A lesson learnt

Life teaches us her lessons in so many different ways. Sometimes you learn by experience - your own or others, sometimes by failure or sometimes through some friend or stranger.

I learnt a lesson today... and I learnt it from a friend! Amit shared a beautiful story with me today in response to my 'Why Me!!!' blog series. It's his version of the story of tennis superstar Arthur Ashe and his take on life. It surely is a must-read for any of you who has 'ditto'-ed (or will 'ditto' in the future) my thoughts on 'Why Me!!!'.

Here's what Amit had to say...
The story is as follows.. it is in my own words since I do not have the original story... but the essence is well captured. I guess you can take the learning from this... this is MY FAVOURITE STORY !!!

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Arthur Ashe was a 3 time Grand Slam winnner (including the Wimbledon in 1975) who was later on diagonised with HIV in 1988, to which he eventually succumbed in 1993. Given that he was an extremely popular man, he used to get all kinds of fan mail when he was in hospital. One day, he received a letter from a woman asking, amongst other things, 'Why did God have to chose you for this dreaded disease?????'

To which, Arthur answered as follows: (again the numbers might not be accurate)
'Nearly 500,000 kids start playing tennis year...
Of which, about 5000 reach the proffessional level of tennis
Of which, only 128 are good enough to play in Wimbledon
Of which, only 2 reach the final
Of which, only 1 wins the coveted Wimbledon trophy'
So each year, out of the lakhs of kids that take up tennis, only 1 is chosen by God to win Wimbledon.

So when I was standing on Centre Court in Wimbledon all those years back holding aloft the men's singles champion trophy, did I look up to the heavens and ask God, "Why me????"


Here's what I said in reply...

Hey Amit,

Thanks for sharing the story with me.

Truly touching and definitely teaches me to take things as they come in true sportsman spirit.

I fully agree that life balances the positives we have with a few not so positive moments. It takes a lot of grit to accept that reality and move on with life.

I started off my 'Why Me!!!' blog only because I also believe that to 'move on' despite all odds you need to shed them away instead of holding onto them. Sharing stuff with friends and well-wishers will only attract sympathy and philosophy. 'Why Me!!!' gives me my own personal space to yell out as loudly as I can without still being heard :). Has helped me vent out my 'gussa' through my writing and makes me feel a lot lot lighter.

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Thanks Amit for letting me put this up here. I'm sure it'll somehow impact those who spend some time around 'Why Me!!!'

Fraud Fraud Fried

I rather skip the 'Happy New Year' pleasantry here. Will be quite an oxymoron on a space dedicated to my cribbier side :))

First things first I'm proud of the fact that I lived upto my No 'Why Me!' Month resolution for December 2008 in memory of the barbaric act of terror in Bombay. Made me realize, in a way, that there are bigger problems that life throws on people. Fighting back and working yourself out of it is the challenge.

2009 has started off on a miserable note for me... on the job front among other things. I'm supposed to be switching jobs next week. And guess where I'm moving to... Satyam Computers!!!

For a dramatized and sensationalized version of the story thats haunting me I'll only have to advice you to browse through our TV news channels. In the middle of all the chaos I couldn't still hold back a giggle when I saw some news reports that covered the Satyam fiasco with fancy titles like 'Shri 420' referring to Mr. Raju :P

I had been looking forward to this job change and the new profile for a while now... and my obvious reaction to this whole fiasco was one huge exasperated 'Why Me!!!!'

PS: If you're a head-hunter or a potential employer... I've just made your day :P