100 Rays Of Son - 30

Running Up Rocky Steps

“Going in one more round when you don’t think you can – that’s what makes all the difference in your life.” No prizes for guessing who said that.

I and Rayyan share a lot of interests and hobbies, which makes life interesting for us. We enjoyed competing with each other in video games like Mortal Combat, Most Wanted or Test Drive which made our stay in Byndoor exciting. There we had lot of free time to enjoy movies, picnics, games and parties. Now, we barely get to see each other.  There are certain games Rayyan win hands down and some I do, but often we do have good competition between us as well. The same goes with our love for beach, organizing game parties, watching TV serials and many other activities we enjoy together.

Surprisingly, we also ended up being great fans of Batman independently. Though I loved Batman comics, I never introduced them to Rayyan, but later I realized he loves animated movies of Batman quite a lot.

I used to download some movies I had enjoyed before Rayyan was born so that I could share the experience once again with him. We loved watching some movies, but few were so bad that I wondered how I had enjoyed watching them so much in the first place, because I was sure they impressed me greatly back then.

We loved Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Rambo, Rush Hour, ET, and many other movies. When I told Rayyan about the Rocky series, he was hesitant to watch the movie because he is no great fan of boxing or any other violent sports. He usually says, “I don’t understand what is entertaining about people hitting people”. I have my way of convincing him and I did. We watched Rocky not just once but few times over and over again, because the movie won over me once again like it did before, and Rayyan too fell for its charm.

He agreed there was more to the movie than just boxing. It worked like an inspiration for him because it showed that determination and hard work gets you what you want. The fight where Rocky is not declared winner in the end made it so close to our heart and that particular scene won over Rayyan completely. The movie itself, made by a struggling Sylvester Stallone was motivational enough and I had narrated all those stories to Rayyan and that made it more interesting for him.

After watching the movie for the 4th time, he told me that he wanted to run the steps of Philadelphia Art Museum someday, like Rocky did. I said OK, as though we were going to do it in few years. How was it possible for a teen boy from a tiny village of Byndoor to run up the steps of an art museum half way across the globe? We come from middle class Indian family, where travelling abroad is not a luxury we can afford. So far Rayyan hadn't stepped outside his home state as well. When Rayyan expressed his doubts I asked, “So you actually did not learn that anything is possible with determination, did you?”

True to my words, in 2 years Rayyan had his chance of running up the Rocky Steps. Standing atop the steps he says he felt motivation and optimism surging through his heart. It was kind of an impossible dream that came true quickly. Moreover, nothing was planned. It all happened by chance.

I wanted to visit my friends in USA, the ladybirds who were my sisters in survival of cancer. It is more than a support group because the bond we share is something beyond what we experience usually. All the ladybirds would have get together and meet so often; but since I was in India, it was not easy for me to be there. In 2008, I finally decided no matter what, we were going to USA and meet as many ladybirds as possible. Moreover, Rayyan and Farheena had grown very close to Paula and they wanted to see her in person.

Luckily my friend Judy lived just opposite of Philadelphia art museum and she invited us to spend few days with her. This is how Rayyan could run up the Rocky steps. We also celebrated 4th of July with the Americans, watching the fireworks from the best view we could have. I and Rayyan stood below the statue of Rocky together and wondered, how this did happen in real.  Rayyan said back then, “Sometimes, things go wrong but often things go right for us as well. We should be grateful for this positive happenings in our lives”. I was so happy to see him run up the steps of Art Museum.

Life shows us many moments to be optimists and motivated, but we tend to side-line them and concentrate on things that go wrong. That is the reason why we feel that many things go wrong. But thankfully Rayyan always is there by my side to remind me that many things have gone right for us as well. We only have to learn to look at the positive side of our lives where miracles happen every day and our experience with Rocky meant a lot to us.