Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Lust for Sport

Since the Olympics are around, I wanted to write about two great athletes I knew.

Rajesh - My Big Bully
He was born at the time of my first uncle's death. Since my family thought of retaining at least his name, it went to my brother. Everyone in his school and college knew him as Edward when we at home call him as Rajesh. A guy who grew up with one constant dream. I had wondered seeing him wake up at four in the morning and going to practice everyday. Carl Lewis, Mike Tyson, Pete Sampras, Steffi Graph(my contribution) and other top athletes have decorated his bedroom walls.


The house we lived had a small room where we used to keep rice barrel. That was the place where my brother used to hide all his sport collectibles. I still remember the day he bought his new spikes and the way he treated them as his precious. He saved his petty cash from our grandfather and imported his spikes from Chennai with the help of my younger brother. He had them in a red satin bag and never let anyone of us to touch those even after they worn out to the extreme. With all the given dismay, he was an all-time sports champion in his school and college. But no one at home had received his medals and cups with a future in it. Surely it filled up the spaces in our showcase.

Suresh - My Little Demon
He was smart and active but very playful. He was the favourite of all. Very mischievous and gave a hard time to my mother. He didn't have much interest or advance his studies, but somehow(!) he was also a sports champion during his school days.

Every athlete in the Olympics reminds me my big brother and his shattered dream. I love my brothers and would like to dedicate this post to them and to the sports they loved.

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