Rising to the occasion

          It was the 13th of July, 2002. I was warming up to watch the Nat West series final between India and England. Warming up in a cool manner, I had just gobbled half a litre of ice cream. The calling bell rang and I opened the door to find my parents. Both Mom and Dad were a bit dull and tensed. Oh! I had suddenly remembered that they had gone to get the results of my blood and urine samples for testing sugar. Things were now clear to me. I came to know from my dad that the results had confirmed that I had 'diabetes'.

      And the sugar levels were quite high. ( 341, a far cry from the normal 120). My hear sank. I felt very sad that I was a diabetic at such a young age. My parents were even more depressed and dad started making calls to his diabetic friends. I felt that Lady Luck was very harsh on me and my family.

  But there was someone else who had also ran out of luck. The Indian team seemed to be heading towards another defeat in yet another final. At the end of their quota of 50 overs, the Poms had get a mammoth target of 326 for India to chase. During the break, I went out for a walk. As I started walking, the thought of diabetes was haunting me. I spent some time brooding about the past and worrying about the future. Then I cam back home.

   By then, the Indian openers had given India a rollicking start. The 100 was up in the 14th over. I was excited but not sure whether the Indians would be able to maintain the run rate. My fears turned out to be true as the next five wickets fell quickly. The score was now 146/5 and with only Yuvraj and Kaif to follow, India was in dir straits.

  But as you all know, what happened in the next one hour was sheer magic. Yuvraj and Kaif scripted a great win for India. After the presentations were over, I realized that I forgot about diabetes and was instead enjoying myself. The words of Harsha Bhogle echoed in my ears ' A lesson for every Indian youngster. A great lesson indeed! Yuvraj and Kaf had shown me the way, Fight when the chips are down. Never give up. Believe in yourself.

        It was then that I said to myself  'I will fight diabetes'. On the other hand the fact that many handicapped peoeple emegered victorious in history made me more determined and resolute to fight diabetes.

       Basking in the glory of a great Indian win and mentally preparing myself for an exciting future with interesting challenges, I fell asleep. But since then I have been awake to face this new challenge in life-Diabetes.