Iyengar, Usha Mukunda Nee
(2011)
Play, love all.
Learning Curve (17).
pp. 61-63.
Abstract
The crowd roared with glee and within seconds, a
tall, bespectacled man dejectedly elbowed his way
out of the steamy hall. “The king is dead, long live
the king,” I heard him mutter as he pushed past our
curious stares. I was 12 years old and had turned up
at the YMCA, in Calcutta, for my very first Table
Tennis match. The man was Kalyan Jayant, reigning
champion of Bengal for many years who had just
been dethroned by the teenager, E. Solomon. I did
not take in the implications of his statement then, but
as I progressed in the game and in my ranking, that
moment came back to me over and over again. Why?
I think it epitomised so many things. The ephemeral
nature of success and of failure too, though we do not
always see failure that way. The fact that success and
fame in sports is so heady and ego-building, that it is
very hard to accept that it will not last. And finally,
what is the relationship we have to the game which
will endure when the steady supply of laurels is over?
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