Oh, to see a disc levitating mid air gives me the greatest joy.

​

I haven't had the best relationship with sports. Of any kind actually. Here's why: I had a brief stint with basketball, I flirted with kho-kho a little bit and dabbled hopelessly as a fielder in cricket and was popular as the girl who runs away from the ball in football. My only solace was lagori (7 stones) until I reached Bangalore with my rather embarrassing sports history and resorted to saying "Umm, yeah I prefer hiking and cycling" which is true but I secretly wished it wasn’t.

​

So when I first threw a disc at age 18 in a field of a university I was very new to, I did it with the full conviction that it was an individual standalone act, best done at the beach side, nothing more. When a frisbee was first thrown at me, I dodged. 

Now, here I am two years later and I get mad at anyone who does not know this sport exists.

Full disclosure: frisbee, is without doubt; by a long shot the best, most inclusive, understanding and accommodating sport I've come across. It’s more than just being on field, it’s about listening, about field dynamics, gender discussions. It is the place where I learnt about ethics, made some friends, trained with a great coach and battled some of the most complex  emotions on the Manasi spectrum.  I am not the best frisbee player, far from it really but there’s a lot of distance I’ve already traveled on this road that’s not just about being better and  faster- but also about being more aware and considerate.

​

It's a holistic inclusion that I'd never felt before. It comes with its own loopholes, but I would easily make an argument for it being the only sport that's trying- trying to be more gender friendly, be more spirited, be more about the game and nt the outcome. What really warms me is the fact that Ultimate (yeah, we're cocky like that) believes in the best of us and I want to hold on to that belief, carry it on into the playground and beyond.

​

I wrote a piece on how frisbee promotes the care ethics that Nel Noddings talks about. Find it here.