Latest Video

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Ultimate Role Model- Rahul Dravid

Cricket is definitely one of the very few sources of entertainment in India along with Bollywood movies. Moreover, a part of job of any source of entertainment is to teach and inspire people. In India, our lives are connected to cricket and cricketers to a huge extent. India’s loss makes our day hopeless and an Indian victory cheers up our mood. Similarly, we try to inculcate what our favorite cricketer do. We are concerned about their personal lives, what they like, what they dislike, what they eat, what they wear and probably every bit of their lives. Even parents do not mind their kids inculcate positive attributes from cricketers.

Over the years of my watching cricket, one cricketer that has been my ‘Role Model’ is Rahul Dravid. Now when I say ‘Role Model’, it is not just an ‘ordinary adjective’ to describe the achievements of any cricketer or any legend of any field. It has a deep metamorphic meaning. The dictionary describes Role Model as "person who serves as an example, whose behavior is emulated by others." Sachin Tendulkar, probably the best to have played the game of cricket and they cricketer who has shared the dressing room with Rahul Dravid for over a decade, chooses no one but Rahul Dravid as a ‘perfect role model’ for the youngsters. In the next few lines, I will try to elaborate why rahul Dravid is ‘The Ultimate Role Model for Youngsters.” 


The first attribute of Rahul Dravid features in the first few pages of every book that parents read to their children in their growing days. It is called ‘Hard Work”. The stories emphasizing the importance of hard work are taught to al, but grabbed by only few Dravids. Now I fail to form my next sentence, as I am confused whether to write, “Rahul Dravid’ is the synonym for ‘Hard Work’ or Hard Work’ is the synonym for ‘Rahul dravid.’ For what ever I know about Rahul Dravid, he has spent most days of his life on nets along with playing international cricket for one-third part of a year. In the past few years, when some of the cricket experts advised him not to practice a lot in nets to retain his form, he did not heed them. Like any other artists, he believes a daily rias [practice] is the only necessity to keep your art alive and strengthen it. This actually paid off. He got a hundred in an international match against England. People were astonished to see a hundred in the midst of quite a poor form considering the standards set by him over the years. They said it came out of nowhere. But Dravid after scoring the hundred said that it was the result of continuous fluid that he lost practicing in nets. Now that is why I ask people to go through all those books emphasizing the virtues of hard work, rather than banking up their luck to turn good and achieving a undeserved success.

For a person like Dravid, ‘Work is God”. Nothing in this distracting world pleases him then the job he has-no fame, no money, the only task he wants to concentrate on is scoring runs and making India win. While his mates get distracted by participating in ramp shows, reality shows or spending time launching various products or simply fining a date for them, Dravid is focused and committed to his priority. He knows how to say ‘no’ to the things, which should not be given importance. For such a reason, it is safe to say that Rahul Dravid is the epitome of dedication, self-discipline and purpose.

“Patience’ is one attribute that Wall of Indian Cricket team has shown since his debut. The quote that first comes in anyone’s mind who knows anything about Dravid is ‘Slow and steady wins the race’. However, in the past few years, with inclusion of shorter versions of game, rules favoring batsmen and deteriorating pitches, batting is no more a skill. Spectators and Commentators feel that batsmen should take more risks in each version of the game to entertain the crowd. Cricket has become a game of untimed, unorthodox ‘fours’ and sixes’ rather than ‘quality fast bowlers’, ‘bouncers’, ‘fast Yorkers’ and orthodox straight drives, cover drives and hook shorts. But the long and short of it is, there is a crowd who still like to seen an even contest between bat and bowl. Still there are experts yelling ‘Run to banega, pehle wicket bacha.” [Runs will be made, first save the wickets]. Word ‘patience’ does not mean that he cannot play shorter versions of the game. In fact, in his last few years, he served as a ‘match finisher’ and did the unusual job with utter perfection. But the ‘patience’ is not only confined to short selection and the way he approach his game, but also in the thought process. He has shown extreme patience and tolerance even in the most intense situations. In the lows of his lives, when he was dropped from the side, had a tough time while batting, he has not repented. This is how a legend considers ‘living a life.’ They know that failures are part of lives and know how to deal with them. That is something, which distinguishes an extra-ordinary person from an ordinary herd.
Another prominent quality that Dravid has is that he knows how to handle success better than many. His achievements do not carry him away. As he said in an advertisement for a shaving product of a brand called Gillette Mach3 Turbo,” Yesterday is over. Each day is different and brings a new challenge.” When he goes to bat, even on the pitches where he has scored heaps of runs, even against the bowlers whom he have dominated over the years, he tries to reproduce the same effort. That is how one should be aspiring in his profession. If you have nine, try to get ten. Nobody will praise you for your work in the past until you perform in the present. Consistency is required for being extra-ordinary.

One last character that Dravid has is inspired from his One-Day International career. When he made his debut in this shorter version of the game, people said he is not an apt player for this format. Many cricket experts called him a one-dimensional player. Instead of saying that ‘I give up’, he worked on his game, improved his range of shorts and strike-rate and rest is history. He went on to score more ten thousand runs in the format of which he is not called a player. What this story says? It simply says that ‘natural talent’ is not the only necessity to perform any task efficiently. If someone is determined to do something, works hard, he can perform it even more efficiently than the one who are born to do the task.
Also, being benevolent and generous helps in whatever profession you are. Again, Dravid acts as a perfect example. He has played cricket in high-pressure situation for over a decade, but has remained a gentleman all these years. He has an emotionless face. He smiles occasionally on victories, takes a sigh during defeats and remains emotionless in situations involving pressure. Rahul has kept a ‘cool head’ over the years not indulging in arguments with any cricketer or umpires after getting a wrong decision. For this, he has won the respect of cricketers with whom he has played with him, just showing the worth of being a good individual enhances your dignity as a professional.

In the end, I will say Dravid is a source house of such positive aspects that any individual will try to inculcate to taste success. He not only can teach youngsters how to play cricketing shorts, but he is a ‘Perfect Role Model’ for the youngsters who want to make something of their lives. He won the ‘MTV Youth Icon of the year 2004’ which I believe is one of the most special award he has won just for the reason that inspiring youth is at of job a celebrity should perform. This is why I say Dravid stands in a different league when it comes to inspiring people and I call him ‘The Ultimate Role Model.”


Article Written By Aman Arora - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000378443119


   

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More