An Ice Skating experience

The Beijing 2022 winter Olympic games’ opening ceremony was yet another masterclass from the middle kingdom on how to unleash the human potential along with technology in delivering a spectacle, visual treat to the eyes. Although not a big fan, the winter games bug hit me, more so as we lived in China during this time. Shanghai is an amazing sporty city with avenues for all kinds of sports. I requested my good Chinese friend Kevin to look for an Ice skating rink in the city & he quickly shared me one at the SanLin Stadium in Pudong, a mere 5 kms from our place. We decided to meet there on a Sunday at 10am.

Apparently, it was was not just me that had been bitten by the Winter games bug. There was a decent queue at the entrance & the gates finally opened at 10.45am. We picked up the skating shoes, which i thought was very good quality. It was at this moment that I realized what I was getting into. The bug effect faded away and reality struck as a question arose “Am I really going to be able to do this?”. We tied our shoes & the first success came in the form of being able to walk around with the skating shoes on. I shared my delight to my daughter Aishani.

Aishani brought me back to reality saying “This is just ground, its easy. but ice is different”. We slowly entered the skating arena. By this time, most of our batch folks were inside, a relatively crowded rink, so to speak. Aishani got in first and then requested my help to hold her. I hesistantly got in and by the first step on ice I realized this wasn’t going to be an easy affair. I held on to the rails in one hand & Aishani’s hand on the other as we ice “walked pretty much at snail’s pace. We somehow managed to walk until midway of the periphery and looked around.

Skaters in action were a good mix of first timers like us, amateurs and slightly experienced ones as well. After a while, Aishani got a little more confident and went on her own. Although mostly she was walking, she would also do bit of skating. There was a similar trend with other kids. While entering, the parents held the kids. After a while, the kids got more confident and now they were holding their parents’ hand. How the tables had turned!

Looking at how miserably I was stuck at a corner, Aishani came to me and gave a motivating pep talk “Pappa, Don’t be afraid. Go in your normal speed. Keep your fear away, do what you can do. You see… They are falling, but they are not bothered, they get up”. That was a great dose, it explained why the kids had got into rhythm quicker than the adults. Lesson #1: Keep fears aside, don’t be afraid to fall down and get up!

With a new found inspiration, I let go of my fears and started ice “walking” without holding the rails. Although bit difficult at first, and stumbled many times, I was able to do little bit of ice skating, this was really good. Several thoughts ran through my mind, mostly from the books, articles and videos I read & watched. With more practice, we got more confidence and as a saying goes “Confidence breeds competence, competence leads to mastery”. Lesson #2: Mastering new skill first starts by getting into the “arena” and keep practicing it.

While I was trying to channelize my thoughts to gain composure and skate, I realized it was almost like meditation amidst a lot of chaos &noise. I was able to be all alone in between so many people skating around. Lesson#3: Meditation can be practiced anywhere & everywhere. The whole experience was quite different & memorable. Learning anything new in life is a thoroughly engaging process, involving both the body and the mind. And all through the amazing 1 hour experience, one thought from Sadhguru stood out in my mind “Human life is a tremendous possibility“.