My Promise Isn’t Broken - From Hospital Bed to an Unshakable Dream

Mak
Aug 14
2 min read

Yesterday, I sat in a hospital room and heard words I never wanted to hear: “You’ve damaged your spine.”

It broke me.

I was just four weeks away from stepping onto the platform at the Regional Powerlifting Championships stronger than I had ever been, ready to qualify for the British stage. My dream, the one I’d tied to a promise I made to Arnold Schwarzenegger, suddenly felt shattered.

Sedated by the medication the doctor gave me, I sat in the waiting room trying to process it all. In that haze, I began writing a poem, a song in Hindi, maybe just my heart speaking.

Seasons of Life

In life, seasons of sorrow come,

Sometimes they turn into wounds upon the body,

Sometimes they rain tears in the courtyard of the heart.

Sometimes storms blow away the house of dreams,

Sometimes even our own shadows walk away from us.

While walking, the roads suddenly halt,

Feet stumble, breaths pause,

But the river of time keeps flowing,

Even if we sit by the shore and keep on crying.

Sometimes there’s silence even within laughter,

Sometimes loneliness sleeps amidst the crowd,

Every stumble teaches us how to live,

Every tear tells a story.

When I got home, I slept. But when I woke up, the sadness hit again, not just for the competition, but for my career, my dream to win the World Masters Championships 2026, and my return to working in films and TV. In my mind, all of it felt destroyed.

I switched on Netflix. In my list sat Arnold the documentary on his life. I clicked play.

This is God’s honest truth: it was on the part where Arnold himself faced surgery. It derailed his film career at the time, forcing him to pivot. That moment, in his story, was the turning point that led him into politics and eventually becoming Governor.

I sat there stunned. I’ve just come out of two terms in politics. I, too, have been looking to go back into movies and sports. Even though political parties Conservative and Reformed have approached me many times to stand in the local elections 2026, I know in my heart I have to live my dream.

On the screen came a scene from End of Days:

“Please God, help me and give me the strength.”

I prayed the same prayer.

Later, I opened TikTok. The first video that popped up? Steve Harvey telling his story from struggle to riches and fame. It felt like another sign don’t give up.

And then my granddad’s motto came to me:

“Every problem comes with a solution.”

So I made a decision. I will research. I will find a way to heal. And I will return not just to the platform, but to my dream of becoming World Masters Champion.

Arnold once said: