{"id":6950,"date":"2026-09-19T14:22:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T14:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/?p=6950"},"modified":"2026-09-19T14:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T14:23:14","slug":"journey-beyond-the-table-tennis-court-a-story-of-courage-and-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/journey-beyond-the-table-tennis-court-a-story-of-courage-and-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Journey Beyond the Table Tennis Court: A Story of Courage and Resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2712\ufe0f :. Sadiya Javiad<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, life tests us in ways we never expect\u2014not to break us, but to reveal the strength we carry within. What began as a simple journey to participate in a sports tournament soon turned into one of the most challenging and unforgettable experiences of my life.
In 2025, I had the honour of representing my school in a table tennis competition. After performing well at the initial level, I earned the opportunity to compete at the district level. The tournament was initially scheduled to be held in Shopian, but destiny had something different in store for me. A few days later, my father received an official call informing us that I had been selected for a tournament in Jammu. The news filled me with excitement, but I had no idea how demanding the journey ahead would be.
Two days later, my father and I set out for Jammu. The other girls were travelling together under the supervision of a teacher, while I travelled with my father. At first, I felt slightly different from the rest, but I would soon realize how fortunate I was to have him beside me.
We began our journey on 18 October at 11:00 a.m. The familiar landscape of Kashmir accompanied us as we travelled towards Qazigund. The mountains stood majestically around us, but the excitement of the journey soon gave way to uncertainty. As we reached Qazigund, our vehicle was stopped. Traffic restrictions had been imposed, and vehicles travelling from Kashmir towards other states were not being allowed to proceed normally. The other participants somehow managed to find an alternate route and continued their journey, while we were left behind.
At first, we thought the delay would last only a short while. But minutes turned into hours and hours turned into an entire day.
The waiting became increasingly difficult. I had already been dealing with an allergy for several weeks, and the prolonged journey and uncertainty caused it to flare up. Physical discomfort, exhaustion and anxiety gradually began to take their toll. By evening, I felt overwhelm and struggled to hold back my tears. Yet, somewhere within me, the desire to reach Jammu remained alive.
Just when hope seemed to be fading, we were signaled to move, but the relief did not last long. We were stopped repeatedly. By 10:00 p.m., we found ourselves halted once again near the Qazigund Toll Plaza. A policeman approached our vehicle and asked where we were heading. We explained that I was travelling to Jammu to participate in a table- tennis tournament. He asked us to show official documents as proof. Unfortunately, the necessary documents were with the teacher travelling with the other girls. It was a frustrating moment. For the first time, I seriously wondered I would ever make it to the tournament. We contacted our teachers and told them that we might have to return home. But their response changed everything. At that moment, it felt as though continuing the journey was impossible. We even called the teachers to inform them that we might have to return home. However, they urged us not to give up; reminding us that returning would mean missing the opportunity to play. Their words reignited a small spark of hope within me.
Surrounded by nearly 2,000 stranded vehicles in the silence of the night and filled with uncertainty, we decided to wait.
Then, at around 3:00 a.m., something remarkable happened. The vehicles suddenly began to move forward, and we finally crossed the Qazigund Toll Plaza. That moment brought immense relief\u2014it felt as though we had overcome a mountain of challenges.
By 6:00 a.m., we reached Udhampur. We stopped briefly for breakfast. Although I was physically exhausted, yet my determination remained unshaken. We continued our journey and reached the Nagrota Sports Youth Hostel. After quick refreshment, I headed towards the Maulana Azad Stadium Jammu.
With barely any sleep and fatigued body, I stepped onto the court. I gave my best, but the sleepless night, physical fatigue, and allergy have seriously affected my performance. Yet, I refused to give up. I played with determination and fought until the very last point. It may not have been my best performance, but for me, simply stepping onto that court and giving my best was itself a victory- a victory earned through courage, perseverance and resilience.
Beyond the matches, the experience of staying at the hostel added another beautiful dimension to the journey. I met new people, interacted with players from different districts and shared memorable moments with them. Those experiences made the tournament much more than a sporting event; they made it a journey of friendship, learning and personal growth.
But, the challenges were not over yet.
The very next day, I had my final term examinations, so we began our journey back home. When we reached Udhampur, heavy traffic delayed us once again. As we moved towards Kashmir, the situation became even more difficult near Qazigund, where we found ourselves stranded late in the evening.
After hours of waiting and another exhausting night, we finally reached home around 2:00 a.m. I was completely drained, but there was no time to rest. I had an examination to appear for. Gathering whatever strength I had left, I went to school and sat for my examination. Despite the exhaustion and everything I had endured over the previous two days, I remained focused and performed very well.
That moment taught me one of the most important lessons of my life: true strength does not mean being free from difficulties: it means having the courage to rise above them. The journey to Jammu had begun with a dream of competing in a table tennis tournament, but it ended by teaching me something far more valuable- the power of patience, perseverance, courage and determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


By Sadiya Javiad<\/strong><\/em>
The author is the 7th class student at Shah I Hamdan Memorial Institute Shopian<\/strong><\/em>
Email: arshidaziz99@gmail.com<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2712\ufe0f :. Sadiya Javiad Sometimes, life tests us in ways we never expect\u2014not to break us, but to reveal the strength we carry within. What began as a simple journey to participate in a sports tournament soon turned into one of the most challenging and unforgettable experiences of my life.In 2025, I had the honour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-message"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6951,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6950\/revisions\/6951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}