Haar Naamanibi
“Haar naamanibi” is an Assamese phrase which translates into ‘do not accept defeat’. It is one of my favourite phrases. However after watching the movie ‘Chandu Champion’ I am impressed by this ‘haar naamanibi’ attitude of the character played by Kartik Aaryan. The story is about India’s first Paralympics gold medallist Murlikant Petkar.
Petkar was shown a vision of greatness by his elder brother, not by design, but accidentally. This led to Petkar having a deep desire of achieving greatness through Olympic sports. Again it is the elder brother who guides him to selecting a sport. The sport is wrestling because it is the only sport available in his village. The trainer accepts Petkar as a disciple only to humour him. The young kid is made to do exercises, weight lifting and other odd jobs; but no technique is taught. However the kid is very observant and he picks up a few skills on his own. This reminds me of Ekalavya. Years pass and the young kid is a teenager. He is given a chance to participate in a local wrestling match in which ‘match fixing’ has been done. His trainer expected him to lose the match. However tables are turned when this novice wrestler defeats the trained wrestler.
Situation forces him to leave the village and he befriends a young boy who plans to enlist in the army. The new friend tells him that the army promotes sports and Petkar will have a chance for Olympics. On joining the army, Petkar learns that wrestling is not promoted. However, his superior encourages him to learn the nearest similar sport of boxing. Here he meets his trainer Tiger Ali. The trainer/coach helps him reach ‘silver medal’. Petkar gets carried away by new found fame and loses the gold medal. He loses an opportunity for an entry to Olympic games. The coach loses faith on his protégé and washes his hands off.
War breaks out and Petkar is riddled with 9 bullets in his body from head to toe. His coach is also equally injured. Petkar lies in coma for 2 years and when he recovers, he finds himself paralysed from waist down. Life takes a turn when Tiger Ali comes back to his life and shows him a new dream of winning gold medal at Paralympics as a swimmer. Finally, Petkar makes his dream come true after a lot of physical struggle.
Petkar’s life shows that your dream should be able to push you to extend your limits. Your vision may not be crystal clear but keep going. A coach plays a very important role in guiding you. His first coach was his elder brother and the second was Tiger Ali. Both were by his side at different phases of his life.
Whether it is a sports coach or a life coach, both play the same role in helping you achieve your goal. They assess your current situation and hold up a mirror to you. They facilitate you in charting out a course of action. They handhold you. You have a non-judgemental person who hears you out, believes in you, helps you overcome mental blocks. Your deep passion and the services of a coach gives you wings to fly.