Nandrajog’s course correction

Buoyed by his early success,Nandrajog kept doing what he had been doing. “I was so convinced that whatever I was doing was working that even when I started suffering injuries,and my performance dipped,and started losing the five game matches that I would usually win,I kept doing the same thing. I would push through the pain and keep going. Ultimately though you get to a point when you wonder if what you are doing is worth it,” he says.

Nandrajog reached that point a year back at the NSCI Open in Mumbai when he lost to a couple of junior players in the U-19 category. “It was a humiliating moment,” he says. “It wasn’t that I was suffering from an injury to any part of my body although that is what the perception was. It was a case when my entire body collapsed. I wasn’t able to train,my joints lost any flexibility. It was as if my entire body had backed up,” he says.

After six years of doing the same thing,it was clear that whatever he was doing wasn’t working. Determined to find answers that brought about a lasting solutions,he decided to spurn conventional treatments. “I brought about changes to my diet,my physical and spiritual training,” he says.

“ I now follow a very simplistic gluten-free diet. I don’t eat dairy because I am lactose intolerant and I now watch my pH balance. I used to have very bad acidity but because I make an effort to eat alkaline foods,that problem has now disappeared. And where I would get tired very easily,I am now able to play multiple matches in a day without any problem. As far as physical training goes,I have stopped going to conventional doctors. I visit a accupressure specialist and practice Reiki which helps me relax before a game. I don’t believe in cosmetic changes anymore. I had to change my entire lifestyle,” he says.

And the results are coming. “More than the fact that I won,is the fact that I felt good when I was playing. In the last four years,I can’t remember a game that was able to win from match point down and even two games to nothing down. I haven’t felt as confident as I do now and there is no anxiety about my upcoming matches,” he says.

While his loss of form and recurring injuries had resulted in Nandrajog falling off the professional circuit,he is keen to return to that level. “I have a few national tournaments this year and I am looking to do well in them. I am scheduling a tentative comeback for the starting of next year,” he says.