Sporting Spirituality

'He sports a mustache, now a days!'... And I started wondering, how can it be a sport, a game, when that growth is by default, a function of nature ? All we can do is to trim or scrape it, with appropriate implements (agriculture ke 'field' mei, it is 'implements', .... and this-moustache, is also a kind of crop! Even a baldie manages to grow this crop, at least! Upar wale ki meherbaani, moonch par-tak, shortage problem nahi laaya.. bhale hi 'saara-mujh-par-tak' kyon na ho!).

At that age, the term 'sport/s' was a little 'misty' to me, neither a rain drop nor a cloud! 'Games', was more familiar... and I was so 'relieved', when they insist on 'sports-man-spirit' only outside any game...! (Both, 'sport' and 'spirit' were elusive, conceptually and tangibly!)

But, I did engage into a 'game' which turned into a 'sport' for me , quite inadvertently! I could 'see' almost anything that these 'elders' speak of, talk about, or talk-with-too (be it murmuring to oneself even!)... This 'life' which is ticking within me, seemed elusive... The nails and hair are clipped by elders, and yet, I do not 'miss' anything like a 'part of my life gone with it...!'...

About those 'about-to-die' people, I even heard elders say “She is holding back the life, ... some desire perhaps! Try applying a little mud mixed with water, near to her lips, and she might 'pass-away' peacefully!” (A great-great ganny was 'sporting' with 'life', lying on the floor, manifesting a few jerks of life every few minutes, while preparations were already on.. for the 'next-things-to be done' by elders around.. they were too busy to 'check-me-out', and I knew, this scene is 'for adults only'.. so I remained as inconspicuous as possible {remaining+ 'also-not-there'... was yet another difficult task, which I seldom engaged myself into.. but death-scenes fascinated me right from early age... may be 4 or 5 then..}). This witnessing of 'death',.. though, not knowing what 'actually' was happening with that person, .. this process got 'me-involved' by the other elusive-player, spirituality.. (if we may call that concept so.. personification of the concept-of-spirit in us)...

I did not feel any 'need' to firstly verify, if there is something called 'life' in a human body! I am asleep and do not remember anything about it! It must be life, then... that is taking care of 'everything' about me!

Maybe, that started the game, the sports ... with only one player on the other side of me.. The player and 'his' game ... both are elusive! It is a kind of 'seek-only' game... He doesn't have to even hide! ....My hide hides him, right within! ..... And therefore, the 'rituals' that was 'supposed to address' the the other player, the spirit/s attracted me 'naturally-now'! It was up to me to make 'sama' to that 'kriti', of what is already a wild, crude, raw player, a creation, a kriti.... by 'Pra', or prakriti... The 'bottling' of it may be the technology (I felt,) to become sam-s-kaar, and the 'programming-language' or the 'O/s'/operating system .. Samskriti/sanskrit... (an effective & communicating interface, which 'attempts' to create a liason between the 'player' and the 'played-with-{mind}-etc'...! All this, seemed so vague, so fuzzy,... I never really 'expected-even' , the people around me to participate in any kind of 'meaning-ful' listening... they were thoroughly engaged in other sports of material-life... their spirits could be 'snoring' (I thought!)...

Years, decades... later...

I met a sportsperson. 'X', who became a good friend of mine, and fortunately, after some time, I turned into a good-friend of that person-too!

I engaged him into a conversation, which I thought would not see the print-sport, but would sprint away with that 'chat' ... But today, I felt amused, recalling that chat, and it seems to relate with what I have stated above, the experience of my own sports-game with spirituality...

I asked him: “Arey yaar... agar hum, 'sirf' statistics dekhenge tou... If we just look at it 'statistically', in your entire sports-career, ... is it not 'loses' that have a tall graph, with those few wins at great-tournament, crowning you with a 'seeded-player'?”...

He paused, trying to 'see' what I was 'trying-to-get-at'.....

“Y-e-s....” he conceded..

I said, “And in those practice-sessions, you, cheerfully loved to lose... be it a 'live-volunteer' who gives you those 'tough-hurdle-serves', or a 'mechanical-device' like those bowling machines for cricketeers!”... he agreed... “And when it is a live-tournament, this 'cheerfully-agreeing-to-lose' becomes a 'killer-instinct' to now... 'somehow' outwit the other... (let the umpire object, if at all...!).. .. and we end up tapping lesser than our potential of 'practice-sessions'?”.. He agreed.

I continued... “Now I like to ask a quiz, which is likely to embarrass you a little... Lekin, thoo tou mera yaar hai... kuch bhi 'pooch'... like , I can catch hold of your poonch/tail, without the risk of annoying you?”.. He smiled..

I asked: “Did you ever take advantage of the 'experience' of that high-rate-of-failures, the losing-of-game, losing-of-matches... due to your sports-career.. to evolve into spirituality?.. Aam aadmi doesn't have that 'privilege' of having lost so many arguements, so-many-games in real life,... and so would fail 'emotionally' when spiritual practices seem so-stupid, when nothing 'seems-to-happen' spiritually-speaking... with those practices?.. Maybe, the health gets toned-up at a cheap-rate without gadgets/medicines/tonics/etc... But the mind is unable to report any news, worth while?”...

He became silent... After a while, he said, “Hey... you have opened that window a little wider, when I was, all along ... feeling that the chill-wind is creeping in through the weak joint of the broken hinges of that closed window!” .. (He did explain ... 'his-view' of that damaged-window.. but, I would keep that part for some other time!... Suffice it here to give just a hint, that the memory of 'notable' failues had caused that chill... which he now learnt to look at as 'blessings'! This sportsperson was a 'co-student' during my spiritual-program-classes... and we shared a few mystifying experiences, when we tried to 'suspect' each other, for doing some-tricks, when we sat with 'back-to-back' for meditative sessions, where, the wall-rest was fully-occupied by freshers, in that hall).

What I was hesitant to tell him was, “I had only failures/loses to account for, in my sports-game with the opponent called 'spirituality'”... In our country, this sport of 'spirituality' has 'lost' its recognition as a game, while rural games like gilli-danda, kabbadi are 'waiting' for recognition.. A few elite class in urban places use the game of spirituality , only-for-match-fixing! It works... since the real player is ever-elusive-as-always, to both.. the match-fixers, as well as the victims of match-fixing.. so, without a 'habeus-corpus'((“ a writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court,”), koi case hi nahi Ban-taa/no-case-at-all...!

Sporting(ly), you(rs)...

psn(20th November, 2014)