While I was wondering what to post on my blog, an article that my dear friend(also my crew mate in rowing) wrote to the Hindu newspaper came to my mind. It is about our race that we rowed in the Sub Junior Nationals in Kolkata in 2002. This is the best race I've ever rowed and every moment of the event is etched deep in my heart. Here is the article:
It was Sunday,July 7,4-30 p.m. I am sitting in a boat in Kolkata,with four other girls,from other schools in Chennai.
We are silent;our crew has returned after an aborted start,for the National Sub Junior Girls Fours Race.Equipment failure had brought us back.We are racing West Bengal 'A' for the National Title.We had earlier lost to them in the qualifying rounds,but beat Manipur,Assam,Maharashtra and West Bengal 'B'.
My mind goes back to the daily practice.Every morning and evening,instructions from our coach,manager,captain and senior oarsmen. I was new to the other girls,they had rowed before. Today,we are all wearing our State T-shirts,and are one crew and friends. No St.Michaels,St.Johns or Abacus.Our identities are now 'Tamil Nadu'.
We get ready to start.We trail the hosts at the midway mark. The cox is screaming - I hear her say "Go ..." or was it "Gold"? We are all working hard,the host teams boat is again in our vision,we have caught up.This will be very close.
The finish judge announces the end of the race.We look at each other,the rest of Tamil Nadu team,our opponents ... nobody knows who won. The officials announce the result "...Tamil Nadu has won...". We screamed with joy. We were thrilled.
We had earlier lost to their crew,in the qualifying rounds,but not today.Sport recognises only one winner,it was our day.
VASAVI SUNDARAM,
Sat,Sept 14th,2002.
1 comment:
Your friend has written a very nice article. What adrenalin would have rushed when the results were about to be announced!! :)
Post a Comment