A superman of a different kind
I have always thought very highly of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi’s feat of playing cricket at the highest level with just one good eye. It remains for me one of the best examples of a human being refusing to bow down to the dictates of fate and overcoming the curse of deformity with unflinching perseverance, dogged determination and sheer indomitable spirit.
And now Vijay Patel is ready to join Tiger Pataudi. For this one –handed guy has prevailed over all odds to play the game of basketball so well, that he’s been called for the selection trials to the Los Angeles Lakers.
If you don’t think that’s good enough just try it out for yourself. You will be soon tearing your hair out with both hands.
OH WOW…amazing…inspiring…
There used to be a lady called Ashwini in Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. She captained their women’s basketball team, which was one of the best women’s college teams in India. She had only one hand, her left, and man, was she a deft dribbler and a sharp shooter! She was an inspiration to all those who watched her play in the late 1990s, typically in the Kokila Rajaiah basketball tournament in IIT Madras. Normally, the rather starved male IITians (of which I was one) would turn out in huge numbers to cheer the Mount Carmel women for reasons best left unsaid. In captain Ashwini’s case though, it was very different- that was true admiration!
We have a superwoman…I am just thinking and you can help me out here Karups – how difficult is it to play the game with one hand. I can still imagine someone dribbling with one hand as that is something which you do with one hand. But what about catching, throwing and shooting the ball , say on a fast break. The shooting bit sounds the most difficult. All the so-called mechanics while taking a jumper for example.