NBA: JUMP

Abandoned fishing nets make up 80% of marine debris in India, devastating marine life and their natural habitat.Abandoned basketball nets abound in courts across India. Many hidden female talents remain unseen.The NBA is making an impact on sea and land by introducing a meaningful initiative, titled, “Nets for Change”.A film with spoken word poetry, titled “Jump” has launched this initiative, telling the story of one young girl, Ananya, and her journey taking the leap out of her existential reality to her deserving reality, much like the nets that got their chance to leap out from being abandoned and neglected to being purposeful and meaningful. We follow her from her learning to play basketball, to striving in her pursuit for excellence and eventually, competing with other young teenage girls like her. It’s a moving narrative that was shot over 2022.

An original soundtrack titled “Udh Le” (“Go Fly” in Hindi) has been composed specifically for this film and is on Spotify too.

This initiative is a dual impact initiative as it aims to revive India’s seas and marine habitats, one neglected net at a time, and it is also enabling young female talents, one neglected hoop at a time.

Script:

In this heart of the city, dreams are confined,
Young souls like me, our future’s undefined.

With tattered nets and a worn-out ball,
We find our sanctuary, standing tall.

Discarded, worn-out, not seen by a soul,
Our tangled lives, unfurled, salvaged, given a second life, by being woven with one goal.

Roaming the alleys, where stories take flight,
We keep hopes high, in this city’s soft light.

Under skyscraper shadows, we leap and play,
Within this game’s poetry, we find our way.

Jump, Jump, this game we all adore,
As we dream, we struggle, we hurt, and we implore.

No fancy coaches, no jerseys, nor any gyms,
Just bare alleyways and graffiti hymns.

We dribble and shoot, our skills meet,
As our dreams take flight on asphalt streets.

We don’t have much, but we’ve got the game,
A love for this ball, our own betrothed flame.

In these street courts, our hearts are set free,
We remain unfazed in strife, a sight to see.

Jump, Jump, we reach for what’s afar,
Amidst the urban poetry, beneath the city's scars.

We, the broken threads unite, side by side,
For a game, where our soul never dies.

The ball is our compass, the court our domain,
In this urban playground, we find our terrain.

We, the players, outside the spotlight,
This ball in our hand is our guiding light.

With each jump, we chase the sky,
A glimpse of a world where limits we defy.