Man Proposes; God disposes
It is beautiful to have dreams. Dreams give us purpose in life; the purpose to achieve them. Yet, Life has its own plans for each one of us, it seems …
Virat stood there, staring at the impressive gate of ‘Friends Sports Academy’. The name shone in the moonlight. Everything around him was quiet. It had indeed been a momentous day for him; his hard work had paid off, and his cherished dream had finally taken shape!
The inaugural event for ‘Friends Sports Academy’ was a grand success and it was attended by the who’s who in the sports world of the country. There were some international sports figures too, and the event was widely covered by the press. Virat was the biggest name in the world of badminton in the country and he had made his mark at the international level too. The past decade had been a golden phase in his professional career. And now, his dream of having his own sports academy, had come true as well! How time seems to fly!
Virat could clearly see in his mind the three young friends, carrying their sports bags on their back, walking together, after a long evening of hard practice. They were immersed in an animated conversation.
“I will form the best sports academy in our country, comparable to the likes of the great ones abroad. I will have the best of trainers and coaches, along with world class infrastructure. Only the true dedicated students will be allowed in the academy; no compromise on hard work! My students will rule the world of sports!” Twenty-year-old Palash was all passionate, while speaking about his dream. Virat and Ravi listened to him in rapt admiration.
Palash, Ravi and Virat were best friends since their childhood. Love for sports had brought them together, and the fire to excel had kept them together through all these years. Badminton was their passion.
“We wish your dream comes true! But it will need mountains of money! The state-of-art academy that you are dreaming of, I’m afraid, may be a hungry monster,” Ravi spoke.
“So what? We will make that kind of money, man! I am sure, we will.” Virat had real conviction in his words. He was already seeing the grand structure of the academy! He was always a positive thinker!
The three boys put their heart and soul in fulfilling their dreams. They could see nothing but visuals of themselves, standing on the victory podiums, wearing Gold Medals. Lady Fortune, though, was smiling her wicked smile!
One evening, while practising, Ravi smashed the shuttle cock on the other side of the court, winning the final point of the game. He jumped up in excitement but, to everyone’s shock, he fell hard on the ground. He fell unconscious. The boys wasted no time and rushed him to the hospital. The doctors attended to him and, after a few tests, they said that Ravi had a hole in his heart!
Ravi was diagnosed with an ‘Atrial Septal Defect’ where one has a hole in the wall of the atrium, the upper chamber of the heart. The condition is not very uncommon and, if the hole is small, it goes undetected for a large part of the life. But if the hole is big then it leads to complications like it happened with Ravi. Being a sportsperson, his level of physical activities were very high and intense. The heart could not cope with it and Ravi collapsed. The doctors started treatment but Ravi’s whole world fell apart, when he was strictly advised against such an intensely and physically active life. He had to stop playing professional sports!
This was like a bombshell for all the three friends. None of them could visualise a life without badminton. But whoever has been able to alter the spin of Lady Luck’s spinning wheel?
Ravi tried his best to accept the unthinkable! He stopped going out with Virat and Palash. He had to keep himself away from his passion and, he probably could not handle this setback; one night he suffered a cardiac arrest. By the time he was taken to the hospital, he was declared dead.
The famous trio was broken. Palash and Virat were completely out of their minds. Things beyond their wildest dreams were happening, and they did not know how to react. They reacted with the one thing that they knew! They clung harder, if that was possible, to their passion: Badminton!
Time is said to be the greatest healer. Virat and Palash kept progressing in their game and they started winning major tournaments. They were a formidable pair in the field of doubles. Both became the only faces with the gold or the silver, hanging around their neck.
Competition has a huge pitfall. It can accommodate only one person at the top. The nationals were the next major tournament for both these friends. The winner would go for the Olympics. The team was to leave for New Delhi by an early evening flight. Virat and Palash had packed their bags and were all ready. Virat’s parents had asked both the friends to have tea with them, and leave for the airport together.
Palash arrived with his bags. The boys were, understandably, excited. Virat’s mother was laying the table for them when Palash suddenly said,
“Let me make coffee for everyone today.” The boys often did this at each other’s house.
It was a grand tea, meant to be a great send-off for the boys. It was time to leave when, unexpectedly, Virat was not to be seen anywhere. Looking for him, his father was shocked to find him in the washroom, in a terrible condition. He was writhing in pain, and was throwing up continuously! That was a shocking scene! The doctor was called in. By the time he came, Virat was unconscious. The doctor examined him and diagnosed him with acute stomach infection and food poisoning. Virat lay there totally dehydrated and spent. The doctor advised immediate hospitalisation.
Palash had to leave alone for the airport, while Virat lay in the intensive care of the hospital. Virat’s parents were shellshocked by the turn of events. Virat could not take part in the national competition, that year! They couldn’t imagine what Virat’s reaction would be, to this; but, at the moment, all they could pray for was his quick recovery!
The hours were ticking away and Virat was yet to regain his consciousness. His parents were distraught and were praying fervently for his life. They were sitting in the narrow corridor outside the intensive care unit. Virat’s father, Vikram felt the need of some fresh air and walked out to the general lobby of the hospital. His eyes fell on the huge television screen mounted on the wall. There were visuals of a plane crash! Vikram stopped; his heart missed a beat!
Due to some technical error the aircraft carrying Palash had crashed, leaving all the passengers and the crew dead! Virat was supposed to be in it; this struck like a lightening in his mind!
Virat took a few days to recover. The truth hit him like a thunderbolt. Palash was dead? Life and its ways! His passion, for the second time, saw him through and helped him move on. How true the beautiful words by Zach Toelke are:
“A true passion that burns within your soul is one that can never be put out.”
Virat went on to be the national champion the next year, and was sent to the World Championship. He won a silver medal there. The loss of his two best friends seemed to have infused a deadly ambition in him to be the best in the world, and he was constantly striving for improvement. He never stopped to rest, in his tireless journey towards success. And this is where all his dedication and ambition took him: achieving their collective dream, a dream that three best friends had seen together, a dream of a great sports academy.
There were times like this, when Virat would go down his memory lane and would stop at the speed-breaker of that fateful day, when Palash’s aircraft had crashed. His mind would wander to his bout of acute food poisoning; he would always be extra careful about food, for days before any tournament, because they had always been trained to do so. It was no different, that time too! Then, what had happened? He would stop himself there. Was there any point in trying to find the truth? In trying to speculate?
Dawn was breaking! Virat had spent the whole night, sitting on the bench near the gate. He got up and started walking away, as he saw some students, on their first day in the academy, coming out for their early morning workouts.
Yes, only the most hard-working and dedicated students would get to be a part of this academy, just as his dear friend, Palash had wished!
Life, the greatest roller coaster indeed!
