It has now been a month since Banned: A social media trial was launched. And, may I say, the feedback and response from all over has been overwhelming. The truth is finally out there, and most importantly, my readers now know it all.
The two questions that I have been asked multiple times in the course of conversations on the book are as follows:
How did I or the family survive the trauma and the abuse? And second, what helped me to get through it all, and how can I now help others who go through similar situations?
Both these questions have a very simple answer – sport, and the values it teaches us. Sport teaches us how to lose. It helped me deal with the loss – in this case, trauma – recuperate and get my mojo back. Each step thereafter is a step towards success and the undoing of that loss. That’s why sport is a life lesson. It was easy for me to give up. And I did at one point. But then, I have studied sport for a living and it was the values associated with it that helped me all along.
The truth is, for us all in sport, giving up is never an option. Staying resilient was, and is. Allow the first hour to the bowler, and then batting becomes easy, goes the cliché. Allow the trolls their moment under the sun, and your turn would come – that was my mantra. To borrow from Salman Rushdie – abusing me and my family was their fifteen seconds of fame. I needed to come to terms with it and digest it. Once I did, things became easier. Take the ball on the helmet, and stand strong as they say.
To go back to my two friends – Gopi [Pullela Gopichand] and Abhinav [Bindra]. While Gopi reminded me that trolls want us to feel demotivated and give up and that’s exactly why we shouldn’t, Abhinav held up a mirror which helped me understand what I needed to do for myself and the family.
As Sachin Tendulkar’s biographer, the one lesson I have learned from him was to stand up at times of adversity. He batted against Pakistan at Chepauk in 1999 while in extreme pain, and scored one of his best-ever hundreds. He went back to the World Cup in 1999 within days of losing his father, to resume duty for India. He battled through tennis elbow to make it back when some had given up on him.
The one thing he never did was lose his self-belief. And that’s what I tried to learn from him. In the face of extreme abuse, it was a challenge to not give up. But then, that’s what sport has taught us. The truth may emerge late, but it can’t be hidden forever. The same can be said of justice. And that’s why sport is always about fair play, dignity and integrity. Someone can dope once, and not get caught. But it doesn’t make that person a clean athlete. That he is peddling untruths in front of the world will one day be known. And that’s what has happened with Banned: A social media trial.
A lot of my readers have asked me if the incident changed me as a person. The truth is it did. I am way more cynical now. I had stopped believing in people to an extent. How could someone whom I had known and helped for years keep lying? I will never know. But then, that’s where sport has yet again come to my rescue. If Abhinav could battle epilepsy and if Sania Mirza could fight millions who tried to body shame her during pregnancy, why couldn’t I face my detractors?
So, here’s to more stories and more books, and creating a strong legacy for RevSportz. For two years, the trolls did take a lot away from me. But the truth is, they couldn’t take sport away. And they never will. RevSportz is now a team of over 40, recognised the country over. With the Olympics and Paralympics round the corner, it is time to push the bar. Strive for excellence and make a difference, while being the best version of ourselves.