Just Me: The Kratik Malhotra Blog

I still remember getting onto the plane in Paris, boarding a flight to Cincinnati to get to the United States, having a heart filled with enthusiasm, an adrenalin gushing through the veins and a smile sparkling with chime written all over my face. As I left home, I described it as a voyage, and one that was to be my greatest adventure and the toughest challenge that I ever would see. I had two choices right in front of me. Either I could have done things that most do - concentrate on my ‘primary’ objective, or I could have done stuff that people had written me off for. Being me: Naïve but natural, dreamer but determined, silly but happy, perpetually confused but peculiarly peaceful, and hardly religious but deeply spiritual, I couldn’t have gone for the former.

Moreover, having been blessed by Sri Sri Ravishankarji (Guruji), and having been told by Dinesh (Ghodke) Bhaiya, “When you have done everything possibly possible, He makes the Impossible possible,” I was too determined to hold back, only looking for a chance to prove people wrong. I wanted to be an example to every Indian kid growing up, who had ever dared to dream, and was sick and tired of the 'engineering' monotony. So, I built my ship and got ready mentally to set sail in order to eventually stop at Manchester United.

As I landed in Cincinnati, it was exactly how I had imagined it to be, maybe even better. I had to pinch myself for a second and tell the little boy inside of me, “Heck yeah, I am in America!” I had left India on a positive note: as a good – and not a gossip – soccer journalist, as a decent soccer marketer and a pretty-good soccer analyst. I remember my last couple of days in India well and especially that one incident when I went up to Khalid Jamil, one of the finest Indian soccer coaches, to tell him that I would be moving to US to pursue a two year Masters’ course in Sports Management. Listening to which he replied, “Toh fir idhar aa ke kaam karna”, which translates to ‘come back to India to work’. Moreover, he had patted me on the back to say, “Mehnat karna, tu accha karega.” Translating to, ‘work hard, you will do well’.

Getting such comments from a man whom I had an enormous respect for was like a blessing, making me swim (and not drown) in my own tears of sheer gratitude. In fact, I still get shivers as I think about that meeting and his words. Some things are absolutely incredible and unforgettable. Taking his words like his blessing, I had become stronger deep inside. In school and in college, I had failed only to get up, prove my worth and win, and although I knew it was going to be tough, I wasn’t worried.

 “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - Paulo Coelho

My primary aim as I started with my Masters’ program at the Florida State University was to find a place to work on campus and after hearing that I could deal in soccer technology, FSU Seminole soccer did not hesitate even once before presenting me with an opportunity to work for the team and analyze their soccer games. I thank the coaches for that. They were brilliant to me.

As soccer rolled, Finnegan's followed and watching English Premier League on the weekends with soccer fans became an attraction. Soon, occasional parties followed and FSU life had started to set in. I still remember my first party at Stetson's at the end of which I promised myself to never party again. I was hit by a massive thunderstorm named 'culture shock'. I had seen it all in movies but seeing it first hand was different. I was so moved back then, but now, I can look at the entire incident and laugh my heart out. It was classic international student moment! How I sat in a corner and said, "No, no, no! This is wrong!" Hahahahaha!

But what was the ‘impossible dream’? It wasn’t working for FSU Soccer, was it? No, it wasn’t. The impossible dream was to live like how I was living like in India, but even better. It was to inspire people, gain love and most importantly, make the most of my ability, learn more than I could and become the best of me. In short, in Guruji’s words, I wanted to “walk with feet light but leave my footprints behind.” In spiritual terms, I didn’t know how to do it but I had an ‘intention’, and it worked out superbly well.

“Every noble work is at first impossible.” - Thomas Carlyle

I got a teaching assistantship wherein I inspired people. To be true, I taught an introductory Art of Living course and they loved it. Now, obviously, I couldn’t teach an Art of Living course. Smiling relentlessly and talking about the small problems in life, and teaching students how to smile through them was my objective. I believe, I did a decent job at it. Well, at least, some of the testimonials and course evaluations suggest the same.

Personally, teaching as a part of my TA was not enough and I wanted to contribute more, so, I decided on teaching stress-relief programs to some very special people who needed it the most: the homeless. What an experience that was. I remember leading them through their first meditation (yog nidra) and after seeing them come out of the practice, they were smiling like I had never seen them smile. It was out of this world. I cannot describe it. It was extraordinary. It’s moments like those that I feel so proud and grateful to God for having me learn, understand and experience spirituality. Really, what’s better than teaching people to relieve their stress on freewill, believe in themselves, feel lighter and stationing a smile on their face? Nothing, ask me.

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” - Walt Disney

I went on to work in performance analysis and sponsorship for IMG Academy (click to read how it was a dream come true) with some of the biggest names in American sport. Later, I became one of the only handful fewpeople in the world to get featured on the Catapult Sports, a technology that I learned at IMG, website. I also got a chance to speak through Skype in my very own class. Now, I am back in Tallahassee and I am working with FSU Seminoles Football in performance analysis on Catapult at the Florida State University. With only a month left for the season to start, watch us becoming national champions this year. Watch us play at Doak and see how we tear past oppositions to lift the championship.

On the way, I met some wonderful people and who loved me more than I could ever imagine. They called me a friend, a brother and a mate. I have the best friends ever!

All I wanted was a shot at the sports industry abroad and at times, even I have to shake myself to see where I am. It’s not NY Yankess, but had you offered it a year ago, I would have taken it without thinking and had you told me I would be here five years ago, I would have called you one out of your sense. However, on the other hand, it’s only a fraction of where I want to be. My dream is Manchester United and is still a distance away, but – in Dinesh Bhaiya’s words – I am doing everything possible to make the impossible dream possible. Every morning that I wake up, I smile, I feel grateful and I say to myself, “Let’s win it!” before going to work. It’s a divine feeling, believe me.

Friends, opportunity, confidence, love, knowledge, exposure, skills and an experience of a lifetime, a miraculous journey, the Florida State University has given me more than what I could have asked for.

Today is my graduation. I am a student today, I will be an Alumni tomorrow, but a Nole for the rest of my life.

I thank God for everything as it’s him for who I am and where I have reached. It’s Him due to whom that a little Indian boy, who came with massive aspirations, to America can now write a blogpost describing how he is living his dream under the sun and is on the path to get to his dream destination, Manchester United. Getting to Manchester United may seem like a miracle, but I rely on miracles, don't I? Yes, I do.

Words, they often tell the story,

But they are entwined with feelings so brittle that they change so readily.

Pictures, they often let you relive the moments,

But they pull you into the past ever so easily.

Memory, it never forgets what it has to remember,

But in its own mesmerizing way, it keeps you attached, aimlessly.

Silence, it helps you experience that empty space,

But, it’s that space which makes you come to terms with reality, pleasantly.

How often it happens that you can look back, pat yourself and say, “Yes, I have lived the dream.” If you ask me, I don’t even know the definition of a ‘dream’, but I wouldn’t be shy in saying that I have lived it in this past year.

December 27, 2011 was when I landed in the United States with a heart full of dreams. Who was I? No, I was not Spiderman! I was a small time soccer journalist, who wrote for the largest soccer website in the world, who was told he had ‘fans’ (bullsquat, I say!), who marketed one of the biggest soccer clubs in India, who hosted games in front of a thousand of people in mammoth stadiums, who did a little bit of soccer analysis for Real Time Sportscast and who believed that making a person meditate and spiritual knowledge can transform a person’s life. Kratik, who? Even I didn’t know. In fact, I am still discovering. But irrespective of whoever I was, I wanted to be someone bigger. I had heard about the ‘American dream’ and I wanted to live the American dream.

When I began my journey at the Florida State University, the ‘Seminole feeling’ didn’t take as much time to settle in as within the first couple of weeks, I was on the board, working as a soccer analyst for the university’s soccer team. Having prior experience with soccer obviously helped as I got to work on my dream software, Prozone. Unlike my time with my undergrad degree in engineering, grades at FSU were never a problem. Yes, I worked my socks off but it was all God’s grace that grades panned out better than I had expected them to.

With time, I met some amazing lads. Soccer fans, F1 fans, guys who taught me American football and guys with whom I experienced the FSU life, you know what I mean ;) As time passed, I realized that I was actually doing well. But there was something still missing and my intuition told me that it was my will to make a difference, my will to make people meditate, my will to spread Sri Sri’s message, my will to transform lives. And it was all God’s grace that I managed to do all that. How? He has his own ways.

I got a teaching assistantship for two of my four semesters at FSU! I taught four one-credit hour courses in ‘Stretch and Relaxation’. I taught yoga, meditation, the secret to smile…In all, I basically taught a spirituality course. Lol. Why?

I once asked my spirituality teacher, “Why do you teach all this? Why don’t you feed poor people by the money (that you charge) instead of giving out all this knowledge?” And his reply was one that gave me a path to walk on. He said, “We can, but if I give them food for 2000 bucks, how many meals will I be able to serve? 25 meals for a person? Instead, I give them knowledge, it is priceless and lasts with them for a lifetime. What do you think is better?” I remember pausing and saying, “Wow!” Knowledge like this and people like him have truly helped me shape my life.

So, when I look back, and ask myself, “Did I do the right thing in teaching yoga, meditation and spirituality, and not just not normal stretching?” Absolutely! Spirituality is very different from religion, and I highlighted that. In my courses, I never spoke religion. In fact, I told Christians to believe in Jesus and know that he is taking care of them; I told Muslims to have faith and believe in Allah and know that he is there, and I told Hindus to believe in Ram and Krishna and know that he is ensuring that his/her life leads to perfection. Same implies to Jews and Buddhists as well. I just spoke one language and it was called spirituality, which revolved around the fact that our lives are taken care of and that we do not need to worry.

I also taught few stress relief sessions at the Big Bend Homeless Coalition. It was amazing! The expressions of people after coming out of meditation were priceless. I should have filmed a Mastercard commercial right there. Lol. Those homeless people were so special and under enormous stress, more than what a normal person can even imagine, and making them meditate was an exceptional experience.

Okay, back to FSU. It was the fall semester, the end of August, when I met some of the finest chaps in America. They weren’t the Michael Jordons and the Lionel Messis of this world, but who they were, were truly wonderful people with great hearts, who knew how to celebrate every moment, how to be supportive and how to live their life to perfection, and that’s what made them bigger and better than even Jordon, Ronaldo or Messi. They were about 25 in number, maybe more. They laughed, they enjoyed, they partied, they lived in the present moment, they…just lived every moment as it came and in the process, taught me how life was to be lived at FSU. In fact, when I look back now, I would say that they were the missing link in my time jigsaw (if there is anything like that lol) at FSU. It was them who were the reason that, when I think about all those times of the fall, it lets me believe that I lived my semester to perfection. I am still friends with them and it feels like an absolute blessing.

Meanwhile, I had applied to a number of places for my internship and I got in to my dream company, doing my dream internship: IMG Academy and an internship in Performance Technology and Sponsorship. I still remember sitting, with a friend of mine, as a marketer in the parking lot of our team’s stadium and saying, “How cool would it be to get to IMG?” And here I was, at IMG!

I still have over a month left of my internship at IMG and during my time here, I have not only worked with some of the top American football college athletes, but also, I have got a chance to meet Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill, Floyd Sam and Juninho. It’s been awesome and it’s all God’s grace.

Now, why did I write about all this? Well, I don’t know. Maybe because I just wanted to. Actually, no. There was something that has really been biting me. What is it? Not the most heart-warming thing, off course. The thing is, in ten days, I am going back to Tallahassee, and it could be the last time that I see so many people. Why? Because if I don’t get a job, I go back to India. Marketer for a year and a half, journalist for two years and a sports analyst for over two years, am I not worth a job? I don’t know. But as I had taught in my courses, my Guru’s message, my life is taken care of, so, I need not worry. At times, I give myself a lesson. Lol

But if this is the last time that I meet some of my friends, especially those 25 or so fun-loving mates of mine, what I can certainly publish is that I will miss them to extremity.

PPPPSSSSSHHHHHHHH…enough of getting emotional. Bigger picture. As I had said, “I came to America to live the American dream,” and thanks to God’s grace I lived the American dream. Frankly speaking, I don’t even know what the American dream is, but my experience couldn’t have been bettered.

For making my time a truly memorable one, a special ‘thank you’ to Miao, Shuai, Paul Sheffield, Eric Parks, Pamella, Erin, Laura, Ellen, Alicia, Brittany, Katharina, Smay, Justin Garner, Parker, Sarah H, Carlton, Andrew Young, Jim, Steve, Kristen,  Nindiya, Gary Galvez and Jennifer, Matt Cline, Caroline, Amanda G., Max, Christian, Mikey, Lauren B., Sara, Del Toro, Nicky Yang, Ashley, Stephanie, Lance and Tiffany, Joshua Peterson, Nick Downey, Ozi, Neslihan, Kosuke and Yue Ji, and my MBA buddies: Lancer, Claire, Tony, Albert, JR, Justin, Julian and Dan, and my mates who have graduated: Ryan Pekerek, Ryan Pham, Logan Liles, Justin Mason, Sid sir, Javier and Wang Suk, and all the Indians who have always stood by, and all the teachers…all of you are true rockstars and the reason why FSU students rock the world.

Love,

Kratik