-What do you do now that you have so much free time?
-Hmm, let’s see. Nothing specific to be honest. Just winging it I guess.
-No, really, what do you do??
Well, the point of me taking a gap year was so that I could focus on making maximum recovery from the after-effects of my hemiplegia and also doing what I could so as to join college the next year (you know applications and all that jazz). Now, as we had seen from the last two years, this wasn’t going to be a one day, week, month or even a year thing. So, the best way for us to achieve our goal was to stick to strict therapy regimes every day and do the best we could. We did just that, but we didn’t restrict ourselves to just therapy all day, because let’s face it, that would be boring. Now, we didn’t quite know what, but we were going to do so much more.
Quite obviously, there was no carved-in-stone plan. We went a little astray sometimes, but it was for the best. The path that my gurus had led me to was also being undertaken simultaneously. During the course of my gap year, I had the amazing opportunity to share my experience and everything that I had taken from it with my peers in both my home countries – India and Dubai! What could have been better than to give what I had been lucky enough to get to my very own comrades, irrespective of whether or not we knew each other personally :). It definitely did feel strange and awkward at first to stand in the midst of principals and prominent dignitaries addressing your fellow mates as but a boy of only 19. After 6 motivational speeches at 4 different institutions,it began to feel less strange and awkward and I not only shared but also grew in that I discovered more and more of myself throughout this process. I ended up doing things that were quite unimaginable even for myself at that time. Most people don’t seem to realize that giving these speeches wasn’t just me speaking to people and talking to students who are but my peers. Many a times there were question and answer sessions between the students and me, and quite often, it wasn’t just me giving motivation to everyone, but there were such questions posed that they gave me plenty of food for thought and in turn often ended up motivating me even more. I guess you can say that motivation has worked as a two-way street for me and my audiences.
I suppose, one of the best things in my opinion that that I have done in this gap year was to start with my basic sports again and try to get back to my regular “old” fitness levels. And at the same time, I also kept my mental fitness level in shape by learning a new language and doing the occasional online course or two, and let’s not forget, taking entrance exams too. All in all, I suppose I can say that this gap year was definitely the right decision in my case (contrary to popular belief). It has given me the opportunity to reflect, reinforce, and rejuvenate myself Just in time for my next important innings.