'Free' India

I am slowly beginning to love life at its hectic best! After all, that is exactly what life was meant to be.

In one of my very few 'jobless' hours, I was pondering over this thought - "Why has India never produced a 'biggie' table tennis player!". A lot of credit for invoking this 'extremely rare' thought has to be given to my hostel-mates here. I have already come across some serious talents here; even more so because of the fact that there can't be a more weird ( and obviously pathetic :P ) way of playing the game than the way I do!
Even worse, I have been playing it the same weird way for almost 8 years now! :P

It took me only a couple of moments to realize my biggest challenge with the game - the table, the ping pong ball and the racquets. Let me elaborate. The thing that strikes me the most about these 'challenges' is their size. All of them so small!

More precisely, all I meant was this - For a nation that thrives on its 'freedom', I sincerely believe the sizes are just too 'inadequate'! Read on. I promise, I will not talk a thing nonsensical. Believe me. :-P

The most evident thing about this great nation is its 'vastness'. Freedom is what thrives on this soil ( even more so, owing to the lack of it for almost 200 years!!??). We are vast in terms of the population ( actually its not even worth mentioning now! Its synonymous with India! ); area-wise I was told in school, that we stood 7th; natural resources are available in such outrageous abundance that 'Young India' (that's such a fancy word, that fits in with at most ease every time something positive about India is being discussed) has a common hobby of experimenting with them (you call it wastage? nobody cares anyways!).

Our residential areas, public transport systems and recreational spaces are symbols of 'freedom'. I was told by one of my friends that public transport buses and bus - stands in his place always looked red; reason the freedom in his place. Nobody could actually stop a human being from painting a place red with his favorite 'pan' flavor!

I know a couple of parks in the heart of the city, which are lush green, serene and
boast of a heaven - like calm. The freedom (that is available only in the absence of a security guard) finds its utility here in the form of a responsibility; that of adding to the 'fragrance' (or is it'stink', sorry my English actually stinks!)quotient of the beloved place! You know what I mean!?

Our freedom enables us to play any 'regional-masala' top of the chart numbers, any place, any time and any loud, don't give a damn at a student if he is studying in the same place; he is a sickening nerd after all!

One of the recent inventions in a similar field is the complete utilization of the bandwidth available at a place, when on the phone! Don't give a damn at someone who unfortunately is on the phone at the same time; or even if there is someone who will know every chapter of your family tree by the end of your call! That is his/her freedom after all!

The point I was trying to make using the disgusting examples is that we Indians don't really like being tied up, or being contained. We basically don't endorse the idea of 'boundaries'. In more 'truthful' terms, we always believe in 'One India'. "This place is as much mine as is yours."

Coming back to the 'purpose', I would be glad if you could foresee where I was heading ( though I firmly believe I am being too optimistic! ).

The thing that irks every Indian when he enters the vicinity of the 'table', is its size; its 'nano' scale boundaries!

We are creatures that are more used to having our arms wide open, wide enough for a free swing and full swing. We are more used to having the mouth wide open; to pump-out a sound wave that's capable of beating the world. We are basically 'open' by birth( Some of my friends at my under-grad college actually understand this thought better than the rest of the world :-p).

Hence, when an Indian is forced to play a game, within a table so small; the results are quite obvious.

My argument is best endorsed by the game that drives India crazy!
You could give me a million counter examples; but none would hold because I have already promised - I would speak nothing nonsensical! :-p