Life is an
opportunity to love and be loved. That’s what makes living so special!
 |
| N.Ramachandran (extreme left) at Sochi Picture Courtesy: The Hindu/Internet |
Yesterday I was at an Awards function. One of the awardees was the newly-elected
President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) N.Ramachandran. He was feted
with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian sports
(other than cricket) including introducing Triathlon events in India, building
Squash as a sport in India and helping India regain its official status at the
Olympics. Ramachandran’s election as IOA’s President led to the Indian Tricolor
being unfurled at the closing ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. But it was not
Ramachandran, the sports administrator that I admired last evening. It was
Ramchandran the man, the father who touched my heart. In his acceptance speech,
Ramachandran thanked his family, his wife, his son and his daughter, without
whose support, he said, he would not have been able to do all that he did. He
said his son and daughter-in-law were not able to make it to the event. Then he
called out to his daughter.
“Bubbles, are you there,” he asked.
“Ya….,” came the reply. We all turned in the
direction from where the reply had come from. And there she was – a young lady,
specially-abled, cheering lustily for her dad. She was truly overjoyed that her
father was given the award and equally delighted that she had been called out
by him in his speech. It was a poignant moment. An achiever, a busy
industrialist, pauses to thank his family and then celebrates the presence of
his special child in the audience and thanks her for her support in his Life. I
have not known too many people to be able to do that – which is to include members
in their family who are special in the mainstream of their social Life.
That moment was a lesson in humility, love and
living. We all get so obsessed with the rush of our daily lives that we
sometimes don’t consider the contributions of so many people that make each day
count for us. As we grow in our careers and, often times, encounter success and
fame, we may get carried away that it’s all been caused a lot by our own
intentions and efforts. But if we care to pause and reflect, there would be so
much support that has come to us from those who have backed us silently –
sometimes with just their presence. That presence is
love. And recognizing and celebrating that presence is what Life is all about!
No comments:
Post a Comment