Enlist yourself for the good stuff here
authored, with loads of love & thought, by Pranjali Pratik
Imagine being the captain of one of the biggest sports teams in the world, leading your team to the finals at the biggest tournament in your sport after 20 years, and then, less than 2 years later being unceremoniously dropped from the team after being labeled “mentally and physical unfit” as a leader.
Do you know who I’m talking about? Yes, this is the story of our very own Sourav Ganguly.
If anyone had a reason to feel like a victim at some point in their life, it was him in 2006. After everything he had done for the game of cricket in India, his dignity was under attack. He could have created a media storm, and cried from rooftops about the unjust treatment being meted out to him.
And yet, we all know how the story actually goes. Before a year was up, Dada compelled selectors to call him back. His form, in these last innings of his career, was befitting of the title of the Bengal Tiger. He proved his detractors wrong and announced his retirement at the peak of his game, before going on to become the president of CAB and eventually, President of the BCCI.
But how is this relevant to our podcast?
I recently came across an interview of Sourav where the interviewer asked for his advice to the younger generation on how to face trauma like he did. Without missing a beat, Ganguly said, “I didn’t go through any trauma. I just had good days and bad days. I just had pressure, bit more pressure, less pressure, too much pressure. I don’t consider it as a trauma.“
And that brings us to Episode 17.
In today’s day and age, in highlighting important social issues, we end up identifying with it so much, that it starts to affect our own understanding of we are, and how the world sees us. The victim narrative is harmful not only to our own mental health, but also detrimental to the important relationships in our life. It is critical that we find the balance of being engaged enough to be emotionally affected by the highs and lows of our lives, and yet never allowing them to define us.
He, who blames others, has a long way to go.
Old zen proverb
He, who blames himself, is halfway there.
He who blames no one, has arrived.