What a year 2017 was! Comfortably ensconced in a relatively privileged life, with a peaking career, a beautiful home and family that functioned like a well-oiled machine, I decided to throw caution to the wind and embark on an adventure of a lifetime! It was something I just had to do. Here’s why.
It was in August 2016 that this itch resurfaced, after being dormant for nearly a decade. My sister-in-law, her brother and I were engaged in a spirit-fuelled animated discussion about what we would do professionally, if our wildest dreams were to come true: If we could wish to be anything, what would we be? Sis-in-law, the eternal drama queen would have loved to be a Broadway star, while her brother wished he had registered for Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars. When it was my turn, I said I would love to work with the International Olympic Committee. The two of them laughed at me because according to them, I had been unable to let my imagination run wild even in a hypothetical scenario. They thought it was hilarious, but I meant every word of it. One of my most vivid childhood memories is that of the 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi. My father had taken me along to the football stadium for a match and at the age of five, that had been the most exhilarating experience of my life. Although I hadn’t been able to follow much of the proceedings and barely knew any of the rules of the game, I remember the riot of colour, the chants of the crowd and the electric atmosphere. It was the very first time I had been exposed to the true power of sport. Middle class life in Delhi back then was a struggle, with India still many years away from its growth story. But for those two weeks, it was as if everything had changed. We were world class. We were happy and we were united.
Unfortunately, the fervour didn’t last too long, as the Games were eventually forgotten and the country largely went back to cricket and Bollywood as the main sources of entertainment. Sport – or more specifically, non-cricket Olympic sport – didn’t really figure in our scheme of things. For Indian boys back then, it was rare to indulge in any sport other than cricket. And for Indian girls, it was virtually unheard of.
It wasn’t until my family moved to Hong Kong in 1990, that I discovered the joy of participating in sports. I was lucky to be able to attend one of the finest British Schools in the then British Colony, where I found myself thrown into netball, athletics, swimming and tennis. I learned what a huge gulf there was between the untaught, slapdash games we played in our Indian homes and the skilled, precise and demanding sport practiced in better schools around the world.
It was also during those years in Hong Kong that I got a first taste of what it was like to work in the sporting arena. In 1991, I was selected to be a ball-girl at the Hong Kong Tennis Association. For three glorious years, I was on court during all international tennis tournaments held in Hong Kong, notably ATP Tour events like Salem Open and Marlboro Open and the women’s exhibition event First Pacific Bank Challenge. I still maintain it was the best job I ever had and the joy I derived from it, is unparalleled till today. It was towards the end of my family’s stint in Hong Kong that I began to realise I wanted to have a career in sport. It was truly a life-changing phase in my life.
After a few initial hiccups and a brief, ill-advised career in the fashion industry (let’s avoid the dreary details) I found my calling and began a career as a sports journalist. It turned out to be a fifteen-year joyride. Oh what fun I had! – First as a sports writer for a national daily, then as a television sports reporter and finally, as a sports news anchor. I got to cover Cricket World Cups, Grand Slam tennis and the Olympic Games. I was living the dream.
Even as I progressed into general news anchoring and prime time debates over the last few years – culminating with me anchoring The Newshour on Times Now – I remained ever aware of the positive power of sport. Amidst all the disturbing news of our times – from terrorism to war to poverty – sport is like a ray of positivity, of hope. It is the one arena from which largely positive news emanates; news that delights, inspires, enthrals and lifts spirits.
And so, here I am now. Back in college at the ripe old age of forty, studying Sports Administration at AISTS in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital. I have uprooted kids, husband, home and hearth and thrown everyone into a foreign, French-speaking environment in the hope that it will build character for them and allow me to have no regrets in life.
The kids may hate me now but will hopefully appreciate the experience and exposure later in life. The husband is being indulgent because he’d rather not imagine a future with a ‘bitter 60-year-old holding onto regrets’. I don’t know what the future holds in store, but I do know one thing: I’m having a lot of fun and loving every minute of this new adventure. I also hope to be more regular in documenting this journey here. So come along for the ride, and wish me luck! I’m going to need it. Happy 2018 everybody! Time to renew and recharge!! 🙌🙌🙌