impromptu: Unfolding Insight

Itni shiddat se maine Tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai

ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saazish ki hai…

These lines by Om Prakash Makhija from Om Shanti Om had my world going in circles that my life rotates around now.

I don’t know, neither do I necessarily aim for the readers who believe in destiny, fate, karma, will power or any other occult concepts, but the writer sure does.

I always have lived my life believing since a very tender age about a world beyond world & another within.

So when I came across The Secret, it was as if my life long questions were being answered. Do I practice the secret? Yes & an avid believer.

For the Believers & the Realists, today I sat down to share a secret of my own.

We all at one point of time in our demanding lives, we are heavily influenced by someone so much so that we idolize them; believe in them & sometimes cyber stalk them :P

That person for me being, Somdev Devvarman.

Somdev Devvarman

The first time I saw him was rather door se on Doordarshan :D

He was playing his final match at the Common Wealth Games.

I’d never been interested in watching tennis. But this guy had something going so strong that I couldn’t switch the channel, he played like a fierce animal. His game spoke for the power in him, his resilience & I could see how much he wanted this.

And by the time he won, he’d already won my heart along with thousands of other Indians.

He’s India’s Best Singles Tennis Player (Current ranking #129)

On winning CWG 2010 Gold

Ever since that game, he had me, a loyal admirer. I had started glancing through the sports section for some Som news. I began to check TV schedules for his matches. Its something I read in The Secret & did, I would cut out his articles from the newspaper & paste them on my wardrobe. I would talk to him every morning, I’d kiss him goodnight.

I love him, I believe in the player I admire so much!

I don’t watch tennis for tennis; I watch tennis for Somdev Devvarman.

So when I got to know of Aircel Chennai Open(ACO) 2013 & that Som was accorded a wildcard entry there. It had me going nuts!

For some reason I feel closer when he’s in India :P Because he is!

Although I had no plans of going or anything close! I just logged on to the ACO site checking for updates & news on Som.

I came across ACO Superfan Contest. The requirement was to make an under a minute video explaining why am I the ACO Superfan.

At first the Procrastinate Priya strolled away from the page but then the Passionate Priya came around & wanted to feel the joy of participation :P So I decided to go ahead with it.

I self shot myself over my web cam, wrote my own dialogues :P & then struggled a bit with the editing, but completed the video & hit Send!

To be honest, I had no idea or intention of winning, its just something that I did because I had a little too much free time :P

So when I received a mail saying that I had WON, it was Eeeeenormous!

Trust me, because I couldn’t even smile, I was in such a state of shock!

It took me a couple of minutes on re-reading the mail that I’d actually won!

When I finally let it sink in, I called my sister asking her if she’d be interested in accompanying me to Chennai, yes I’m a flaunter :P

Finally when I showcased my video, after I’d win, everyone was taken aback.

My father, who’s my eternal supporter, congratulated me & let me ride it smooth from there on.

The rewards on the win were ridiculous! It was an all sponsored trip to Chennai & back! Doesn’t matter how much ever money you have, free stuff always overrules it :P

It was a fun flight with my sister’s antique tactics, eating & offering samosa to a firang passenger :P

We stayed at ‘The Park’ hotel in Chennai, also where all the other players were staying, Som too :D It was a breath-taking feeling knowing he was just a couple of floors away :P

We’d go to the SDAT Tennis stadium for the matches.

SDAT Tennis Stadium, Chennai

And be dropped back to the hotel, Thankyou Volvo! :P Volvo being one of the official sponsors for ACO 2013.

I watched all these players taller than the commentator’s chairs play, they were startling! There was Janko Tipsarevic, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Stanislas Wawrinka, Benoit Paire & do I need to say? Somdev Devvarman : ) for whom I’d travelled far away mountains, rivers & seas(in a plane :P )

Autographed Poster

They made me realize what a human body is capable of; although it didn’t quiet seem that we’d the same human body!

I tried to watch the doubles match between Ratiwatana Brothers & Sergiy Stakhovsky/Somdev, but all I could focus on was Som, I just couldn’t take my eyes off of him, and he was a walking, playing, slipping, laughing wonder for me.

Somdev Devvarman & Sergiy Stakhovsky

I remember taking a deep breadth, grinning & saying Thank You to the universe for the moment I was witnessing. I wanted to dance & jump & shout, but I sat back in my chair pretending to watch the match :D Damn I had goosebumps!

The next day I was informed I’d be live on TV for a brief interview with big shot commentator Charu Sharma himself! Instantly the song ‘15 minutes of Fame’ came to my mind :P

I’d decided to go bald a couple of months back & thus my hair was pretty short at the time of ACO. I used gel & what not to make it look "proper", but my hair wanted to dance to its own tunes -_- And my sinister sister had done a tad bit much too much eye-makeup on me! Trust me you don’t wanna be looking like that when you are out & live on TV :P

I was very much at easy before they called out for me to come onto the court, and as soon as I did a nerve striked. Janko congratulated me & so did I to him, on qualifying for the finals!

Charu Sharma interviewing Priya Singh

I wanted to start off by saying “Vanakkam Chennai” but instead Charu began asking me questions -_- He asked me if I'd written a certain slogan that got me to win to which I got baffled, thinking should I correct him that I'd made a video & no slogan or it'd be inappropriate to point that altogether! I got jittery & talking God-knows-what! :P I have no recollection of what I spoke!

After which the IMG Reliance General Manager Asha came across to give me ACO Goodies, which contained Som’s autographed tennis ball. I wasn’t as much overwhelmed with the interview as I was on receiving the ball! :P I was in tears!

Everyone looking at me like I was complete and total wack!

I didn’t want people to recognize me, I changed into ACO T-shirt :P I was as red(*blushing) as the shirt!

It was such an immensely moving reaction to be holding that ball, feeling close to the player you admire so much, I couldn’t contain all the happiness in me. I felt like I’d burst, as what Ricky Fitts quotes in American Beauty.. like there’s so much beauty in the world, I felt I couldn’t take it.