Superb piece, as usual :) I knew you would write about this and was eagerly awaiting it! It was worth the wait. No matter how good someone is at what they do, it's hard for me to overlook irresponsible behaviour such as endangering others due to their personal choices, especially during a pandemic. Particularly love the initial paragraphs on empathy and look forward to reading more from you!
Loved this. I was just reading Rohit's column on this and while that has a lot of facts, I like that this one is personal. Of course we know that there is no empathy in you anymore but well, I digress.
I think it is important that things are called as they are. I love that you didn't choose to end the article on a diplomatic note. When an illness-infection can infect you and move on to others who cannot be a athletic as you are and others who cannot afford the best care in the world, I think it is a moral responsibility to get vaccinated. Otherwise, just sit at home. This man here is brilliant at what he does but that doesn't mean he will get to move around differently.
I read somewhere if it is time to discuss his brilliance over the brilliance of his contemporaries (Yea that Swiss and spaniard), and I feel it is important to widen the definition of brilliance while we are at it
Sarthak, nice writeup as always. I understand your perspective, and your internal conflict comes out very well in your piece.
That said I’d like to think that history will be kind, and perhaps empathetic to Novak. I may disagree with his perception of the pandemic today, or question his positions and personal choices. And I’m not looking to justify his actions. But your point that
<i> realisation will dawn that athletes who have trained for excellence all their life have the same vulnerabilities as us. Elite talent of hitting a fluffy yellow ball does not necessarily mean that their limbic cortex has also turned to steel.</i>
certainly resonates with me. To add to that, with sportspersons, especially sports superstars, its sometimes easy to keep aside how exacting their professional lives are, and more so how highly compressed their timeline for professional growth is, especially compared to the time it takes to build emotional maturity (it takes time even for a person in a more “laid back” profession).
Yes, the Dravids and Federers have achieved sports superstardom while continually being great ambassadors of the sport (and of society at large), and perhaps the stars of today and tomorrow, born into a culture of global awareness might make even these guys seem ordinary.
I’m certainly in awe of Novak’s sporting accomplishments, but I dont idolize him (in the way that a twenty year old me idolized Dravid). If there was an obvious “criminality” to Novak’s actions, I might view him, and even his accomplishments, differently. But when it comes to pandemic related behavior, I struggle with the idea that there is a shared, unquestionable, standard of covid consciousness that I should expect from anybody. (I know I’m probably in the minority here. )
And I’ll admit to not knowing enough about Novak to construe his actions today as an abuse of privilege, or as a foolish excess of “youth”, or as driven by a genuine belief in his perception of the pandemic. So your point about Novak being a deep thinker kind of whizzed past me. (To be honest, at every stage in life I’ve thought of myself as a deep thinker, only to realize some years later that well..) Its easy for me to think that Novak is like so many ordinary thirty year olds who ten years from now might look back at their actions today and think or feel very differently about them (as I do now with things I’ve said or done ten years ago).
I am not defending Novak’s actions, but I guess I just think it may be a bit too early to talk about Novak’s legacy, and more so, to compare it with (arguably a rose tainted view of) Ali’s who as you rightly pointed out was many things too.
Superb piece, as usual :) I knew you would write about this and was eagerly awaiting it! It was worth the wait. No matter how good someone is at what they do, it's hard for me to overlook irresponsible behaviour such as endangering others due to their personal choices, especially during a pandemic. Particularly love the initial paragraphs on empathy and look forward to reading more from you!
Loved this. I was just reading Rohit's column on this and while that has a lot of facts, I like that this one is personal. Of course we know that there is no empathy in you anymore but well, I digress.
I think it is important that things are called as they are. I love that you didn't choose to end the article on a diplomatic note. When an illness-infection can infect you and move on to others who cannot be a athletic as you are and others who cannot afford the best care in the world, I think it is a moral responsibility to get vaccinated. Otherwise, just sit at home. This man here is brilliant at what he does but that doesn't mean he will get to move around differently.
I read somewhere if it is time to discuss his brilliance over the brilliance of his contemporaries (Yea that Swiss and spaniard), and I feel it is important to widen the definition of brilliance while we are at it
Yeah, I think it is time
(I love your writing, you!)
Sarthak, nice writeup as always. I understand your perspective, and your internal conflict comes out very well in your piece.
That said I’d like to think that history will be kind, and perhaps empathetic to Novak. I may disagree with his perception of the pandemic today, or question his positions and personal choices. And I’m not looking to justify his actions. But your point that
<i> realisation will dawn that athletes who have trained for excellence all their life have the same vulnerabilities as us. Elite talent of hitting a fluffy yellow ball does not necessarily mean that their limbic cortex has also turned to steel.</i>
certainly resonates with me. To add to that, with sportspersons, especially sports superstars, its sometimes easy to keep aside how exacting their professional lives are, and more so how highly compressed their timeline for professional growth is, especially compared to the time it takes to build emotional maturity (it takes time even for a person in a more “laid back” profession).
Yes, the Dravids and Federers have achieved sports superstardom while continually being great ambassadors of the sport (and of society at large), and perhaps the stars of today and tomorrow, born into a culture of global awareness might make even these guys seem ordinary.
I’m certainly in awe of Novak’s sporting accomplishments, but I dont idolize him (in the way that a twenty year old me idolized Dravid). If there was an obvious “criminality” to Novak’s actions, I might view him, and even his accomplishments, differently. But when it comes to pandemic related behavior, I struggle with the idea that there is a shared, unquestionable, standard of covid consciousness that I should expect from anybody. (I know I’m probably in the minority here. )
And I’ll admit to not knowing enough about Novak to construe his actions today as an abuse of privilege, or as a foolish excess of “youth”, or as driven by a genuine belief in his perception of the pandemic. So your point about Novak being a deep thinker kind of whizzed past me. (To be honest, at every stage in life I’ve thought of myself as a deep thinker, only to realize some years later that well..) Its easy for me to think that Novak is like so many ordinary thirty year olds who ten years from now might look back at their actions today and think or feel very differently about them (as I do now with things I’ve said or done ten years ago).
I am not defending Novak’s actions, but I guess I just think it may be a bit too early to talk about Novak’s legacy, and more so, to compare it with (arguably a rose tainted view of) Ali’s who as you rightly pointed out was many things too.
Got a new perspective towards empathy and a new book on Toread list. Thank you Sarthak
The last two lines are so vivid. I also experience the spectrum of feelings that you feel. Thank you for writing this