If you set your mind on one thing, work hard for it
ADVICE ExIndia skipper Rasquinha tells younger self not to ignore studies as sports and academics go handinhand
Dear me LETTER TO MY YOUNGER SELF
Dear seven-year-old Viren, Did you get hit by the hockey ball again? You were bound to playing on the loose tar wearing slippers. But you are having fun and don’t want to stop. One day you will look back at the days of playing on the streets of Bandra and remember all the pain that went into making an India captain.
You don’t know it yet but you will have four big dreams: play for India, play in the Olympics, captain India and win an Olympic medal. Three will come true. But that’s for later.
For now, it is the grass pitch at your St Stanislaus School that will be important. Here you will meet Marcellus Gomes, your first coach and an Olympian. You will be 11 but he will put you in the U-12 school team.
When you are 14, the India team will play a match on that ground. It will be at night and you will have an exam the next day but you will beg your mom to let you watch it. Not only will you watch your idols, you will talk to them after the game and shake hands with Dhanraj Pillay. It is at this point that you will decide that you want to become a hockey player.
But you won’t ignore academics. You will play every day, even during board exams. But you will also focus on studies. Academics and sport will go hand-in-hand.
Then you will represent Mumbai and meet Vikram Pillai, who will be your best friend for many years. Playing for Mumbai will be the turning point. You will be the captain and the team will reach the junior national final for the first time in 24 years. You won’t win. But everyone will see how well you play. They will ask you to join the camp for the junior national team.
Eventually, you will make it to the India junior team. And you will become a part of Indian hockey history when you become junior world champions. You, Vikram and 11 other junior players will go into the senior team.
Training for the senior team will be tough. Some days you will cry. Your body will hurt. Sometimes you will think of running away from the camp. But you will set your mind to it and work hard. You will become faster and get less tired. You will be strong. Then you will make your senior India debut. Three more to go. You will now be a regular in the Indian team and, in 2004, during a series against Pakistan, you will also be captain.
The Olympics will take place in Athens. You, Vikram and six other junior teammates will be part of the team. You will tick another achievement. Only one more to go. That won’t happen, not directly at least. But through your involvement with the Olympic Gold Quest, you will stand behind PV Sindhu as she steps on to the podium to accept her silver medal in Rio. Maybe, you can tick that box in your list. Viren Rasquinha Love, hugs and kisses,