It’s Tennis, and it’s Love All

 15-July-2024

The day after Wimbledon finals is a good time to reflect on Tennis .

Because …. 

If it's tennis, it's got to be LOVE-ALL. 

From early school and all the way up to college, I was a big tennis fan. It was my second favourite sport. 

Not without reason -Numerous exciting things happened in tennis in that period.

There was also a pragmatic , supply side driven reason to it - Tennis was one of the few sports available on direct telecast in India that time. 

In those school and college days , when I did see tennis, it was amazing. It inspired me to take up the sport and go for coaching with my brand new grey and sky blue Slazenger racquet, which my father had got from London. My coach quickly realised the ( lack of) talent and he would banish me to wall practice on most days . 

I realised it as well, and decided to shift gears - making a career not out of playing tennis, but rather, watching tennis. 

As I reflect on my tennis watching career, there are some events still give me the goosebumps. 

Here is a list of some of those - 

1. A 17 year old school boy named Boris Becker diving all over Wimbledon centre court to stun Kevin Curran in the finals , thereby becoming a hero to millions of adoring schoolboys and a crush for many girls. There was mourning when Peter Doohan knocked him

Out in the second round of Wimbledon in 1987. �Boris won many more titles, and there was a time he and Stefan Edberg monopolised Wimbledon finals for several years in a row.  

2. Martina Navratilova continuing her dominance of women's tennis like no one had done before. Winning title after title and completely dominating Wimbledon for years on end. Her rivalry with Chris Evert ( Lloyd, for some time) was one for the ages. With the ascendancy of Steffi Graf , she was under pressure , but still managed to defy age and put it across Steffi occasionally , especially at Wimbledon. 

3. Pat Cash, the underdog Aussie, with his cheque hairband he wore because he was a motor racing fan, breaking tradition and jumping over the Wimbledon stands to hug his family after putting it across Ivan Lendl. He was the first person to do so at Wimbledon, and when it happened in 1987 for the first time , it was stunning and unexpected . It was also a year that Wimbledon prize money was substantially increased . Next week, the cover of the Sportstar magazine said - 

Wimbledon is Cash. 

4. Ramesh Krishnan , full of grace and class, leading India's charge, ( with support from Vijay Amritraj ) to take his country to an improbable victory against Australia in the Davis Cup Semi finals to put India into the finals against Sweden. Sweden 5-0 ed India in the finals at Gothenburg , but India won everyone’s heart by playing way above their rankings and making it to the finals . 

5. Steffi Graf , coached by her father when she was a child ( and gifted a Barbie doll as a child every time she played good Tennis ) , putting an end to Martina Navratilova's dominance of Women’s through grit, power and stupendous will power. Steffi's subsequent rivalry with the flamboyant Argentine Gabriela Sabatini replacing the Martina vs Chris Evert one.   Steffi 's golden slam of 1988, when she won the four grand slams and also the Olympic gold medal at the Seoul Olympics. 

6. Leander Paes gritting his way through the Olympic men's singles draw  to put India on the medal podium at the 1996 Atlanta Games. It have India a medal, and also firmly established Leander as a hero who would play far above himself when it came to representing his country .

7. Aranxta Sanchez adding Vicario ( her mother's surname ) to her name after winning her first grand slam after she beat Steffi Graf at the French Open singles finals .

8. Monica Seles, full of power and precision, shockingly halted in her tracks by a lunatic spectator who stabbed her during a break in an ATP tour match.

9. A teenaged Michael Chang, unknown and unheralded , running through the French open draw in his second appearance at the tournament ( after being decimated by John McEnroe in his first ) . 

10. Lindsay Devenport, world number 1 with a great world view, calling her exploits on the tennis court 'just a job like any other'. 

11. Jennifer Capriati, in her mid teens when she won her first grand slam,  later becoming an unfortunate victim to drugs. 

12. Andre Agassi , living his fathers dream through tennis . Subsequently, his famed rivalry with the uber cool Pete Sampras. Years later , marrying Steffi Graf to become tennis' first couple .  Later, Modelling for the Kodak Rebel camera, a product name that went with his rebellious image .

13. The Leander Paes- Mahesh Bhupathi doubles domination to give The Indian pair many grand slam doubles titles. Later, Leander’s  partnership with Martina Navratilova , then in her 40s, to win the Mixed doubles title at Wimbledon. 

14. Other notable mentions in my tennis (watching ) career - Jimmy Connors , in the latter stages of his career , pumping adrenaline and firing up the crowds. �- Pete Sampras, always so cool and doing the job like  a pro�- Michael Stitch ( the next German after Becker to win W men’s singles ) �- Mats Wilander ( won his first Grand slam at 17) 

All of this was before the era of Fed and Rafa , before the Willams sisters made grand slams family property . 

Kim Clijsters, the young Belgian mother, timing her baby's food and sleep timings , to win a grand slam in between baby care duties, remains my standout tennis moment of the past decade. 

All the events I mentioned above happened much after two of the most talked about matches of all time had been played several years ago - I could not watch them for two simple reasons - the first one happened before I was born, and the second one when I was too young to understand any sport . 

Some time ago, I saw a movie on both those matches . 

'Borg vs McEnroe' is the name of the first movie, and 'Battle of the Sexes' is the second. 

The first one is about the 1980 Wimbledon finals - Bjorn Borg, 25 years of age, playing for his fifth consecutive ( yes- consecutive ) title and under tremendous pressure to keep scaling the peaks he had created for himself. 

John McEnroe- the young , brash, invective spewing artist with the tennis racquet , a worthy challenger. 

The Wimbledon final between the two is often touted as the greatest tennis match of all time - Mac won the first set, Borg the next two, Borg had several match points in the fourth that McEnroe saved and managed to take the game to the decisive fifth after one of the longest tie breakers in a Wimbledon final. 

During a break in the fourth set, with the game on the edge, Borg notices McEnroe very tensed up. 

He tells McEnroe that he ( Mac) has been doing great and he should keep playing his normal game. 

Borg s ice cool temperament and calmness finally prevails in the fifth set to give him his fifth consecutive crown. 

Despite the fierce rivalry, Bjorn reaches out to John and they develop great respect for each other . the entire narrative of a media hype around the rivalry melts into shared respect and sportsmanship when they interact one on one, Person to person. ( subsequently, they became great friends and Borg became the best man at McEnroe 's wedding ). 

The second movie is about the 'battle of the sexes'; a tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King. 

Riggs, once the men's world number 1, at 55 years of age in 1973, challenged the then women's champion ( World No.1 ) 

 , Billie Jean King , to a match saying men were far superior to women in sport. 

Billie Jean, who had put her career at stake demanding equal prize money for women and men player's, believed she was not just playing for herself and against Riggs, but for equality and against all forms of male chauvinism. 

Beside tennis, Billie Jean, married for many years , also discovers her own preferences and sexuality; and that becomes one more societal taboo to fight against . 

The tennis match is therefore not just a match - it's about one extraordinary person fighting against societal perceptions of gender and against societal prejudices around the LGBT community. 

Billie Jean wins. 

With these two movies seen, I am glad that I have seen the stories around two of the most extraordinary tennis matches that preceded my tennis watching career. 

And they reinforced the joy of sport , in its purest , most entertaining form, and added a new dimension to my tennis watching career. 

It’s Love All.

The little birdie who stole ( and broke) my heart

Outside our front verandah in Chandigarh is a small garden. It has a few big trees and some small ones .  

Little birds nestle on the large trees. The air is filled with their chirping, especially early morning and in the evening. 

On this tree, Mama bird and Papa bird gave birth to two  babies. Two little baby birds. Little birdies. Baby bird 1 and Baby bird 2. Both very very tiny. Born just a few days ago. 

For some reason, the little babies fell down and lay on the ground. They were injured, but alive. 

My sister noticed them and called for a veterinary doctor. The vet came in and examined them. 

Baby bird 1 had a fractured leg. Baby bird 2 had ruffled feathers but no fracture .  

Both seemed to be in pain : the vet gave them medication and gave us a set of instructions - he said, “Don’t leave them in the open till they have more strength, they could be preyed upon by other birds, or cats / dogs. Keep them hydrated”. 

As the vet was examining the babies , Mama bird and Papa bird both hovered around. They perched themselves on a nearby branch and made a lot of noise. In a while, they realised that we were not harming the babies but were trying to help. 

A few hours later, Baby bird 1 succumbed. The poor little thing could not make it. 

This spurred us to put far greater attention to Baby bird 2 .  Following the vet’s instructions , putting it inside the house at night and covered it with a nice , airy netted bucket so that there was enough flow of air and good visibility from inside. 

Over the next few days, The morning routines evolved. Every morning , we would put Baby bird 2 in the open portion on our verandah. Mama bird and Papa bird would notice us getting the little one out in the open and feed the baby all day, take care of it . 

There is a pomegranate tree in our garden- they would pierce the pomegranates with their beak, take out little bits of pomegranate seed, and put it in the beak of the baby.  They would also get other food and put it in the baby’s beak. It was surreal to see both birds taking care of the young one, doing their very best. 

They would sit around all day, and make those calls encouraging Baby bird 2 to buck up. The baby began to eat , and bit by bit started gaining strength .  It would start flapping its wings and practice it all day. As it flapped it’s wings, Mama bird and Papa bird would give out encouraging calls . The little birdie started responding with a voice that became less feeble by the day. 

It started jumping around a  little bit. And practising small little flights . 

Watching this spectacle of nature unfold in front of my eyes, I was reminded of the beautiful poem that I had learnt in school . 

Little Birdie

———————

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

What does little birdie say,

In her nest at peep of day?

“Let me fly,” says little birdie—

“Mother, let me fly away.”

“Birdie, rest a little longer,

Till the little wings are stronger.”

So she rests a little longer,

Then she flies away.

———

The baby bird was growing. However, It’s legs continued to remain weak and wobbly. The weather outside continued to be very harsh, with temperatures crossing  45 degree C during the day. I was worried that baby bird was not having enough water or hydration. 

Then, yesterday, it learnt to drink water. We had put water in a small container and it learnt to drink by itself : 

I was thrilled. So were Many of us in the family who had become very deeply connected to the little birdie over the past few days. 

Last night , we got it indoors, as we had been doing for the past several nights , with the plan to get it back into the rhythm and care of its parents in the morning . 

This morning, however, we woke up but little birdie didn’t . We saw it lying lifeless. 

My heart broke. So did the hearts of all in the family who had become very connected to little birdie. 

My sadness amplified when I thought of the parents, Mama bird and Papa bird. I thought it might be a good idea to not let the parents figure it out . Seeing their little birdie lifeless might be heartbreaking for them. Not seeing it might make them believe that little birdie had learnt to fly and had flown away. 

We stay out of sight of Mama bird and Papa bird and get little birdie buried a little far away. 

On the other side of the verandah, Mama bird and Papa bird are flying around, making the rounds, giving their calls, looking for little birdie, and to commence their morning nursing routine. 

I cry. 

I wish there was a way for me to hug Papa bird and Mama bird and share my memories of little birdie. And share my pain of seeing it fly away to the other world. 

On the other hand, I think that just like all parents , Mama bird and Papa bird might be believing that their little one had grown ‘enough’ and had flown away to its next phase of life. With this belief , they would perhaps move ahead with their own life, knowing they did the best they could for their little birdie and she had indeed flown away. 

Humans of the Cricket World Cup

Humans of the Cricket World Cup -1 

Afghanistan vs England , 15 Oct 2023, Delhi 

——————

Amongst the maze of Afghan fans at the cricket stadium in Delhi for the Afghanistan-England world cup match is Ali Ahmed. He is 40. Ali is of Afghan origin, from Jalalabad. He has been living in Delhi for six years. Ali works at a restaurant close to the Jamia Millia Islamia university. Ali's family lives with him in Delhi. Ali's parents live with him as well. Ali has come to the cricket match, like thousands of other Afghans. Like most of them, he is a cricket fanatic. He has watched Afghanistan play on a few earlier occasions. When the Afghan team was playing in Dehra Dun, he went there to watch them as well.

Today is a special day for Ali, something that sets him apart from most of the other fans in the stadium. Unlike most other fans, Ali has got his father Mustafa Ahmed with him to watch the match. Mustafa is now 67, and has had a tough life. The past six years, his family has been rebuilding their life in Delhi, bit by bit, drop by drop. It is Mustafa's first time at a cricket match in the stadium and he is super excited with the sights, the sounds and the vibrance. While they are excitedly looking around, the screen on the stadium shows Mustafa and Ali. Ali notices it, and asks daddy Mustafa to look at the screen. Daddy Mustafa takes a second to adjust, and is all smiles when he sees himself. Noticing that they are still on the screen, Ali hugs his father and kisses him on the cheek. Daddy Mustafa hugs Ali back.  

 

 

Not far from where the father son duo is in the stands is Hamid Khan. Hamid is 30 year old. He is from Kabul. He has been living in Delhi for over seven years now. He stays in the locality of Malviya Nagar. He does odd jobs to makes ends meet, and to send money back home to his family, who are still in Afghanistan. He manages to meet his expenses in Delhi within 12,000 rupees a month and sends about twice that amount back home to his family. For the cricket match, he splurged over a thousand rupees to buy a ticket to watch his country play world champions England in the Cricket World Cup. "In our tough lives, cricket is the one thing that gives us joy and hope. It makes me forget my troubles", says Hamid.

 

 

On the field, Rashid Khan, the great leg spinner, has the ball. Rashid is the crowd favorite. Everyone adores him. He is a hugely popular figure all over India. His exploits in the IPL are well known. Not just the Afghan fans, Indian fans also cheer for him loudly. The crowd is happy just to see Rashid. Everything else they treat as a bonus. When Rashid balances the cricket ball from one leg to another as if it was a football, the stadium goes into delirium. The crowd  invents slogans. the most popular one is - Dus Rupaiye ki Pepsi, Rashid bhai sexy.

 

The mood in the stands is upbeat. during the break, the DJ plays the song 'London Thumakda' . It is another matter that the guys from London are in deep trouble on the pitch. They are missing the services of Big Ben ( stokes). 

When Naveen Ul Haq, the Afghanistan medium pacer, clean bowled England Captain Jos Butler with a beautiful inswinger , the crowd goes delirious. Gurpreet singh, a sardar ji from Lajpat Nagar, gets into a Bhangra. Many people join in. Mohit, from Noida, who is in the stands, puts up a banner for the English. It says, "Kohinoor wapis karo" (Return the Kohinoor).

 

The extraordinary delivery results in a complete turnaround for Naveen Ul Haq, the bowler. In the 2023 IPL, Naveen had a tiff with Virat Kohli, and things had become ugly. The Delhi crowd had not forgiven him, and whenever the ball would go to him, they would chant 'Kohli, Kohli' and troll him. But here, Naveen had done something extraordinary. Having got the English captain out, Naveen made Afghanistan sniff at the possibility of an improbable outcome. A victory against the reigning world champions.

 

Afghanistan continue to peg wickets at regular intervals, keeping the pressure on England. My worry at that time is that they should not allow the situation to get ahead of themselves and distract their focus. Rashid Khan is bowling to his namesake, Adil Rashid of England. This is the second time it is Rashid versus Rashid in the match. The first was when Adil Rashid bowled to Rashid Khan, in Afghanistan's innings. Leg spinner to Leg spinner.

"A leg spinner would never want to get out to a leg spinner, it would hurt his ego very badly", says the articulate lady in the commentary box. The lady reeling off statistics and analysing technical details such as the degree of spin is one of the world's greatest woman cricketers. Her name is Lisa Sthalekar. Lisa was the Australia women's cricket captain, and has won the Women's world cup four times, a feat achieved by no other cricketer on the planet. Lisa was born in Pune in India. A few days after her birth, she was abandoned by her biological parents and left outside an orphanage adjacent to the Sassoon hospital in Pune. At the age of three weeks, Lisa, who was known as Laila then, was adopted by Haren Sthalekar and Sue Sthalekar, her adoptive parents, who lived in Michigan in the United States. In a few weeks, Laila was renamed Lisa by her new set of parents, and her life shifted from the orphanage in Pune to a loving family in Michigan. A few years later, the family moved to Sydney and it was in the backyard of their Sydney house that Lisa first played cricket with her father, Haren. She had a natural flair for cricket, and started playing with the boys in the neighborhood. One day, her father took her to the North Sydney Oval ground, where a women's cricket test match was underway between Australia and England. That's where little Lisa realized that women play competitive cricket as well, and thereon dedicated her life  to becoming one of the greatest cricketers the world has ever produced.

 

Lisa's remarkable story from the orphanage to being a four time world champion is much more than the stuff of dreams. It is a similar dream that the Afghans in the stands and on the field are nurturing. No, not to be a four time world champion, not yet. Rather, to revel in the sheer joy of being able to play sport. For a country ravaged by violence and political turmoil, consistently ranked amongst the lowest in the world on most human and developmental indices, cricket is one of the very few things that brings everyone together. Not only does it bring everyone together, it also gives them immense joy.

 

That's why, for the majority of the players in the Afghan team, being on a world stage was more than they had ever imagined. To top it all,  the opportunity of being able to bring joy to thousands of their fans at the stadium, and millions on TV, was reason enough to celebrate, irrespective of the outcome. And finally, when Afghanistan won their most famous victory, they renewed faith, renewed hope, renewed optimism , not just for themselves , but for every person who believes in the power of dreams.

India, Pakistan and sport’s ability to transcend boundaries

 Today is the 14th of October 2023. In a few hours, India play Pakistan in the cricket World Cup. In Ahmedabad. 

I am writing this from  Hyderabad. 

Hyderabad is the city where the Pakistan cricket team spent the past two weeks for their practice matches and the two World Cup matches before moving to Ahmedabad , for the match of the World Cup on the 14th of October . India vs Pakistan.

From the moment they stepped in , the people of Hyderabad cheered for them. At the airport , on the bus to the hotel, at the nets , in the restaurant, and , in the cricket match .

Pakistan played four matches in Hyderabad . There were no spectators allowed for the first match as it coincided with Ganesh Visarjan, a festival  celebrated all over the city . The second practice match saw Pakistan put up a good batting performance, but eventually lost.

In between , the team visited Jewel of Nizam,  a restaurant overlooking the Osman Sagar lake , and had Hyderabadi cuisine for dinner. Another evening, the team visited Peshawar, a restaurant serving cuisine from the north west frontier.

The World Cup started with the match against the Netherlands , and there was expectancy in the air. The Netherlands  team had three of players of Indian origin - Sai Teja  Nidamamuru, born in nearby Vijaywada and speaking Telugu, was one of them. His extended family had come over to support him. The stands were not full.

Of the people who were there, most were looking for exciting cricket and hence, cheering for Pakistan. They wanted to see a big hundred from Babar Azam, and real fast bowling from Shaheen Shah Afridi. Pakistan won quite easily in the end and everyone was happy.

Then came the most anticipated match for all of us in Hyderabad - Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka. Hyderabad does not have any India match in the World Cup and this was perhaps the most competitive game scheduled here.

And what a game it turned out to be . Sri Lanka scoring 344, and Pakistan knocking it right back and setting a World Cup record for the highest chase .

During the game , the crowd was fully supportive of good cricket . When the Sri Lankan charge was led by Mendis, the crowd was happy. When Pakistan fought back with good bowling in the final overs of the Sri Lankan innings  , the crowd was happy as well.

It was in the second innings that things got even more exciting. Everyone was happy when Imam Ul Haq was dismissed, because it got Babar Azam to the crease. Huge chants of Babar, Babar rent the air. He started off in style, but soon got out. Babar Azam’s wicket was a huge disappointment for the crowd. Some said - Kya Babar Bhai, hum century dekhna chahte they (What Babar, we wanted to see a century from you).

Pakistan fought back , with Abdullah and then Rizwan. When Rizwan carried on despite his injury and cramps, he got the whole crowd rooting for him .

When the match was evenly poised in the middle overs , The DJ in the stadium said - Jeetega bhai Jeetega, letting the crowd to complete the rest. A loud roar went up- Pakistan jeetega.

It was a surreal moment . A crowd in India chanting Pakistan jeetega .

All four centuries in the match were cheered. Rizwan’s century met with the loudest cheers . In the over break, the DJ played the song ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’. The crowd loved the beats.

Many people in the Indian blue jersey were dancing to Rizwan ‘s sixes . Most had Virat 18 printed on their T-shirts, some had Rohit 45, and a few Hardik 33. They were all loving the fabulous cricket put up by Rizwan and co.

When the match ended with Pakistan Pulling off a record chase , the crowd went into a delirium. The Pakistan players were also taken overcome with this kind of reception.

I was transported back to 2004, Lahore. The time I was at the Gaddafi stadium , for the India- Pakistan series . I was in the blue India t-shirt. India won, we cheered . In spite of Pakistan losing,  many Pakistanis at the stadium came up and congratulated us . India was cheered everywhere. People came up, wanted to talk to us, invited us for dinner, wanted to talk to get an understanding of life in India

Something similar was on display here. Sri Lanka played good cricket. They were appreciated. Pakistan did  one better. They were absolutely adored.

The scene at the stadium once again reinforced the power of sport , the power of its ability to transcend boundaries, to transcend politics. Sport enabled thousands of people to cheer for courageous performance, for going beyond the ordinary.

All of it was In full display at Hyderabad.

Next stop for the world cup, for both India and Pakistan, is Ahmedabad. It is India vs Pakistan on the 14th of October.  Today. 

May we have a great game, with every player doing their best and spectators getting full entertainment .

And may India win

Sumimasen, Araigato and the magic of Japanese politeness

I have been interacting with Japanese people for more than a decade. In this period, I have been to Japan multiple times and also hosted the Japanese in India.

While there are many big and unique things about Japan, it is in the small, day to day experiences in interacting with the people that a whole new world unfolds. 

Many times in Japan, I have asked people for directions  ; on most occasions , people have responded as if it is their sacred duty to not only help with directions , but also walk along till I navigate things the right way. Sometimes, people have come all the way to walk along upto my destination .  

Does this happen elsewhere, outside japan ? Yes it does , occasionally. There are nice and helpful all over the world. However , the number of times this happens in Japan, and the way people in japan consider it to be a duty to help a stranger , nowhere else have I seen that magnitude . 

Obsession with time is another aspect, which also manifests in the respect for time of others. Some years ago, a Japanese friend was visiting India. I had invited him for dinner at 8 pm. 

Sure enough, he turned up at 8 PM. I asked him whether he had any trouble locating the place or coming over as he was visiting India and might not be familiar with the surroundings. He said he was mindful that he was coming to a new location,  so he started early and arrived around 7.30 PM, half an hour before the invitation time. “Arrived half an hour before, then why did you not come inside ”, I ask him , surprised. 

“Oh Deepak San, I didn’t want to disturb you as you might be busy with something else”, was the reply . 

“What were you doing for the past half hour ?”, I ask him, feeling guilty. “I was waiting outside ”, he replied. 

A friend of mine is part of a local badminton team in Tokyo. They had a to play a tournament and assemble at the match venue at 9 AM . However, as a team, they agreed to meet at 8.30AM. All but two of the team members turned up by 8.30 AM. The two who did not turn up at 8.30, reached at 8.35. A time that was a good 25 minutes before the scheduled assembly time at 9 AM; however, it was 5 minutes later than what their team had , amongst themselves, agreed for. They profusely apologized to the rest of the team for this ‘lapse’. 

Next day, back at their home venue for practice, the two who had turned up at 8.35 the previous day , punished ‘themselves’ by not playing , but rather cleaning the badminton court and helping others. They also ran rounds of the nearby field to atone for the previous day’s delay. 

Remember , no one told them. They punished themselves. 

An extreme example of the way people hold themselves accountable for time, and the respect for time of others. 

People around the world took note of the Japanese football team’s creditable performance in the 2022 football World Cup a few months ago in Qatar. After every match, the team made headlines when they stayed behind to clean the entire changing room. They left thank-you notes. The Japanese fans in the stadium did something similar . They cleared the trash, and cleaned up the stands. The Japanese coach bent almost 90 degrees and bowed in front of the fans to express his gratitude to them. Back home in Tokyo, fans celebrated their team’s performance . They came out on the streets after Japan defeated Germany in a spectacular performance. They would are celebrate on the road on the red signal, leave the road when the signal turned green for the traffic to flow, and come back again to celebrate when it turned red. While this sounds extreme to the rest of the world , to the Japanese it is simply a regular act of politeness and respect for others.  

The two words I most often hear in Japan are Sumimasen and Araigato.   Sumimasen can mean anything from a polite ‘Excuse me’ to an apology for disturbing you. Araigato is a thank you. In formal settings , these are almost always accompanied by the gesture of bowing. 

With politeness and respect comes mindfulness. It is about the awareness of surroundings , the season, the time of the day, the awareness of the people around you, an understanding of the feeling of others . This shows in the minutest of details, the little pouch for disposing trash, the little button to slide the window, the seat warmer in car seats,  the long wooden shoe horn outside of traditional places where one needs to take off shoes. This shows in the design of toilet seats,  the bidet, and the cleaning options, which have adjustable buttons for the flow of water, the temperature ,  the option to have accompanying music while you do your stuff. 

This politeness, respect and mindfulness enables tens of millions of people to navigate densely crowded cities such as Tokyo with an unbelievable sense of order . Whether it is the queues to get into public transport , or the manner in which People buy stuff from supermarkets , or navigate through crises such as supply shortages during Tsunami , this deep rooted and imbibed sense of empathy allows Japanese to navigate these situations in a manner that is not just unique, it is magical. The magic that the tiny little  things create , when everyone does them, is big. 

For sure, every place has its challenges. So does Japan. And it has many. There are many socio-economic and demographic  aspects that are manifested in these challenges. Japan is trying to solve some of these challenges. For some others, it is still trying to figure out what might be a good solution. 

The intent here is to share that if each one of us were to imbibe more of the Japanese characteristics of empathy, politeness, respect and mindfulness in our day to day life, we can make things better for ourselves, and for those around us. And maybe, even create magic in the world. 

Humans of Football

Maymi Asgari is 24 . She wears a headscarf . Every night, before and after the football World Cup matches, she is outside the stadium in Qatar , performing football tricks for passers by. She is a football freestyle who loves the game. 

people ask her about her headscarf and the football tricks. she says, very objectively - I wear the hijab, I am a Muslim and I am a woman. But it doesn’t mean I can’t play football. I can do the exact same thing that anyone else can do. 

And , I add , love the game that billions around the world do. 

———-

Derouich Fakhreddine is from Morocco. His job is to ensure security at football stadiums in Qatar. He is supposed to always look at the spectators, with his back towards the football pitch.  This way he ensures safety and security for everyone at the stadium. 

He did all of his work, with full diligence and commitment in the entire match against Spain. For 120 minutes and for all the penalty kicks this far. 

However , when Achrafi Hakim takes his run up to take up what could be the kick that can win it for Morocco, he turns his neck , peeps behind his back 

At the end of it all, when Morocco win, he affords himself a peep into what’s happening behind his back. The penalty goes in , he shouts in joy, and celebrates with tears. In those fleeting seconds, Fakhruddin goes on to become just like any other football fan, celebrating his country's qualification in the quarter finals of the World Cup for the first time ever.

———————-

Maisah is an Algerian woman. She has a son who is in his early 20s. The son is currently working as a security guard at Qatar for the World Cup. 

His job is to manage the flow of spectators outside the stadium and guide them to their respective entry gates. 

Maisah has not met her son for several months and decides to undertake the journey from Algiers to Doha, and sets out to find her son. When she is in the vicinity of the stadium, she is walking like a woman who knows exactly where she is going. Someone tells her all security  guards have the same dress and look pretty much the same. But a mother sees with more than her eyes. 

And in one dramatic moment , she is able to spot her son from a side angle. As she reaches to her son, the son is shocked for a while. They then hug. And cry. And hug again. 

———-

Unlike Maisah, Fernanda from São Paulo is with her son Rafael in Qatar. They are a part of a Brazilian group of travelling soccer fans and are all set to add to the colour, music and experience of everyone around when Brazil takes on Croatia in the first quarter final. Rafael is 8 years old , and like thousands of others, he is in the yellow Brazilian jersey . 

He has been pretty intent all through the Match, but when Neymar scores, Rafael starts jumping. As Croatia dig deep into their reserves of will power, they put it beyond Brazil in the penalty kicks. Little Rafael is crestfallen. His mother, no less disappointed herself, hugs her tearful son and tells her it is a game and winning and losing is a part of it.  

—————

While one little boy’s team is on the losing side , Leo Peresic’s is not. His father, Ivan Peresic has been critical to Croatia’s chances all through the tournament and has been one of their standout performers . After Croatia team beats Brazil, Croatian players are allowed to bring their families on to the field.  Young Leo Peresic , instead of heading towards the celebrating Croatian group where his father is, heads towards the Brazilian side , who are gutted after the heartbreaking defeat. The security stops Leo as he heads towards Neymar. 

Neymar , broken and in tears after the defeat, notices this , intervenes, and allows Leo to come in. Young Leo shakes  Neymar’s hand, hugs him , and consoles him. Victory and defeat converge into the moment . 

————

Just an hour after Brazil went out, it is their Latin American neighbours Argentina taking on the Netherlands in another Latin America vs Europe clash, to decide the second semi finalist . 

The teams are getting ready to walk out of the tunnel onto the pitch. Amongst those who will walk in, is this little school girl . She is one of the children who will walk in with the Argentine team. She is standing next to Lionel Messi. She has heard all along that Messi is extraordinary . He is so good that he is not human , he is super human. 

This is the closest she has got to anyone with this description , of being super human. She touches Messi’s arm, trying to figure out if he was for real and if he was human. 

For The little girl it is perhaps the first time she is going to be walking through the football tunnel. But there is another person, not far from where she is , who is going to be walking the tunnel for the nth time. He is Louis van Gaal , 71, the coach of a Netherlands. 

van Gaal was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in December 2020. He hid this fact from his players to maintain their focus before the World Cup. 

He had 25 sessions of radiation therapy, all while overseeing the Netherlands' World Cup qualification campaign. He would enter the hospital through a back door , complete his treatment sessions , and go out via the back door , lest his cancer impact any of the players. 

When the Netherlands defeated Norway 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Rotterdam in November 2021, Van Gaal was in a wheelchair. His visits to the hospital would be at night after the day job was done. 

Often, he took charge of training with a colostomy bag and a catheter hidden under his tracksuit. 

When he finally disclosed about his condition , it just spurred his players on to go the extra mile . The players also shared their experience of greater empathy and perspective from the coach . 

From walking out of the chemotherapy sessions via the back door of a the hospital to walking in with the Dutch team in the quarter finals against Argentina , it was an intense journey, and win or lose, van Gaal remains a profoundly impacting human of the World Cup . 

———-

Over the past three weeks, I have tried to capture the human stories of football. I have spoken about mothers , sons, daughters, fathers, brothers, referees, fans, support staff, school children, security guards. 

I want to conclude today’s write up about my emotions as a father. My son is a big big Brazil fan. And so am I. As Indians, we look at Brazil as our home team. In our case, we also have fabulous memories of our time in Brazil. Like most Indians, our hearts are all for Latin American football. And our other favourite is Argentina. For many like me, Maradona introduced magic into football. 

Even today, India is steadfast in its support of Brazil and Argentina. 

So, when Brazil lost out in the quarter finals to Croatia, we were all disappointed . My son more so. 

There wasn’t much time for disappointment , though, as Argentina came up against Netherlands in just over an hour. 

Redemption time for Indian fans, so we thought. And that’s how it looked - for most part until the Netherlands magnificently fought back to take things to extra time and then to the drama of penalties. 

My son can’t bear the tension any longer , he goes off to another room and tries to sleep. 

I continue watching - I am constantly thinking - should I get my son back to watch - and perhaps see his favoured team win, or should I risk another disappointment in case Argentina lose. 

I convince him to come and watch the nerve wracking penalty shoot out , telling him not to be too impacted by the outcome . Win or lose, it is a game, it is a part of life . 

And at the end of it , the father son duo let out a huge roar and go into a jig. We hug each other. 

Our moment of the World Cup.

To be in my friend's shoes

Vidyaranya High School. The magical place where so much goes on yet the world knows little about it. Leave alone the world, even the city of Hyderabad barely knows anything about this. The students you see at Vidyaranya are not like the students you usually see in conventional schools. That's probably because the students of Vidyaranya are exposed to a pressure free environment, which is very rare in today's world. The children do not take exams till Class 8. They are free to wear whatever they want to wear. They are free to think whatever they want to think. They are free to say whatever they want to say. Now that said, here's one of the many magical moments that took place at Vidyaranya, with my son Hardik directly involved.

Over to you Hardik.....

.....

It was ten minutes past twelve. The teachers had just left us for our lunch break after a tiring drama session. Some could only think about filling their stomachs after an action packed afternoon. Some could only think about playing football. I belonged to the second group.

As I was wearing my budget Power shoes, one of my friends, Rayyan, decided to play a little prank on me. The moment I was done wearing my left shoe, he went ahead and ran off with my right shoe. I stayed cool  and I stopped myself from chasing him, knowing that he would return it.

I went to the football ground with a few of my pals. I knew that it was somewhere around that field where Rayyan had kept the shoe. I asked him where my shoes were kept, extremely certain of the answer I would receive. I turned out to be correct for I knew very well that he wouldn't reveal the answer to me. However, he gave a big hint, saying that I was standing within 500 metres of my beloved shoe.

I  then started searching for my shoe. Two minutes later, I was going to give up... any second.

My best friend Vasisht, better known as Bethu, could see that. He then did something, an act of kindness that would give Jesus Christ a run for his money. He gave me HIS right shoe and then went to have lunch in the canteen, with one shoe.

Overcome by his kindness, my expedition was back on track. I was no longer searching with one shoe on. I also had a friend on my side, Amrita, who was also not keen at the prospect of having lunch.
The two of us were extremely motivated : I due to the magnanimity shown by my best friend, she due to the idea of seeing the famous shoe of one of the most infamous people on the planet.

Rayyan probably realised that this duo's expedition was going to be successful.
So he proposed to sign a treaty. He said that he would return my shoe by 12 30 because that was when the football match would start and he acknowledged the fact that I would need my shoe to play the game. It seemed fair to me, so I called off the search.

By 12 30 when Bethu was back, he was pleasantly surprised to find me with three shoes. It was at that moment that the world of fashion changed. Bethu decided to wear one of his shoes and one of mine. I did the same. Initially, the idea was that by the end of the lunch break we would take back our respective shoes. However, we couldn't find the time and decided to do so just after school ended. By the time I reached home, I was wearing two shoes and both were my own : a feeling I didn't experience for most of the day.

The next morning , when Bethu and I met, I proposed the idea of swapping one of our shoes and keeping it that way for the entire day. He was game. This news soon became prevalent. Some laughed. Some were inspired to do the same. During Hindi class,  my good friend Wahaj asked me whether I wanted to swap a shoe with him as well. I agreed to do so and gave my right shoe to him and vice versa. We also swapped watches. So I was wearing two shoes with completely different designs and neither of them belonged to me. However, my trading with Wahaj didn't turn out to be very successful, as his shoe was too big for me and my shoe was too small for him. We also got back our respective watches soon.

I was back to wearing one of Bethu's shoe and one of mine. Home time came and I told him I'll give your shoe back when you have to go. I then got to know that Rayyan would be dropping me today. He happened to be in a hurry, so I rushed to the car with my bag hanging on to one of my hands. I had totally forgotten about our shoes. I only realised I had taken one of Bethu's shoes when I was looking at the mirror in the lift at home. I called him up after some time and told him about the accident, about which he was aware of, and also apologized to him. Worse, school would be closed the next week, meaning I could only return his shoe nine days later.

My father and his father both took the sporting side of the thing, when they got to know about this, throwing light on the great bond we share. They said that it was lovely to see such friendship.

Over to you Papa.....

...........

I couldn't resist the urge to laugh at such an event. The moment I returned home, I  saw that right in front of the shoe rack were placed a black Adidas shoe and a grey Power shoe, side by side. The event seemed even more hilarious to me when I got to know the whole story.

Oh Hardik, if only you wore your shoes faster....

Those I have voted for have always lost. I am proud of them.

11 th April 2019 :  I was amongst the 39 percent of eligible voters living in Hyderabad who voted in India's parliamentary elections.

My polling station was a school in a residential area , not far from where I live. It was the same place where I had voted a few months ago, in the state assembly elections. It's been the same polling station for many years now. For parliamentary elections. For state assembly elections. For municipal elections. 

It's the place where every candidate for whom I have voted has two things in common- First, the candidate was not affiliated to any major party. Second, the candidate lost, mostly by a huge margin.

When I decided to cast my vote for these candidates , Did I know they would lose ? I knew this 100 percent. The probability of any of them winning was not even infinitesimally low; it was zero. And it was clear to me much before I got the indelible ink mark on my left index finger.

Friends and family would ask- who would you vote for ?

When I mentioned these names, I would get responses like : you are wasting your vote; What can these people do - they have no administrative experience; These people have no organisational backing or supporting infrastructure.

Why then would I vote for these candidates ?

Here are my reasons:

1)      They had something relevant for me in their manifesto. Something that directly impacted my day to day life and of the people around me.

For example, the person I voted for in the municipal elections spoke of addressing the issue of mosquitoes in the Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills area. He had a clear plan - a combination of scientific approaches and public awareness programs to address this.

2) They had the right priorities -

For example, the candidate I voted for in the state assembly elections promised to put disproportional investment in education and enhancing the quality of government schools in the constituency.

In another instance, the candidate I voted for had promised to start feeder buses to link metro stations so that the entire area could be covered by the metro.

3) They displayed courage -

Each of these candidates knew they were up against the organisational, political and financial might of the big parties, viz. TRS, TDP, BJP and the Congress. Yet, they chose to believe in themselves, and in the cause they were espousing. It is for this courage and belief that they stood out for me.

On another occasion, the candidate I voted for was a Muslim woman in her 30s. She came from a conservative background. Coming from a background like that, the conviction it takes to contest elections, and to be out there in the sun campaigning for a cause she believed in - it was remarkable. Her courage in just being there was the clincher for me in deciding my vote.

4) They were all local and had experience of working in the area - 

For example , the candidate I voted for had worked on shelters for caregivers of poor patients in two major hospitals in the area.

My vote for these remarkable individuals , each of whom had no chance of winning , is my way of acknowledging their contribution, their ideas and their courage.

I am proud to have voted for these 'losers' - their being out there is in itself a victory for the courage of their convictions .

It's also a message of hope to the well meaning millions out there, who have wanted to make a difference to the life of others.

These individuals might be losers on the election result sheet, they are inspirational winners for me.

I voted for them in 2019, I will vote for them again.

The indelible stamp on first day covers

Collecting stamps was my favourite hobby as a schoolboy , closely followed by collecting matchboxes and collecting coins , in that order . 

A particular aspect of stamp collection was a direct outcome of effort made - the FIRST DAY COVER. The General Post Office at Calcutta had a philatelic bureau that used to have first day covers - ( a first day cover has a stamp on the official envelope, stamped on the day of release)

Attached in the picture are some of my first day covers - they are not just first day covers - behind each is the familiar story of my mother rushing with me and my sister to the GPO ( which closed at 5 PM). For context , school got over at 3.10PM, and we reached home at 3.45 PM. And then, we would make a beeline for the bus to GPO,  a one hour journey from home. 

No matter what the first day cover - Indira Gandhi, Asian Development Bank, 150th anniversary of the postage stamp, Ho Chi Minh - it not only had the postmark - it had the indelible stamp of my mother's love on it !

Life without a TV

15 years

It's been more than 15 years since that day. 

15 years. 

It was the 15 th of February , 2003. Saturday. 

It was our first weekend in Hyderabad. Just shifted to a new city . With a new job. 

In another part of the world, at Centurion ( South Africa), the cricket World Cup was on. It was the big weekend game. India vs Australia. 

This being the first weekend of moving to a new city , and having just moved into a house from a hotel, we ( my wife  Ipsita and me) decided to get the basics of the house going. 

We started with getting a bed, a mattress , utensils, a sofa set, a table. 

The furniture and the kitchen stuff done, we went to an electronics shop - at that time, one of the largest in the city - a shop called JD Electronics , located in the Abids area. 

There were two items on the 'to buy' list - 

A refrigerator and a TV. 

The refrigerator was finalised - LG. while this very important decision was being taken by the wife (as she evaluated various specifications, sizes and colours of the fridge ) , I concentrated on the TVs that were on display at the store. Not for doing a similar evaluation, but for the India vs Australia live telecast. India batted first. Everyone was excited. Anticipation was high. 

A Tendulkar century was expected. Ganguly and Tendulkar opened. Brett Lee was fast and accurate. He got Ganguly to nick to Gilchrist . One down. In walks Sehwag. Tendulkar is at the other end. Sehwag hits a four. Tendulkar is striking it well. However, in his very next over, Lee gets Sehwag. Nicked to Gilchrist. In comes Rahul Dravid. He prods around for more than 20 balls for one run. And then he goes, bowled by Gillespie. 

My wife says the fridge is final. Let's quickly do the TV. 

The eager salesman showed several brands which were in vogue that time . I was keen to take my team at each brand stop. 

He first showed BPL. Yuvraj Singh goes for a duck. Plumb to McGrath. 

We move on to Samsung. As I was testing the remote control, Mohammed Kaif went . He scored 1 off 16 balls. 

We moved to the next brand. The salesman was talking about the excellent picture quality of the LG TV. Tendulkar hits a beautiful four - between cover and extra cover . The voice quality is also very pleasing . 

I look at Ipsita asking about the LG tv. She nods. Let's buy it, she tells me. 

The salesman in the meantime was talking to another person in the shop. I ask him to come for a minute . 

He is coming towards us. 

It's the 28 th over . 

The salesman is walking towards us. 

Gillespie is running in to bowl to Tendulkar. 

The salesman reaches. 

Gillespie delivers the ball. 

The salesman asks me if there is any query regarding any features of the LG TV. 

Tendulkar is wrapped on the pads. He is in front of middle and leg. 

Australia appeal. Tendulkar is gone. India are 6 down. The score is just 78. 

I feel supremely disappointed . Like millions of cricket fans.  

We decide not to buy the TV that day. Just the fridge, we tell the salesman. 

Then the day goes. And somehow, a couple of weeks more pass by because we could not find the time to go to buy a TV. 

The cricket World Cup ends ( India did very well to make it to the finals ; lose in the finals to Australia ) . 

The next weekend there is time. We can go and buy a TV today, we feel. 

However, I feel if we can live through a cricket World Cup without a TV, there cannot be anything bigger in the world for which a TV might be needed. Ipsita agrees. 

We decide to give it a pass. 

We Try to experiment a life without a TV. 

And from that serendipitous moment when India became 78 for 6, to now ( 2018 March) , it's more than 15 years. And we are living without a TV. 

Since it just doesn't exist, we don't miss it. I don't even know how to operate it. 

Sometimes, this results in embarrassing situations - I was travelling and in a pretty nice hotel. I decide to watch the TV. However, I just couldn't get to the listing of channels because the remote control was so unfamiliar and complicated. I called housekeeping , and when the boy came, I asked him to help me get the TV started. He looked at me and gave me a look. And in a second, got it done. 

The only time in these fifteen years I have felt it might have been good to have a TV was on the morning after the Bombay terror attacks, on the 27 th of November 2008. 

I was blissfully unaware of the Bombay attacks and had a morning flight from Hyderabad to Bombay around 8 AM. It was an air india flight . Around 6 in the morning , a friend called to say there was a huge terror attack in bombay and I might consider cancelling my trip. 

I shrugged him off and called the Airline at the Hyderabad airport. It was then that I looked up the internet to get a sense of the enormity of the attack and the magnitude of the disaster that had stuck. I rushed to my neighbours house to see the TV. It was a very tense atmosphere . 

Coming back to TV, other than that one incident , it has never been missed. 

I am a big sports fan, and there are times I really want to watch some sport. Occasionally, If the craving is too intense, I watch it on the internet. 

Our son Jaadoo is a big football fan too. He does not know what it is to have a TV at home. So he too, somehow manages on those few occasions he really feels like, on the internet . 

TV, the 15 years without you have been good. Looking forward to the next 15. 

Why Barca can get another treble this time

Neymar's huge move to Paris definetly caused a bit of a stir in the Barcelona dressing room. It was almost certain that this would be one season the players would want to forget after getting crushed by arch rivals Real Madrid twice in the Supercopa de Espana even after signing expensive Ousmane Dembele and Paulinho.

Both the big signings were criticised. Ousmane Dembele was out for three months after only his second start for the team. 

And Paulinho ? The duo of Messi and Paulinho was too much for many la liga defenders even with Luis Suarez out of form. And when Suarez was back to normal did Barca need to worry about defending ?

Right now, Barcelona have calmed down a bit from their early rampage. Several factors have led to Barca being in good form. 

1) Andres Iniesta being ever so stable and controlling the game.

2) Ter stegen proving to be brilliant

3) Messi, Suarez and Paulinho, ahem.

4) Great effort by all team members and of course Ernesto Valverde

Of course the season is still far from being over right now, but Barcelona are very much in contention for their three major titles. But with the coming of Phil Coutinho and Yerry Mina, let's hope they achieve it !

Hardik Sapra

If it's tennis, it's got to be LOVE-ALL

From early school and all the way up to college, I was a big tennis fan. It was my second favourite sport. 

Not without reason -Numerous exciting things happened in tennis in that period.

There was also a pragmatic reason to it - Tennis was one of the few sports available on direct telecast in India that time. While a lot many more matches are available for viewing these days, I have been living without a TV for the last 15 years, so have lost touch somehow . 

In those school and college days , when I did see tennis, it was amazing. It inspired me to take up the sport and go for coaching with my brand new Slazenger racquet.

Coming back to my tennis watching career, some events still give me the goosebumps. 

Here is a list of some- 

1. A 17 year old school boy named Boris Becker diving all over Wimbledon centre court to stun Kevin Curran in the finals , thereby becoming a hero to millions of adoring schoolboys and a crush for many girls. 

2. Martina Navratilova continuing her dominance of women's tennis like no one had done before. Winning title after title and completely dominating Wimbledon for years on end. 

3. Pat Cash, the underdog Aussie, with his cheque hairband he always wore because he was a motor racing fan, breaking tradition and jumping over the Wimbledon stands to hug his family after putting it across Ivan Lendl. 

4. Ramesh Krishnan , all grace and class, leading India's charge, ( with support from Vijay Amritraj ) to take his country to an improbable victory against Australia in the Davis Cup Semi finals to put India into the finals against Sweden. 

5. Steffi Graf putting an end to Martina Navratilova's dominance through sheer grit, lots of power and stupendous will power. Steffi's subsequent rivalry with the flamboyant Argentine Gabriela Sabatini replacing the Martina vs Chris Evert one.   Steffi 's golden slam of 1988, when she won the four grand slams and also the Olympic gold medal at the Seoul Olympics. 

6. Leander Paes gritting his way through the Olympic men's singles draw  to put India on the medal podium at the 1996 Atlanta Games. 

7. Aranxta Sanchez adding Vicario ( her mother's surname ) to her name after winning her first grand slam when she beat Steffi Graf in the French Open finals .

8. Monica Seles, all power and precision, shockingly halted in her tracks by a lunatic spectator who stabbed her during a break in a match.

9. A teenaged Michael Chang, unknown and unheralded , running through the French open draw in his second appearance at the tournament ( after being decimated by John McEnroe in his first ) 

10. Lindsay Devenport, world number 1 with a great world view, calling her exploits on the tennis court 'just a job like any other'. 

11. Jennifer Capriati, in her mid teens when she won her first grand slam and later becoming an unfortunate victim to drugs. 

12. Andre Agassi , the rebel, living his fathers dream through tennis . Subsequently, his famed rivalry with the uber cool Pete Sampras. Years later , marrying Steffi Graf to become tennis' first couple . 

13. The Leander Paes- Mahesh Bhupathi doubles domination. leander's partnership with Martina Navratilova to win the Mixed doubles at Wimbledon. 

All of this was before the era of Fed and Rafa , before the Willams sisters made grand slams family property . Kim Clijsters, the young mother, timing her baby's food and sleep timings , to win a grand slam in between remains my standout tennis moment of the current era. 

All the events I mentioned above happened after two of the most talked about matches of all time had been played several years ago - I could not watch them for two simple reasons - the first one happened before I was born, and the second one when I was too young to understand any sport . 

In the last 24 hours, though , I saw a movie on each of those matches . 

'Borg vs McEnroe' is the name of the first movie, and 'Battle of the Sexes' is the second. 

The first one is about the 1980 Wimbledon finals - Bjorn Borg, all of 25 years of age, playing for his fifth consecutive ( yes- consecutive ) title and under tremendous pressure to keep scaling the peaks he had created for himself. 

John McEnroe- the young , brash, invective spewing artist with the tennis racquet , a worthy challenger. 

The Wimbledon final between the two is often touted as the greatest tennis match of all time - Mac won the first set, Borg the next two, Borg had several match points in the fourth which McEnroe saved and managed to take the game to the decisive fifth after one of the longest tie breakers in a Wimbledon final. 

During a break in the fourth set, with the game on the edge, Borg notices McEnroe very tensed up. 

He tells McEnroe that he ( Mac) has been doing great and he should keep playing his normal game. 

Borg s ice cool temperament and calmness finally prevails in the fifth set to give him his fifth consecutive crown. 

Despite the fierce rivalry, Bjorn reaches out to John and they develop great respect for each other . the entire narrative of a media hype around the rivalry melts into a shared respect and display of sportsmanship when they interact one on one. Person to person. ( subsequently, they became great friends and Borg became the best man at McEnroe 's wedding ). 

The second movie is about the 'battle of the sexes'; a tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King. 

Riggs, once the men's world number 1, all of 55 years old in 1973, challenged the then women's champion , Billie Jean King , to a match saying men were far superior to women in sport. Billie Jean, who had put her career at stake demanding equal prize money for women and men player's, believed she was not just playing for herself and against Riggs, but for equality and against all forms of male chauvinism. 

In parallel to the tennis, Billie Jean, married for many years , also discovers her own preferences and sexuality; and that becomes one more societal taboo to fight against . 

The tennis match is therefore not just a match - it's about one extraordinary person fighting against societal perceptions of gender and against societal prejudices around the LGBT community. 

Billie Jean wins. 

With these two movies seen, I am glad that I have seen the stories around two of the most extraordinary tennis matches that preceded my tennis watching career. 

And they reinforced the joy of sport , in its purest , most entertaining form.

Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova

It was the 27 th of December, 2016. Exactly a year ago. 

Jaadoo ( my son) , Ipsita( my wife) and I were at the Hyderabad airport arrivals area. 

The flight information monitor in front of us was displaying 'Arrived' as the status for Vistara airlines flight UK-879 from Chandigarh. 

Passengers started coming out of the terminal . It was easy to make out who the passengers from Chandigarh were - their attire was a giveaway. Heavy woollens, coats, mufflers, scarfs as protection from weather in a place that was cold, windy and foggy this time of the year. 

We started looking at the passengers , trying to search for my mother and father ( Ammji and Papa, as I call them ) amongst the scores of trolley pushing people coming out of the terminal. 

Then, suddenly, I heard Jaadoo say - "Look - Valentina Tereshkova and Yuri Gagarin" and he was pointing towards Ammji and Papa, who were just coming out from the baggage claim area and towards the arrivals where we were waiting. 

His reference to the Soviet cosmonauts - the first man and the first woman to go into space - was clearly a comment on their dress - their thick jackets and hoods were almost space suit like , and that's what prompted him to give this name. 

For comparison, we were in Hyderabad and were dressed in a no-woollen

, no-winter attire- I was wearing a light cotton shirt and jeans- and hence, the comparison was even more stark . 

We all had a hearty laugh at Jaadoo's impromptu naming of his grandparents and told them when we met - "Welcome Valentina and Yuri". 

 

I am writing this blog almost a year later, an year from the time we welcomed Yuri and Valentina. 

And we are at the same place. Hyderabad airport arrivals area. 

The scene at hyderabad airport is familiar to what it was a year ago - Jaadoo, Ipsita and me are standing at the arrivals area. I am looking at the display screen for the arrival time of the flight from chandigarh . The passengers slowly start streaming out - the attire of the passengers is in contrast to those waiting at hyderabad to receive them. 

There is only one difference for me. 

we are standing waiting for Yuri Gagarin - only Yuri- the thought that Valentina Tereshkova is no more with us comes back again and again . 

Which flight did you take Ammji - my Valentina Tereshkova ? Which destination did you go to ? Your departure date was the 18 th of April 2017- What's your return date ? 

My dear Valentina - hope I will meet you again as a co-passenger on a journey some day. Or wait for you at an arrivals area . And in that journey, I will be blissful in the fact that I have you , once again, as a co-traveller. 

Till we meet again, my Valentina Tereshkova ! 

And for my Yuri Gagarin- Papa- welcome to Hyderabad . We will make the most of this present journey. 

If it weren't for the last nano second....

It's been many many Decades now. A little short of four since the time I started leaving home every day - to go to Kindergarten , to go to school, to go to college, to go to work, to go to B-school.  

This is to share my transportation story through these decades. In short , the story of my journey from base camp - every working day . 

Kindergarten - 

I started off with the school rickshaw- a semi-cylindrical tin roof mounted on a three wheeled, cycle rickshaw . Children were packed in like sardines in a can , with an iron mesh covering the sides. My mother and sister used to walk with me upto the point on the road where the semi-cylindrical spaceship would call. Most unwillingly, I would get in; I would often cry. The 10 minute journey from home was an ordeal. The way back was much better - the enthusiasm of getting back home provided the energy to not bother about the sub human conditions inside the rickshaw . The 10 minutes that seemed like 100 on the way to school passed away in a flash on the way back.  It was truly a strange transport . 

When my sister started going to school ( a couple of years after i did ) , the onward journey became much better. She was not just a fresh nursery student , she was also my mother for the journey to school and back. 

Grade -1

Things changed. I was five and half years of age . I had to graduate to the big league - to the big school. As I joined Kendriya Vidyalaya, an army truck , which was used as a school bus, was the way to get me to school . Dark, heavy and bulky it was. It had students from Grade 1 to 12 and I was the tiniest, puniest of the lot. I was Often bullied on the way - the truck was a nightmare , and not just for the horrible noise it made and for the diesel smell that characterised it. 

Grades 2 to 4 - 

Life had turned. We shifted cities, and moved to Calcutta. The school was in the same community ( estate) where we lived. So no more transportation . It was supposed to be a 7 minute walk away from home. More importantly , I was in the afternoon shift - school starting at 11 am and ending at 4 pm. The usual time I woke up for the 11 AM school was at 10.40. Once, I woke up at 10.30 and declared it as a 'world record'. On account of this timely 'awakening', the school that was a seven minute walk away turned changed distance. It became a five minute run away. Lugging a bag full of heavy ICSE textbooks, the run was a fitness trainer's dream. 

Grade 4 to 7 - 

We continued to live at the same place. However , I and my sister joined another school - another Kendriya Vidyalaya - located in the same compound . The main difference was that school started at 9 Am - how would I ever get up to make it on time at this unearthly hour ? Running skills continued to improve and I was beginning to think of myself as the next Ben Johnson; until the time he was shamed at the Seoul Olympics , two days after having set a world record 9.79s in the 100m finals . 

Grade 8 to 12 

Two times a Change of residence , and a change of school meant that my sister and I were back to the army bus ( which was an army truck ) to get to school. The nature of my running endeavours changed slightly . Instead of home to school, it became home to truck stop . There was another boy who used to board the same army truck from the location we boarded - every day morning, my mother would wake me up saying - "He is on his way to the truck stop. At least NOW you wake up". That was the clarion call - the next couple of minutes would be a tsunami of activity at home followed by the sprint to the truck stop - my father running along with me and my sister. From a distance we started waving frantically at the truck driver who had already spent a few minutes at our stop . Most of the time, we would make it ! Over time, the driver understood the pattern and started budgeting a few extra minutes for our stop. 

Even upto grade XII, Papa or Mama would come to drop me and my sister to the truck stop and make us cross the road , holding their hands . End of school and This was certainly not the greatest preparation for life on the road ...

The Engineering years - 

Location changed, a professional course started . But getting up in the nick of time did not change. Out here, it was 7.30; yes 7.30 AM that one needed to be in. I needed the maximum impact my Hero Impact bicycle could make, every single day, to get me there. The terrain prepared me for the Tour de France as I had to achieve the optimal combination of speed and control - speed to make it by 7.29.59 and control to ensure that co-inhabitants of the road ( and that included four legged bovines) were not required to go to hospital. Control was also needed to ensure that my toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream and razor did not fall off the small pouch strapped to the bicycle. Once I got in by 7.30, I would use the inter-class breaks to brush, shave and answer to nature. By the fourth class, I was a different person - not recognisable from the one who pedalled in by 7.29.59. 

The   return journey was a lot less exciting and I used it to practice my skills in one handed cycling, and a few months later- in no-handed cycling. While riding a bicycle with my hands off the handlebar, there was an extreme need to control the machine with the mind - so , just before a turn, I would start talking to my Hero Impact to turn and boy , it never let me down. 

Work 1 - 

Home was again close to work so it was a short walk- the only problem in making it on time for the 8 AM morning meeting was that there was a railway level crossing on the way. I had to be on the other side of the level crossing by 7.58.30, else, there would be a couple of trains that would pass by for which the gate would be closed. The sprint this time was to a nearer flagpole - if I made it before 7.58.30, I would make it at 8. 

Work 2- 

Without a doubt, this was the most challenging phase of my journey to work. 

The reason - I was going to work in a vehicle - the vehicle had one more passenger - my boss. It would pick up my boss, then me, and then take us to work. It was a 10 minute drive from where i lived and in order to reach by 8, I would not have started a second earlier that 7.49.59. My boss, though , was a thorough planner and liked to factor in all uncertainties . On my day 1, I was surprised to see him in the vehicle, outside my house , at 7.35. Would you believe it, 7.35 ? I was in my pyjamas , taking it easy as it was 15 minutes to go before zero hour. I was in the process of getting off from the bed as I saw him outside the gate - hell froze over and I had to leverage all my learning and experience of two decades to get into the vehicle by 7.41. 

This was undoubtedly a massive challenge ; the only question was how much could I push my Boss' patience. Over time, 'he' adapted and he would patiently wait for me till 7.48 before he started getting impatient . I had made him appreciate the metamorphosis of a perfectly normal , easy trip into a race against time. 

Work-3

This was in the big city, and I was very close to work - about 2 kilometres as the crow flies. The only problem - there was a river between where I lived and where office was. The river would be crossed by ferry, and there was one every 15 minutes . Experience always came in handy to make sure the jump on to the ferry, just as it was pulling out of the pier, was long enough to get on board and not fall into the river ! 

The ferry was my Ferrari . 

Work 4- 

This was the farthest I had lived from work, and the fastest way to get there was to avoid the road . My strategy to get the fastest, and therefore, sleep the most , was therefore the following - 

Walk + Metro train + taxi / hitchhike + run. 

Adrenaline continued to flow right from morning - it was the metro train ride that I loved the most. Getting in was the main issue - once in, I would love the 18 minutes it took on the train . It was cool inside the train, and there was a constant flow of people , I would check the time between stations and the timing of the announcements. All of it made for a very lively setting and made for good preparation by calming the mind to get to the next mode of transport . 

B-School

Class was a few hundred yards from the hostel. A massive distance . I used my time at B-school to optimise on my running skills. Fortunately , the classroom had some space behind the last row where I could keep my toothbrush and toothpaste. In the second year, when there was a choice of subjects , I used a simple criteria to choose what I wanted to study - something that would go well with my sleep. Marketing , Finance, Operations , Strategy - these things mattered little - none of these were more important than sleep . And therefore , a random choice of subjects ensued - almost by serendipity , it gave a flavour of a little bit of everything .  Regardless of the subjects, I continued to get better and more experienced in the race to the bench . 

Work-5: 

Work was just 2 kms away. That had never been the issue, though. The yellow coloured auto rickshaw was the mode which got me there. My workplace, and my wife's , we're both in the same direction . Our everyday breakfast was in the auto - usually Maggi noodles. The 2 km distance was just enough to complete the Maggi Tiffin box . The last stretch involved a U-turn and an additional journey time of 3 minutes. Often, I would incentivise the auto driver with an additional 10 rupees if he could cover the distance in 2 minutes. 

Often, it was not enough. Reading the writing on the clock , I would stop the auto-rickshaw on other side, jump over a high pavement and cross the road by dodging speeding cars in the other direction to make it on time to office. 

Work 6- 

The morning routine was to drive and drop my wife  ( who was carrying that time ) to her workplace and then go to mine. She would sit on the navigator seat in the car and keep putting breakfast in my mouth as i navigated some seriously notorious traffic. 

Then, a few years later, I would first drop my son to school and then go to my workplace. I found it strange that He just did not enjoy the adrenaline rush I provided to him every morning . It was the generosity of the school that kept him from being barred as there wasn't a day when we were not running in at the stroke of the school bell. 

Work 7- 

The madness of traffic made a serious dent on my sleep. So I decided to ditch driving . Thank God that Uber had been invented. In no time , I became a Platinum category customer for Uber. Some habits did not die - I would time the Uber to make sure arrival time was the nano-second prior to start of work - sometimes, things would not go as per plan. Then I would optimise the route by constantly running data analytics on the map - I would run the google map, run the apple map, and keep pestering the poor driver for constant improvisation based on whichever map was shaving a minute off the journey time . 

Work 8- 

It was what I did yesterday that prompted  me to write this travelogue on my everyday journeys . The metro train got inaugurated in Hyderabad , where I now live. I decided to go back to my favourite mode of transport to work. It was bliss . The kind of bliss that homecoming provides. I was free of the constraints of the road . And the map. I would love to write more, especially about my experience of catching long distance trains, buses, flights, cable cars.

But for now , the train announcement is for the approaching next station. 

Mine. 

So the story of catching long distance modes is for another day. 

for now, it's Sayonara. 

My parting comment to all ye who reach early - your life choices are denying you from appreciating the worth of that last split nano-second. 

Cross over . It's an exciting world out here !