Winners never quit!

Over the last weekend, we had Abhay participate in a music/singing competition at the instance of his music teacher. Organized by the Swananda Balaganapathi Temple Trust, this was an annual event for children of all ages to display their talents in the field of art, music and dance. Well, we had no idea that such a Trust or such an event even existed until we landed there on a quiet Sunday afternoon for the singing contest. Had we known about the painting/colouring contest held earlier that morning, we would have spent our entire Sunday at the contest venue (According to my husband, ignorance is bliss!) Anyway, we drove to Kuchalambal Marriage hall in Jayanagar (the venue) and found over a hundred kids waiting along with their parents to register for the contest!  So there we were waiting in line at the Class I & II category (as Abhay is in class II), only to be let in to the performance room just when it was Abhay’s turn to sing, as if it were auditions for Indian Idol junior! :-) If I was feeling guilty for being what I call an over-enthusiastic parent, I could take heart as there were a whole lot of them, and what’s more, they were worse off! More than the participants, parents seemed edgy and restless. Despite being given a token number, it was the parents who thronged the entrance thereby blocking the other participants whose turn it actually was! We almost missed ours as we couldn’t hear the organizer call out “No.11”!  Anyway, Abhay was allowed in with one parent and he did sing his bhajan on Lord Ganesha well, though I felt he could have been a little louder. Once he was done, Abhay felt good about singing to a group of unknown people with fairly appreciative smiles! Well, the results came out the next day by mail and Abhay didn't make the final cut. I admit, I was a bit disappointed as I have always believed Abhay to be a good singer. That said, it was indeed a great start for Abhay who had never participated in any event like this before. It may sound like sour grapes, but I guess there are times when it doesn’t matter whether your little one has won or lost, as winning is not everything and the sooner we parents acknowledge the same, it is better for them! 

Abhay was a tad disappointed that he didn’t win any prizes at the competition but soon forgot about it as he got on with his other activities for the day. Hoping he wouldn’t be discouraged by this, I looked up the internet for some books that may inspire him to keep at it. Of course, if there was an American public library in the vicinity, all I had to do was a catalogue search and place a request. For people who do not have ready access to all American publications, it’s Youtube to the rescue! Ideally I would have loved to read ‘Song of middle C” by Alison Mcghee, a story about a little girl’s piano recital not going as expected, but I couldn’t find an online version of the same. But I found a digital link for nice little book titled “Winners never quit” by Mia Hamm.  Mia loved basketball and baseball, but most of all, she loved to play soccer with her brother and sister. She was thrilled when people cheered as she scored a goal but when there was no goal, there was no cheering. On one occasion, when she couldn’t score a goal, she feels dejected and decides to quit soccer altogether earning the title of “quitter” amongst her siblings. When everyone continues to play without her, Mia can’t resist joining in when her brother is skeptical of taking in players who cant learn to lose. But finally when Mia gets chosen to play and kicks the ball right into the goalie’s hands, everyone expects her quit. Mia who hates losing, realizes that she doesn’t hate losing as much as she loves playing. Mia continues to kick the ball hard and whether she did score a goal or she did not, she was playing which was more important than winning or losing!  So Abhay...dont worry about winning or losing as long as you continue what you love and enjoy doing! A wonderful book to teach your little one about courage and sportsmanship!