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.
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