{"id":2069,"date":"2025-06-06T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/?p=2069"},"modified":"2025-06-06T03:47:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T03:47:05","slug":"009-hustle-memo-the-day-i-asked-for-a-photo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/009-hustle-memo-the-day-i-asked-for-a-photo\/","title":{"rendered":"#009 HUSTLE MEMO \u2013 \u201cThe Day I Asked for a Photo\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I Don\u2019t Do This, But Some Hustlers Deserve It!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve walked past celebrities before, Actors. Influencers. People with millions of followers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never once did I feel the urge to stop them, To ask for a selfie, To interrupt their day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then one afternoon, at an airport terminal somewhere between the security checking and boarding gates\u2014I saw her<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fighter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geeta Phogat.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And something inside me moved<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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I hesitated, I\u2019 not the type to chase selfies. Not the type to chase people but this wasn\u2019t about fame. This wasn\u2019t fanboy energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was respect<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because this woman\u2014standing in front of me in calm energy had fought battles I recognized<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not because I wrestled but because I hustled.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She fought in mud pits. I fought in boardrooms.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She faced naysayers. So did I.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had to prove herself again and again. So did I.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her, I saw a mirror. Different arena. Same fight. (Hustle Memo 2 – My most treasured $30)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

So I walked up. Nervous, a little awkward, and said: \u201cCan I take a photo with you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She smiled. Humble. Gracious, Like it was the most normal thing in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to me\u2014it wasn\u2019t. It was a full-circle moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We didn\u2019t talk much\u2014maybe a few words but it was enough. That photo wasn\u2019t a memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a reminder<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geeta\u2019s hustle reminded me of what it truly means to show up daily<\/strong> even when the world doesn\u2019t believe in you yet. She didn\u2019t have shortcuts. She didn\u2019t have glam. She had grit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that moment, I remembered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • All the times I worked silently behind the scenes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • All the days no one clapped, no one noticed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • All the battles I fought just to prove that I belong<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    And there she was\u2014living proof that fight pays off<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    \u201cSome People Carry Their Medals in Spirit\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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    There\u2019s a reason I didn\u2019t stop those actors, Their victories felt scripted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But Geeta\u2019s? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hers were earned. With sweat. With failure. With comeback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    She reminded me: Some people don\u2019t carry medals. They carry moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Moments where they didn\u2019t quit, <\/em>Moments where they fought invisible wars, Moments that no camera ever captured but made them who they are. She didn\u2019t just wrestle opponents. She wrestled doubts. Norms. Entire systems. And still smiled at an airport like it was just another day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    Hope: For Every Quiet Fighter Reading This<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    If you\u2019re out there, building quietly, Fighting battles no one claps for, Wondering if it\u2019s worth it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is your sign: Yes, it is.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You don\u2019t need fame. You don\u2019t need a stage. You need to keep showing up<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Because someone, somewhere, is watching your hustle and thinking,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cDamn. That\u2019s who I want to take a photo with someday.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    About: Geeta Phogat isn\u2019t just India\u2019s first female wrestling gold medalist.<\/strong> She\u2019s the daughter who defied norms, the fighter who opened locked doors, and the woman who made every Indian girl believe she could own the mat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    She didn\u2019t just win matches\u2014she rewrote the script.<\/strong> From muddy akharas to the global stage, Geeta didn\u2019t ask for a path she wrestled one into existence.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I Don\u2019t Do This, But Some Hustlers Deserve It! I\u2019ve walked past celebrities before, Actors. Influencers. People with millions of followers. Never once did I feel the urge to stop them, To ask for a selfie, To interrupt their day. But then one afternoon, at an airport terminal somewhere between the security checking and boarding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-hustle-memo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2069"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2117,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions\/2117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prabjeetsinghanand.com\/thehustlememo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}