FEDERER, YAYĀTI, GORDON GEKKO, GREED

न जातु कामः कामानामुपभोगेन शाम्यति।
हविषा कृष्णवर्त्मेव भूय एवाभिवर्घते॥

Desires never die. They are never satisfied by indulgence. By indulgence, they flame up like sacrificial fire with ghee poured in it.

यत् पृथिव्यां व्रीहियवं हिरण्यं पशवः स्त्रियः।
एकस्यापि न पर्याप्तं तस्मान् तृष्णां परित्यजेत्॥

If one becomes sole lord of all the earth with its paddy, oats, gems, beasts & women, still it will not be considered by him enough. Therefore, the thirst for enjoyment should be abandoned.

या दुस्त्यजा दुर्मतिभिर्या न जीर्यति जीर्यतः।
योऽसौ प्राणान्तिको रोगस्तां तृष्णां त्यजतः सुखं॥

The thirst, which is difficult to cast off by the wicked, which does not even fail with falling life, is truly a fatal disease in man. To get rid of this thirst is real happiness.

 P.S: Apologies for the spelling mistakes in devanāgari.

These are yayāti's words to his youngest son puru when he returned puru's youth to its original possessor. Why did puru give his father his youth? As is the case with any purāṇic story, it is a long one. Interested folks can read the wikipedia link I have provided but long story short, he had two wives: devayānī, daughter of śukrācārya, & śarmiṣṭhā, daughter of vṛṣaparvā, śukrācārya's disciple. devayānī was his first wife and śarmiṣṭhā was her rival even before her marriage to yayāti. śarmiṣṭhā convinces yayāti to marry her & beget children.

devayānī comes to know of this and is pissed to say the least. Being daddy’s little girl, she complains to her father, who in his infinite anger, curses young and strong yayāti to senescence immediately. yayāti begs for forgiveness from his father-in-law who, now calm, tells him curses cannot be taken back but if one of his sons would swap ages with him, his youth would return. All but his youngest son puru failed to hear his exhortations. Ever the faithful son, he gladly swapped his youth with his father. After enjoying the various pleasures on earth yayāti comes to the aforementioned conclusions.

We Fednatics are no different from yayāti. He has won 18 Grand Slams and has played 28 finals. Of the 10 losses, 4 of them went the distance and one was an exceptionally close (5-7, 6-7, 7-5, 1-6) 4 setter. Hell, had luck gone the Maestro’s way juuuuust a bit, he’d currently be sitting on 21 or 22 slams. 22 SLAMS in purportedly the most competitive men’s tennis era! Alas, woulda, coulda, shoulda, hardly counts in real life and Federer is on 18.

But hypothetically, let's just say Federer is currently on 22 slams, having won every slam at least 4 times. Let's also say his two biggest hunters, Nadal & Djokovic are somehow currently on 6 & 9 slams each. Federer’s lead on them is now 16 & 13. His legacy cannot be securer. He is by far the greatest ever tennis player of all time. Not to mention one of, if not the most, aesthetically pleasing players ever.

Now do we give up on Federer like yayāti advises us to? Does this situation change your cheering when Federer was 2 sets to love down against Cilic? Do we cut him some slack saying he’s almost 35, what’s another quarterfinal loss? Do we say he has won 22 slams & made gajillion other quarterfinals what’s another early exit? Do we urge him to win slam no 23?

No. NO! NO!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Federer makes all rational thought go out of the window. He was purported to be the potential winningest grand slam player 3 sets into his famous tussle with Sampras by McEnroe. He was destined to be the greatest ever player after just 6 slams. This irrationality is why we wanna see him win. Winning is just gravy but it's nicer if he wins because we get to see those arms aloft once more. We get to see him slide on the ground with tears of joy once more. We get to see the camera pan immediately to stands showing the elegant & graceful Mirka clapping her man on……once more. We got to see the sister twins unknowingly cheer their dad and now we want to see the brother twins unknowingly cheer their dad along with their elder sisters…..once more. This desire will never end!

You see we Fednatics are less yayāti & more Gordon Gekko.

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good.

Greed is right.

Greed works.

Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

Greed, in all of its forms — greed for slams, for WTFs, for ATP 1000s, for Federer — has marked the upward surge of mankind.

A slight riff on the original speech is very apt for Fednatics. Screw inner growth. Screw mental well-being. Screw yayāti. Screw you all. When it comes to Federer, we will always be most Gekko and least yayāti.

Oh yeah and………………

BEL19VE!