THIS IS FOR BASKETBALL CRAZY GUYS ONLY! S.A.B.A.L 2010-11 MEANING SUMPOORNA ANNUAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE, will give you an opportunity to play one hundred or more matches within one year. An opportunity of a life-time - don't miss it!
ONLY FORTY BOYS AND FORTY GIRLS aged below 15 years [born on or after 1-6-1995] would be selected. Registration forms are being issued to all those who are interested. We have already requested the schools to put our `notice' on the notice board. All our basketball players and associates are already spreading the `news'. If you have still not heard about us - CALL ME ON 98860 20145 at the earliest. Or come and meet me at V.S.C. BASKETBALL COURTS between 5pm to 6pm [but do call first].
An opportunity to become a SUPER-STAR! Don't tell us later that NO-ONE TOLD ME!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
INDIA DOESN'T LISTEN TO ME - I SHALL YET MAKE MORE NOISE!
It is very strange. I have made so much noise - noise that should have opened deaf ears - noise that should have permeated the soul of every Indian. But India doesn't listen to me. I SHALL YET MAKE MORE NOISE!
CHILDREN MUST PLAY! I MAKE THEM PLAY - I MAXIMISE THEIR JOY THROUGH THE GAME OF BASKETBALL. But no one comes and stand alongside me. The thousands of students that I have had - students who today are well off in their age and purse. The thousands of friends that I have talked to - who are very appreciative of what I am doing but do not send their children to the play ground.
Millions of children are denied the opportunity to play an extra-ordinary game because of the pathetic attitude of those WHO CAN PROVIDE IT. They are more worried about their `pegs of life' - their attendance at all the well visited resorts - for them THEY EXIST! Tell me how many parents are ready to get up early in the morning and go with their sons and daughters to a playground.
Another round of vacations begins - I am struggling to find volunteers for my camps. Those who can - DON'T HAVE THE TIME OR THE INCLINATION. INDIA DOESN'T LISTEN TO ME.
The deaf ears don't hear me - I SHALL YET MAKE MORE NOISE!
CHILDREN MUST PLAY! I MAKE THEM PLAY - I MAXIMISE THEIR JOY THROUGH THE GAME OF BASKETBALL. But no one comes and stand alongside me. The thousands of students that I have had - students who today are well off in their age and purse. The thousands of friends that I have talked to - who are very appreciative of what I am doing but do not send their children to the play ground.
Millions of children are denied the opportunity to play an extra-ordinary game because of the pathetic attitude of those WHO CAN PROVIDE IT. They are more worried about their `pegs of life' - their attendance at all the well visited resorts - for them THEY EXIST! Tell me how many parents are ready to get up early in the morning and go with their sons and daughters to a playground.
Another round of vacations begins - I am struggling to find volunteers for my camps. Those who can - DON'T HAVE THE TIME OR THE INCLINATION. INDIA DOESN'T LISTEN TO ME.
The deaf ears don't hear me - I SHALL YET MAKE MORE NOISE!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
I COME TO THE BASKETBALL COURT AND YOU ARE NOT THERE!
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
Did you forget or don't you like the game
Or do you want to sit with others
Watching silly IPL matches
And eating junk food
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
Have you forgotten the rhythms
Of playing one on one
Or the pushing and shoving
That bares our souls to each other
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
Did you forget the `fake' of fakes
Which left me wrong-footed
Standing, gaping at the awesome
Simple shot that you made
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
How can you leave me lonely
Dribbling alone and hoping
Hoping that you will come
And I then can exult in joy
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
Remember, we vowed to play
To bring out the best in each other
To be always in the opposite team
And yet remain best of friends
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
I know there are other things
I know you can't live on basketball alone
I KNOW - I KNOW - YET I WANT YOU ON THE COURT
I come to the basketball court
Hoping you will come!
And you were not there!
Did you forget or don't you like the game
Or do you want to sit with others
Watching silly IPL matches
And eating junk food
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
Have you forgotten the rhythms
Of playing one on one
Or the pushing and shoving
That bares our souls to each other
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
Did you forget the `fake' of fakes
Which left me wrong-footed
Standing, gaping at the awesome
Simple shot that you made
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
How can you leave me lonely
Dribbling alone and hoping
Hoping that you will come
And I then can exult in joy
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
Remember, we vowed to play
To bring out the best in each other
To be always in the opposite team
And yet remain best of friends
I came to the basketball court
And you were not there!
I know there are other things
I know you can't live on basketball alone
I KNOW - I KNOW - YET I WANT YOU ON THE COURT
I come to the basketball court
Hoping you will come!
Friday, March 12, 2010
YOU CANNOT IMAGINE THE SORROWS THAT I HAVE LIVED WITH!
I never thought I would do it. But I finally caught up with my sorrows or rather the sorrows caught up with me - after I listened to Mirza Ghalib's ghazals. The depth of pain is so extreme that I do not want to trivialize it by discussing it with any one.
Miseries surround us - imaginary likes and dislikes shape our lives. Contempt is all prevalent - yet pasted smiles try to create big lies.
I saw the world was unjust, merciless and cared too hoots about me - me, Subhash Mahajan. I wouldn't be a part of it. I would allow the predators to bite at my flesh and soul - but I wouldn't be like it. I would be just, compassionate and caring - like a lonely tree in the desert. It didn't happen overnight - I failed many times. I was called a `fool' a `freak' - I treated them like medals.
BUT THE SORROW REMAINS. It is deeply embedded in my psyche - I haven't forgiven the world. I wrote poetry to heal my wounds and the kings of sorrow - Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Mirza Ghalib became my beacons. I wrote in pain about the `joys of living'.
As I see a child struggling for his or her place in this world - my heart bleeds! I took up the game of basketball so that I could share their victories and failures - and in it I found the `healing of my wounds'. But let me declare to you - what we have created is an `evil' - it isn't what the world should be. It isn't what humanity was intended for. In Guru dutt's film the hero says `Hata lo - Hata lo - yey duniya mere saamne se hata lo [take this world away from me].
My son told me `But Papa, what can one person do' - whether he can or not is the issue, Son, I told him. The issue is whether I have the `guts' and `character' to take a stand - no matter what the odds. From the depths of my sorrow was born a resolve to fight - to fight the battle of my life. To live justly, caringly and compassionately. I have thrown away all the emotional baggages - broken all rules which cause miseries - yet I retain my sorrows.
MY SORROWS are mine!
Miseries surround us - imaginary likes and dislikes shape our lives. Contempt is all prevalent - yet pasted smiles try to create big lies.
I saw the world was unjust, merciless and cared too hoots about me - me, Subhash Mahajan. I wouldn't be a part of it. I would allow the predators to bite at my flesh and soul - but I wouldn't be like it. I would be just, compassionate and caring - like a lonely tree in the desert. It didn't happen overnight - I failed many times. I was called a `fool' a `freak' - I treated them like medals.
BUT THE SORROW REMAINS. It is deeply embedded in my psyche - I haven't forgiven the world. I wrote poetry to heal my wounds and the kings of sorrow - Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Mirza Ghalib became my beacons. I wrote in pain about the `joys of living'.
As I see a child struggling for his or her place in this world - my heart bleeds! I took up the game of basketball so that I could share their victories and failures - and in it I found the `healing of my wounds'. But let me declare to you - what we have created is an `evil' - it isn't what the world should be. It isn't what humanity was intended for. In Guru dutt's film the hero says `Hata lo - Hata lo - yey duniya mere saamne se hata lo [take this world away from me].
My son told me `But Papa, what can one person do' - whether he can or not is the issue, Son, I told him. The issue is whether I have the `guts' and `character' to take a stand - no matter what the odds. From the depths of my sorrow was born a resolve to fight - to fight the battle of my life. To live justly, caringly and compassionately. I have thrown away all the emotional baggages - broken all rules which cause miseries - yet I retain my sorrows.
MY SORROWS are mine!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
GANDHI WAS THROWN OUT OF `WHITES ONLY' RAILWAY BOGEY - I AND MY STUDENTS WERE THROWN OUT OF BASKETBALL COURTS FOR `CLUB MEMBERS' ONLY!
The last thing I want is to be compared to Mahatma Gandhi. He is the father of the nation - I am his ardent follower and inspired by his philosophy. We all know how he was thrown out of a first class compartment in South Africa. The incident transformed him - rather than brooding about it - he set out on a historic journey to see that racism was destroyed. The struggle continues in various shapes and forms even now.
For 25 years, I have got up in the morning to give `sports lessons' to my students in different play grounds. We were never sure whether we will get the `grounds'. The playgrounds were littered with stones [left overs as wickets] of previous evenings, dog shits and maybe broken bottles of previous night revelry by hooligans of the area. In such an environment, we first cleaned the ground everyday and then played. In the midst of our exercising, cricketers again appeared and put their stone wickets in the middle of our `football' game. My request that small children too needed space fell on deaf ears. Seeing that this was a chronic problem, we shifted to a basketball court with all sorts of `innovative games'.
Till we entered there, it was as silent as a graveyard. But then as my students increased in numbers - national and international players - state and district level players, started feeling upset. Who is this man, who brings a hundred children to the basketball court? I was given the dirtiest stares and a stomach burn began. That we cleaned the court - that we behaved in a disciplined way - that we stopped our game as soon as basketball players entered the court - it meant nothing. We were not welcome. I was told to leave.
We shifted to another basketball court - we were asked to leave. We went to another one and our balls were punctured. Gandhi had been thrown out once - I with my pack of students were thrown out a dozen times. I shall have one day have my own ground - I dreamt. The people who threw me out laughed at my dreams. But I finally achieved it. PROJECT SUMPOORNA is my battle cry - No more I will be thrown out - and my students shall have unfettered access. Basketball loving children from anywhere in the world can come and live here - play basketball for as long as they want to - and need not PAY FOR ANYTHING. The only payment is love for the game and the highest discipline.
Many of my ORKUT and FACEBOOK friends have now started visiting SUMPOORNA. One of them aptly said `THIS IS HEAVEN' for basketball children. A few said, we want to come and serve these children - by doing it - we would be serving India. One lady basketball coach says YOU CALL ME FOR ANYTHING FOR SUMPOORNA - and we are hoping a girl from Srinagar makes it to our camps. The `journey' has just begun - JOIN US!
You, your children deserve to play.
For 25 years, I have got up in the morning to give `sports lessons' to my students in different play grounds. We were never sure whether we will get the `grounds'. The playgrounds were littered with stones [left overs as wickets] of previous evenings, dog shits and maybe broken bottles of previous night revelry by hooligans of the area. In such an environment, we first cleaned the ground everyday and then played. In the midst of our exercising, cricketers again appeared and put their stone wickets in the middle of our `football' game. My request that small children too needed space fell on deaf ears. Seeing that this was a chronic problem, we shifted to a basketball court with all sorts of `innovative games'.
Till we entered there, it was as silent as a graveyard. But then as my students increased in numbers - national and international players - state and district level players, started feeling upset. Who is this man, who brings a hundred children to the basketball court? I was given the dirtiest stares and a stomach burn began. That we cleaned the court - that we behaved in a disciplined way - that we stopped our game as soon as basketball players entered the court - it meant nothing. We were not welcome. I was told to leave.
We shifted to another basketball court - we were asked to leave. We went to another one and our balls were punctured. Gandhi had been thrown out once - I with my pack of students were thrown out a dozen times. I shall have one day have my own ground - I dreamt. The people who threw me out laughed at my dreams. But I finally achieved it. PROJECT SUMPOORNA is my battle cry - No more I will be thrown out - and my students shall have unfettered access. Basketball loving children from anywhere in the world can come and live here - play basketball for as long as they want to - and need not PAY FOR ANYTHING. The only payment is love for the game and the highest discipline.
Many of my ORKUT and FACEBOOK friends have now started visiting SUMPOORNA. One of them aptly said `THIS IS HEAVEN' for basketball children. A few said, we want to come and serve these children - by doing it - we would be serving India. One lady basketball coach says YOU CALL ME FOR ANYTHING FOR SUMPOORNA - and we are hoping a girl from Srinagar makes it to our camps. The `journey' has just begun - JOIN US!
You, your children deserve to play.
Monday, March 1, 2010
THE JOURNEY OF A WORLD CHAMPION! LET US BEGIN.
I have read the biographies of world champions and realize how easy it is to become one. If you START EARLY - begin when you are very very young - RETAIN YOUR FOCUS - follow a disciplined regime in your life - ALWAYS ASPIRE TO GO BEYOND - not to be satisfied with medals, cups or certificates and be a competitor to your own self.
I have been working with young children for a great number of years and many of them have succeeded to a limited extent. Some, among them, had the potential to go all the way to super stardom. That, they didn't, is because they couldn't imbibe the traits needed for that achievement. Call it fate, call it ignorance - call it by any name; yet it remains a fact that had they gone on guided properly - they could have become world champions.
I, by myself, cannot create world champions. I can only sow the seeds of such achievement. Beginning this year, I shall, focus on to a few students - who have the potential, parental support and motivate them to a journey towards world championship. I shall interact with them in such a way - so that these children
could become role models among their contemporaries and ACHIEVERS OF EXCELLENCE in a way not done before. But the first call should come from them or their parents.
Your journey of becoming a world champion can begin - call me on 98860 20145.
I have been working with young children for a great number of years and many of them have succeeded to a limited extent. Some, among them, had the potential to go all the way to super stardom. That, they didn't, is because they couldn't imbibe the traits needed for that achievement. Call it fate, call it ignorance - call it by any name; yet it remains a fact that had they gone on guided properly - they could have become world champions.
I, by myself, cannot create world champions. I can only sow the seeds of such achievement. Beginning this year, I shall, focus on to a few students - who have the potential, parental support and motivate them to a journey towards world championship. I shall interact with them in such a way - so that these children
could become role models among their contemporaries and ACHIEVERS OF EXCELLENCE in a way not done before. But the first call should come from them or their parents.
Your journey of becoming a world champion can begin - call me on 98860 20145.
I CAN HELP YOU - I KNOW I CAN - BUT DO YOU THINK I CAN?
Having been involved with `sports students' for a couple of decades now - I often ask myself the question - what was the difference between those WHO ACHIEVED and those WHO DIDN'T. The answer has always been `attitude'. Ask any parent, teacher or a senior - they will agree. It is your approach that would ultimately decide how easy or difficult your SUCCESS would be.
I KNOW I CAN HELP YOU - I KNOW I CAN - BUT DO YOU THINK I CAN.
Read this sentence a couple of times. Try to understand the underlying message. These are not mere words - there is a tremendous desire on the part of the person saying this. A teacher's greatest obstacle in `communicating' is the MENTAL BLOCKS the students develop as they acquire knowledge. When the student himself is not sure whether the teacher can HELP HIM or not - even the best teacher cannot. The pre-requisite to any learning implies ABSOLUTE CONVICTION in the ability of the teacher. The greater the conviction the faster the learning.
I KNOW I CAN HELP YOU - I KNOW I CAN - BUT DO YOU THINK I CAN.
A teacher who believes in giving his best - needs students who can bring out his best. So there is a symbiotic relationship that sustains THE QUEST FOR LEARNING.
A few decades back even post graduate students were totally OBEDIENT - today we have very young students ridiculing their teachers. In the long run, they end up ridiculing themselves. The premise of learning is changing rapidly. The students and teachers are evolving new equations. LEARNING - REAL LEARNING - is a fatality here. It is in this scenario I proclaim that a teacher's anthem should be:
I KNOW I CAN HELP YOU - I KNOW I CAN - BUT I SHALL HELP ONLY IF YOU THINK I CAN!
I KNOW I CAN HELP YOU - I KNOW I CAN - BUT DO YOU THINK I CAN.
Read this sentence a couple of times. Try to understand the underlying message. These are not mere words - there is a tremendous desire on the part of the person saying this. A teacher's greatest obstacle in `communicating' is the MENTAL BLOCKS the students develop as they acquire knowledge. When the student himself is not sure whether the teacher can HELP HIM or not - even the best teacher cannot. The pre-requisite to any learning implies ABSOLUTE CONVICTION in the ability of the teacher. The greater the conviction the faster the learning.
I KNOW I CAN HELP YOU - I KNOW I CAN - BUT DO YOU THINK I CAN.
A teacher who believes in giving his best - needs students who can bring out his best. So there is a symbiotic relationship that sustains THE QUEST FOR LEARNING.
A few decades back even post graduate students were totally OBEDIENT - today we have very young students ridiculing their teachers. In the long run, they end up ridiculing themselves. The premise of learning is changing rapidly. The students and teachers are evolving new equations. LEARNING - REAL LEARNING - is a fatality here. It is in this scenario I proclaim that a teacher's anthem should be:
I KNOW I CAN HELP YOU - I KNOW I CAN - BUT I SHALL HELP ONLY IF YOU THINK I CAN!
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