Learn to lose
gracefully
Today,
I got a golden opportunity to attend a talk (on the occasion of 52nd
Convocation of IIT Kanpur) of one of the eminent personalities in the arena of
sports, Pullela Gopichand, a former badminton player, coach of Indian Badminton
team and recipient of many prestigious awards of India such as Arjun Award,
Dronacharya Award and Padma Bhushan. He was accompanied by his wife PVV Lakshmi
who is also a former renowned badminton player and has bagged the National
Badminton championship title 8th times. To train the future generation
badminton, he opened an academy named Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy
(PGBA) with the support of his wife and mother.
He has mentored many great players like P.V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal,
Parupalli Kashyap, Sai Praneeth. It was an honor to hear the journey of their
life from both of them.
Pullela
Gopichand started his talk by emphasizing the importance of sports in his life.
Sports has always helped him to shape his life in a better way. He was born in
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Like other Indian families, his parents wanted him
to pursue his career either in engineering or medical. So, after completion of his board
examination, he took up science stream. But, this stream had never fascinated
him as much as his love for badminton. He used to get up early in the morning,
study for about one and a half hour and then go to the badminton court for
practice. His elder brother, a student of IIT Madras, had already raised the
bar of academics and leveled up the expectation for him. Finally, he chose
badminton as a career, which later proved to be a wise decision taken at that
time.
His
Career took a halt when he got leg injuries. It was a phase when everything
seemed dark. According to Paulo Coelho, “And, when you want something, all
universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Sometimes, the opportunity
arrives when every door is closed. Miracles do happen when one is at the verge
of losing himself. He did not give up on
his aim. He wanted to always reveal the recipe of his success to the newcomers
so that they don’t have to struggle initially. If he could win at the age of
27, kids of India would win at early ages. That only requires proper training
and encouragement to take up badminton as a career. This is what a real coach
thinks. He had the vision to see the younger generation at the summit. A coach is someone who can extract the
potential of his students and let him realize his dream. In the entire process
of coaching, he acts like a GURU who takes care of every aspect of his students
not limited to physical well being. He shared one of the incidences with the
audience of IITK. While giving training to one of the students, he was asked a
simple question that made him contemplate for long. A thirteen-year-old girl,
while unable to catch the shuttle flying in the air, asked him politely, “Sir,
can you teach me how to catch?” This had shaken his mind. He was amazed by the
relevance of the question.
He
encouraged the audience to practice any sports daily. A game has been an
integral part of his life. The day he has started playing, it’s been in his
routine to continue for years without missing a single day. It not only makes
one body flexible but also relaxes the mind. In this competitive world, people
are so much concerned about winning. They are not able to bear the effect of
loss. But, sports helps one learn to lose gracefully. It prepares one to leap, getting defeated multiple times. It builds up an emotional strength. It
advertises failure to the world which develops confidence in players. After
dealing with all such failure, players try to hold themselves up and rise like
a phoenix out of ashes. Sports also exaggerate the ability to analyze an
opponent’s action in advance. It provides different dimensions to deal with the
tribulations of life.
In
the end, one question was raised from the audience, which was directed to PVV
Lakshmi. The question was based on how she handled both her personal and
professional life. She answered it quite well. She managed both the spheres of her
life because of the support of her in-laws and her husband, of course.She had
been a pillar of support for Pullela Gopichand. The bond they share will always
remain an inspiration for many.
SWETA
SARANGI
28-6-2019
