Tennis- My life skill teacher!

I picked up a racket at age of 7 or 8 when my parents put me in TTT (Triangular Tennis Trust) in Madras so that they could somehow engage their active first born. I was low on confidence from a young age and tennis has always been my guide on how to break that low confidence and come on top. At TTT, I was no star and never branded as up and coming good tennis player. In fact, I was the one who got to do extra rounds when the tennis coaches found faults in my game. However those three years at the young age taught me the game and also nurtured a love for it. Tennis has always been my constant companion. We moved house and then found a tennis court close to home where I would cycle to the courts and play. I also remember, that my Dad’s gymkhana membership meant access to great clay courts in my teens. Those crucial years of “board exams”, when I wanted a break from routine of studies, tennis was always there. During under grad college, I was thrilled to find tennis courts right outside my hostel in Coimbatore. Having never represented school at any sport related stuff, it was amazing to be college captain and play for them. This was a great confidence booster. Then later in the US, tennis court were easier to find than coffee shops . Once I was bitten by the bug, I always sought a tennis court wherever I went.

Winning mixed doubles gold Jan 2025

Tennis taught me that even when you are really “down in the dumps” like down 0–4, if you can somehow convince yourself that you can get out of the situation, you will start winning. You start with 1–4, then 2–4, then cobble up to 3–4 and 4–4. With the vigour and momentum just gained, one can turn the game around and end at 6–4. However if you let the 0–4 get to you, you can lose your mind and give away a set. In life too, you are in control of your destiny. You decide how you want it to go. By playing tennis regularly like in my teens, playing for college, later at my time in Houston, Germany and now in India I am constantly reminded that I am the boss of my life. My mind controls my destiny. The buck stops with me!

Tennis also teaches you that one does have rough days and it’s okay to lose. In fact one learns a lot from a lost game. Maybe you did not run enough, perhaps you over thought a shot, probably too eager or too overconfident, or perhaps you were pure lazy and you gave up too easily. In life too we lose opportunities because we don’t try hard enough or we plan strategy after strategy and when we need to deliver we fail or we are lazy and don’t do anything.

Another life lesson has been to “acclimatise” to any situation. If you play doubles, perhaps your partner’s serve is not that great, how do you play with the disadvantage. Or perhaps the opponent has a killer volley so how do you ensure you shots don’t fall “short” or how do you perfect the lob. In life too my “doubles partner” for life my husband kept throwing easy volleys at opponents when he found jobs at places where I was not based out of. I had to quickly acclimatise myself and find the sweet spot to hit a killer return. In my case this meant trying to negotiate with my employer to transfer me to wherever he found a job.

Tennis is also a great way to find friends. At TTT, I made friends who taught be how to be a good loser:) (Ha ha). During my college tennis days, I forged some unlikely friendships. Our paths would have never crossed had it not been for tennis. I met people from different parts of Houston when I played at Lee Le clear. In Germany i played in a tennis club where all the women spoke German so it was a great way to learn the language and also understand the pop culture at that time. Now in India, I routinely meet people from a different backgrounds than me. So engineers, a villa builder, a polo player, a scientist, software engineers, instrumentation engineers, a builder, a night club owner etc. My horizons are expanding and I find myself so accepting of different people because of this.

Being a constant over the many years, I raise a toast to this lovely game. When I am wobbling and unable to run and perhaps lonely, I hope I can still play. A cool grandma in her tennis clothes and racket. Tennis thanks for being there for me and making my life so wonderful.

I hope I never have to part ways with you….