I play the beautiful game...

With the wind in my hair,

My mind is freed from all care,

I take to the field, my eternal lair.

With the ball at my feet,

My world looks impeccable and neat,

I look for challenges to take on, to beat.

With poetry now set in motion,

My soul achieves its redemption,

I play the beautiful game, in all elation.

Update: 8th June, 2016

Picture this. You’re taken away from something that you love. Taken away from it for reasons that are unclear to you, and reasons which seem ridiculous to you. It was, and it still is, your favourite drug which got you high, your favourite drink that calmed you down, and the one thing that you’d enjoy on any given day, in any given occasion. And now it’s taken away from you in a cruel way, and put beyond your reach for the next 9 to 10 months.

The wait alone will be excruciating. And that’s enough mental stress. But what if you’re made to work hard physically too over the next 10 months? You have to go through pain, through a workout regime that’s only getting tougher, while you inch uncertainly towards your target. You can decide to forget about it and put yourself through only the mental torture of forgetting it. But no. You yearn for it, you need it. You will go through whatever it takes. For you know how it felt.

Then you see others reveling in the happiness that it gives. But you can only see; not feel it yourself. Finally, after enduring through the tough months, you can have it. You’re almost there. But now there’s a new conundrum. A doubt has crept into your mind. After all this time, will it still be the same? After all the efforts, will it be worth it? You’re anxious about the new beginning. Yet, deep down, you know that you would’ve gone through twice the tough times that you did go through, just to be here. Nervously, you reach out.

You feel it again. Instantly you know that you’ve never felt it so good before. Euphoria takes over. Ecstasy will reign.

I suffered an ACL tear while playing football in a corporate tournament. The injury was inflicted by a careless tackle by the opponent. I had to undergo ACL reconstruction surgery if I ever wanted to play again. But the surgery was only the first step towards recovery. For full recovery, I had to go through a rehab protocol, where discipline and patience were of prime importance. Then after 8 months of concerted efforts, I was declared fit to return to football. In this poem, which is an emotional one for me, I’ve tried to capture the way I felt when I took to the field finally.