Flexing the Muscle Power

It was winter of 2004, when I was a first year student in college, I lived in Hauz Khas. Many engineering aspirants also lived in the vicinity as all the coaching institutes were located there. Nikhil Thakur was from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. As a kid, he wanted to become an air-force officer as it was a tradition of his place to join the army. We always do not get to pursue our childhood dreams. Sometimes they become irrelevant or too distant to reach. I was not sure why he abandoned his dream and decided to pursue engineering. Still the patriotic fervour was very much dominant in his personality. He loved to talk about army, or anything to do with physical strength.

It was during those numerous non-productive sessions, he made the observation - "We have shown our brain power to the world, now we need to show our muscle power". I was not convinced. If we had muscle power, we would have shown it to the world much earlier. We as a country, never resisted any aggression (other than the recent Pakistani ones). Moreover, how big and strong those black or white people looked - whether a porn star or a boxer. But his remark had struck a chord with my subconscious - after all we never believe we are weak. Perhaps that's why of all those conversations, I vividly remember this one.

Four years later, his (and secretly mine as well) hopes finally came true. In the ongoing Olympics, India got three medals. Two of them came because of high physical strength - wrestling and boxing. Nikhil is in his final year engineering in Shimla and I am sure he would be one happy man. Finally we are showing our muscle power to the world.

Cheers brother!