Rashmi Bansal's column: Life is a game, winning and losing will continue... You just play with your heart

I've been going to the gym for a few days. By the way, the gym is in my building and I could have gone years ago. But to be honest, I hated exercise very much. Since childhood, my focus was on brain exercises – reading, writing, taking exams. And I gained a lot in life from that. There was a period of PT in school. Our PT teacher was Miss Chawla, who herself was not a fitness exemplar. I remember his whistle and the sound of him shouting "Attention-stand at ease-attention". Brother, I don't want to join the military. On Sports Day, a teacher put my name in the 100 meter race. Their logic was that I am tall, so I will run fast. How do they know that my last number will come? Maybe I didn't want to get into the hassle of sports. In the name of sports, I definitely played table tennis and carrom. That is because during the rainy season, all the children used to spend this time together in the basement of our building. It was fine in the TT, but in the carrom, I also won some prizes in the tournament on August 15. There is no running in carrom, no dust. Yes, it certainly seems to be a brain. It takes a little mental math to know from which angle to hit, how much force to kill. Even today, I can beat the best in carrom. Well, carrom doesn't even count in sports today. Forget the Olympics, our own new generation doesn't know this great game. Firstly, they do not have luck in empty afternoons, parents put them in some class or the other. And in the time they get, they are engrossed in video games or social media. I started going to the gym because of my daughter. She went after me and said, "Mummy, if you don't take care of your health, what will happen in the future?" I thought, I don't want to be a burden on anyone. I have to focus on my fitness. Now the problem is that the mind still dominates the body. In the morning, the brain tells you to sleep a little more. In the afternoon, he says, there will be good exercise in the evening. Any more excuse in the evening. That's why I had to hire a trainer. Once you pay the fees, you feel like you have to go now. So for the last 8 months, I have been visiting the gym. I am struggling with my laziness and to be honest, something is starting to change. The pain that comes after giving a little pain to the body has started to feel sweet. I think it would have been better if we had paid attention to the body from the beginning. Perhaps even today, the child is taught to live with the help of the mind. Now they are completely crushed in the middle of school, tuition and competition preparation. Even in sleep, they must be dreaming of studying. In cities where there should be playgrounds, tall buildings are standing. Still, there are a few kids playing cricket on the streets—poor kids nearby. Children living in those buildings watch them from the balcony, not join. Our girls recently won the Cricket World Cup, it is a matter of great pride. Will there be a girls' cricket team in every school taking inspiration from them? Who will play with their hearts open, run with a shout? What a scene it will be, such a country will be ours. Not everyone will become a player, but there are many benefits to playing. Joining a team means you will feel both victory and defeat. Losing a match doesn't help, then we will try. Nothing happens if one exam fails, we will take the exam again. Life is a game, there will be winning and losing. You just play with your heart. (These are the personal views of the author)