The tides of memory

This picture was taken in 2008 in Mumbai after the Beijing Olympics to celebrate my win. My family and close friends rented a hall for the party.

Though it wasn’t a surprise party, it was great to see all my loved ones come together on that day. It’s always a chaos when my family members come together but when it’s time for the picture, we all maintain decorum.

Everyone took a minute or two to speak about how proud they are of me and their favourite memory of me. Though everyone shared their thoughts, one thing my cousins Danesh and Kayoze said made left me awestruck.

The three of us grew up together. We would go to my grandmother’s house every weekend and we did everything together. When I moved to Bengaluru to concentrate on swimming, they felt like I was breaking up the group. It was very heartbreaking for us to not see each other as often as we did.

They did come to visit once in a while but our schedules didn’t allow us to spend enough time with each other. Initially they didn’t understand why I was doing what I was doing, but that day they said that they finally understood and were proud of my hard work and success.

Moving to Bengaluru at the age of 12 was also very tough. I was very shy and had to come out of my comfort zone. I studied at St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School where everyone is expected to be bold. It took me a long time to adjust.

I started my swimming classes and made a few friends there. We would often hang out at ‘Corner House Ice Cream’, ‘Casa Piccola’ and I loved the butter chicken at ‘Eden Garden’.

 I spent a lot of my free time reading Archie comics. I didn’t spend much time outside though as I had one goal — to get better at my sport. To be honest, I would be too exhausted to go anywhere after coaching classes.

That’s why the celebration party was very special to me. I met a lot of my family and close friends after several years. The one person I miss the most is my cousin’s dog Layla who is also in the picture. She is no longer with us but she was a wonderful dog and I’m glad she was there that day.

Over the years, I am proud to say that I am still in touch  with everyone in the picture. I know that I can pick up the phone and call them anytime I want. It’s also great that a few family friends have also married into the family.

Rehan Poncha
Olympian swimmer
(As told to Anila Kurian)