Before I even begin to advise on how to get your girl to like your sport, please be clear that I am not saying that girls are not into sports. Going by the current records, it’s the women sportspersons — Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal, Dipa Karmakar, Mary Kom and the many track athletes of the country — who are giving us reason to cheer. The sportsmen, I am surprised, can even last entire games without passing out, given the beer belly on some! So, even though as a nation the only things we are currently competing in involve either overtaking China in population or America in obesity, there remains in us an uncanny interest in watching sports. Some of us are inflicted worse still, believing that we can actually play them.
To get your girl interested in the sport you like can be tricky. Chances are that (a) she already has a sport she likes, (b) she doesn’t care much for sports (and no, not because she is a woman), (c) she likes the sport but hates having to watch it with you or, worst yet, (d) she knows she is better than you and doesn’t want to humiliate you by kicking your arse in public. These are all very probable possibilities. Some of them, however, can be circumvented. For example, if she doesn’t care much for sports, rejoice, for it means that this is your personal time. Use it constructively to regain your peace. During my early morning runs, I always look forward to working up a sweat and then embracing my unsuspecting girlfriend back home even as she sleeps cosily tucked into the sheets. The delight (mine mostly) is equal in magnitude to her disgust.
But if she is into sports and just not yours, then you need to work on it. Try and find what she likes about the other sport like say, curling. Then try and find the common link between that and your favourite sport, like MMA. Curling and MMA? Okay, you’re pretty screwed there. But outside of that zany combination all sports will share something exciting enough to arouse her curiosity. If you want her to commit further and participate, take it slowly. Try and find her an idol, someone she would want to watch playing. From body type to jaw structure, current girlfriend to size of crib, whatever evokes her interest, exploit it. Once she is hooked to watching it, the jump over to trying her hand at it is not too far-fetched.
Finally, if you suspect that she is better at it than you, well then, acquire the art of losing calmly. I know. For us it’s Scrabble or Rummy. The amount of money I lose to her on a weekly basis could finance an SME. But I am no sore loser. Nowadays, I make no snide remarks at her till my fourth loss and don’t chuck the cards or accuse her of cheating till the seventh round, or unless I happen to lose by over a 100 points. My anger management meetings are every other Tuesday.
The writer is a lover of wine, song and everything fine
