes were all over the place except the yellow training ball in front of me. I realised that this was an industrial engineering exercise involving time and motion study to take a swing.
After returning home, I downloaded the illustrated book of Ben Hogens — The Five lessons. I reviewed the text five times before entering the green the next day. Similar was my predicament on the second day as I could see others practising merrily, and I was very jealous. The first few days ended in disaster though I had a good idea of the fundamentals. I also saw several videos of Aimee that were of no use as I could not translate the lessons into action.
I had everything, but I was missing something. All the ingredients were there — a new half-set from Decathalon, personal training, lectures and videos, but I did not move an inch. It is like the famous Hanuman sloka:
मनोजवं मारुततुल्यवेगम् जितेन्द्रियं बुद्धिमतां वरिष्ठम् ।
वातात्मजं वानरयूथमुख्यं श्रीरामदूतं शरणं प्रपद्ये ।।
Brigadier Rawat entered the arena to teach me one bright morning. According to him, there is no good golfer or a lousy golfer, and only a golfer as long as he has the attire, an iron and a ball to swing. Brigadier revisited my fundamentals and suggested corrections. He recommended videos of David Ledbetter. Every day, I took two steps forward and three steps backwards. This process continued for a month. My other friends moved forward with beaming faces and were ready for the regular nine-hole and eighteen-hole courses.
According to my estimate, I should have mastered the basics at this halfway point. Applying Zeno’s Paradox, I have not arrived at the midpoint, which seems to be a mirage as I faced several infinitesimal mid-points in the last month.
Brigadier Rawat considered my plight and wanted to give me confidence. One fine morning, he poured wisdom into me: One lifetime is not enough to learn Golf. I remembered the story of Sakyamuni Gautama, who took birth several times to achieve enlightenment and teach others.
Like Bodhisattvas, I am unsure how many incarnations I require to master the sport.
