ROCKY BALBOA RETURNS

 


“The toughest opponent you’re ever going to

have to face is in the mirror.”

Rocky Balboa


Since last evening, I must’ve watched this video, at least, half-a-dozen times… And, let me confess: I did so for Pete Seeger!




Pete Seeger was 90 when he was pumping life into that mammoth crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C, in Jan., 2009. It was at the inaugural concert of Barack Obama’s first Presidency. I bet, almost the entire crowd was made up of people around a quarter or a third of Pete's age! During his lifetime, about two dozen Presidential inaugurals came and went, two devastating World Wars exploded, apart from many more wars his country plunged into… He lived through the Great Depression… the Cults and the Isms, the Godliness and the Godlessness… And, through it all, he survived with his songs and music…

Yes, I watched the video – ‘This Land Is Your land, and This Land Is My Land’ - just for Pete Seeger, the Legend… Yes, I prayed, as I watched it over and over again, for just a spark of that fire, just a feel of that hunger!

The Legends are made out of very, very tough material. As a strange co-incidence, I found myself telling this to young Warren, a nephew of my wife. I happened to read what he had posted on FB, today:

“After all these years, I don’t understand from where this man gets inspiration to wake up every single morning to achieve his goal. Today (at age 64), with almost a broken left-leg, unable to walk from the kitchen to the hall at home, unable to walk down the stairs, he does this. Sometimes, it’s better to let the picture do all the talking...

Congratulations dad. It wouldn’t have been possible if Mamma wasn’t there to apply ointments.”




Long before Walter, Warren’s dad, married my wife’s cousin, Sylvia, he had shot up to fame as a Powerlifting star. For us, who were in college then, he was a sensational icon. Many young men would get inspired by him to build their bodies or do weightlifting. I am talking about the seventies… when there weren’t these sophisticated gyms at every by-lane… People like Walter were the proverbial underdogs. So, if a Walter did it, it meant a lot to all of us.

I seriously believe, that it is the fire in one’s belly and the hunger in his soul that makes a Champ. So, when Walter’s young son, Warren, wondered, writing in his Post… “After all these years, I don’t understand from where this man gets inspiration to wake up every single morning to achieve his goal…”, I didn’t wait to respond. I wrote this:

“Dear Warren, that’s because, the Legends are made out of very, very tough material. The hunger in his soul and the fire in his belly are still aflame…Pray for the spark… That would be a priceless legacy. Loads of love to all of you, and a standing ovation to dad. He is a gentleman. A humble man.”

One of the most gut-wrenching scenes, which  I not only repeatedly watch, but also repeatedly show to our young boys and girls, during their Personality Development sessions, is from the movie ‘Rocky Balboa’. Here it is:

 



You and I may not be Champs in Powerlifting or Boxing. But, what this withered-but-not-vanquished father tells his young son, I think, he tells it to all of us.

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: 1. WallpaperCave  2. Warren S. Costa

 

Video: 1. fful   2. Marbel K. Weingarten

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