I was never a sporty person. When I was young, I remember being surprised when my mother told me that she used to do well in her school and Onam sports day events. It was just something I never got to grips with. And yet my sister was quite good and at school, even though she was two years younger than me, she used to beat me at every single sporting activity. Later on my brother also proved to be very good at athletics.
I wasn’t bothered though. There are things in life you are good at and things you are not. You just deal with it. I remember one sports day when I fell half way through the competition, everyone ran past me, I just got up and took my time and got to the finishing line at my own pace. I think Asha came first in that event as well. Amma thought that I would get upset with the amount of trophies Asha used to amass at these events and she tried to give me one of Asha’s once, but she was having none of that.
Even though I do not play sports, I love all sporting activities. I only watch the major games though. So when the major events happen, we are there with our English flags to support our teams, be it football, cricket, tennis or the Olympic Games (maybe not rugby or golf as I do not understand the game).
It is a pity in India, sports is not given as much importance as it is in most other countries. While we were in India last year, we travelled to Hyderabad and on the way back our flight was full of sports people who were coming to Kerala to participate in the National games. We got chatting to one young badminton guy, who although he was a malayalee, he was playing for the Hyderabad team. I really admire youngsters who take an interest in sports.
Nidhin is running in a track event next Tuesday in NYC, in one of the stadiums made famous by Jesse Owens and Usain Bolt when he broke the world record there. Kavitha had the opportunity to play cricket at Lords once when some of her schoolmates were picked for some coaching lessons. It is opportunities like this that inspire the youngsters.
Two of the best weeks in my life was when the Olympics came to town.
