A Chance Encounter with Childhood Hero
“Could you please pass your mobile through scanner, sir?” politely asked the CISF guy.
I was at Mumbai Airport security check and was to go to Hyderabad that evening. Absent mindedness was, as always, my companion. I just gave the guard a sheepish smile and turned back. And lo & behold, just behind me my childhood hero, Leander Paes, was waiting for the security check. I felt even more embarrassed and quickly did what I was told to do and came out of security check and waited anxiously for Leander to come out. He was cool & composed as usual, exchanged a few kind words with the CISF staff on duty.
As soon as he came out I said, “Hi Lee. How are you? It’s a dream come true to meet my childhood hero.”
He just smiled and said, “Thank you. It’s my pleasure to meet you too.” I was floored by this modest reply.
“Could you please give me your autograph?” I gave him a book which I intended to read during the flight.
“Oh sure”, came the reply followed by an autograph. To my surprise, noticing that it was a book, he also wrote – HAPPY READING.
“Thank you so much Lee. Wish you all the best.” “Wish you the same” said the smart, handsome athlete and went ahead.
I was already flying high having met my childhood hero. At 37 Leander looked extremely fit. He is still a very fine Tennis player. He is certainly one of the most successful Tennis professionals of India. And even though his ATP Singles record is not much to write home about, it was in the Davis Cup, representing India, where he really stole the show. Whoever grew up in the 90s and followed Tennis, and especially the Davis Cup tennis, Leander was the hero. He wore his heart and his passion on his sleeve. His patriotism shone during Davis cup encounters where he always raised his game a few notches to meet & beat the mighty challengers such as Henry Leconte of France, Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia and the world beaters “The Woodies” of Australia. Another testimony of India colours spurring him on to achieve higher accolades is his breathtaking effort in the Atlanta Olympics where he won the Bronze medal for India.
His teaming up with Mahesh Bhupathi gave us some splendid moments to celebrate in the late 90s and early 2000s. They played captivating tennis - enthralling, attacking, adrenaline pumping, emotionally charged, wearing the India colours with pride. They captured people’s imagination and were rightly called as the “Indian Express”. They reached the semis of all the 4 Grand Slams in 99 and won the French & Wimbledon open in 2000. Remember, for a Cricket crazy nation, who felt deceived by match-fixing scandal, this was an achievement to be extremely proud of.
Their decision to split as a Doubles pair was perhaps the saddest moment of Indian Tennis. If only they had continued……! Whatever happened between them was really sad and which truly never came out. Emotional and reclusive by nature, Leander never said a word in public about the split. In fact that has always been his hallmark. He has always remained silent and virtually kept the controversies at bay, be it the split with Mahesh Bhupathi, his relationship with actress Mahima Chowdhary or his alleged attitudinal problems as a captain of Indian Davis Cup team. But, as a result, we also never got to know Leander’s side of the story due to this stony silence.
“Flight 3163 to Hyderabad is ready for departure, passengers are requested to board the same” the Kingfisher crew announced, bringing my chain of thoughts to an abrupt end. By this time the excitement of having met Leander had also sunk in. I quickly sent an sms to my boss thanking him, for had he not insisted on me leaving that evening, perhaps I wouldn’t have leaved my dream.
I was at Mumbai Airport security check and was to go to Hyderabad that evening. Absent mindedness was, as always, my companion. I just gave the guard a sheepish smile and turned back. And lo & behold, just behind me my childhood hero, Leander Paes, was waiting for the security check. I felt even more embarrassed and quickly did what I was told to do and came out of security check and waited anxiously for Leander to come out. He was cool & composed as usual, exchanged a few kind words with the CISF staff on duty.
As soon as he came out I said, “Hi Lee. How are you? It’s a dream come true to meet my childhood hero.”
He just smiled and said, “Thank you. It’s my pleasure to meet you too.” I was floored by this modest reply.
“Could you please give me your autograph?” I gave him a book which I intended to read during the flight.
“Oh sure”, came the reply followed by an autograph. To my surprise, noticing that it was a book, he also wrote – HAPPY READING.
“Thank you so much Lee. Wish you all the best.” “Wish you the same” said the smart, handsome athlete and went ahead.
I was already flying high having met my childhood hero. At 37 Leander looked extremely fit. He is still a very fine Tennis player. He is certainly one of the most successful Tennis professionals of India. And even though his ATP Singles record is not much to write home about, it was in the Davis Cup, representing India, where he really stole the show. Whoever grew up in the 90s and followed Tennis, and especially the Davis Cup tennis, Leander was the hero. He wore his heart and his passion on his sleeve. His patriotism shone during Davis cup encounters where he always raised his game a few notches to meet & beat the mighty challengers such as Henry Leconte of France, Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia and the world beaters “The Woodies” of Australia. Another testimony of India colours spurring him on to achieve higher accolades is his breathtaking effort in the Atlanta Olympics where he won the Bronze medal for India.
His teaming up with Mahesh Bhupathi gave us some splendid moments to celebrate in the late 90s and early 2000s. They played captivating tennis - enthralling, attacking, adrenaline pumping, emotionally charged, wearing the India colours with pride. They captured people’s imagination and were rightly called as the “Indian Express”. They reached the semis of all the 4 Grand Slams in 99 and won the French & Wimbledon open in 2000. Remember, for a Cricket crazy nation, who felt deceived by match-fixing scandal, this was an achievement to be extremely proud of.
Their decision to split as a Doubles pair was perhaps the saddest moment of Indian Tennis. If only they had continued……! Whatever happened between them was really sad and which truly never came out. Emotional and reclusive by nature, Leander never said a word in public about the split. In fact that has always been his hallmark. He has always remained silent and virtually kept the controversies at bay, be it the split with Mahesh Bhupathi, his relationship with actress Mahima Chowdhary or his alleged attitudinal problems as a captain of Indian Davis Cup team. But, as a result, we also never got to know Leander’s side of the story due to this stony silence.
“Flight 3163 to Hyderabad is ready for departure, passengers are requested to board the same” the Kingfisher crew announced, bringing my chain of thoughts to an abrupt end. By this time the excitement of having met Leander had also sunk in. I quickly sent an sms to my boss thanking him, for had he not insisted on me leaving that evening, perhaps I wouldn’t have leaved my dream.
posted by Amogh Speaks at
2:30 pm
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