Rahul Dravid: Person behind the persona

(This was a post i had written in 2009 in the RCB website,. With Rahul Dravid calling it a day, I could not find a more apt occasion to publish this.)

 Rahul Dravid, as seen from the eyes of one of their favourite nieces, Subiksha Raman. 

Subiksha is the daughter of former India Cricketer Mr. W. V. Raman who currently coaches the Bengal Ranji team after having successfully coached the Tamil Nadu Team to new heights. She grew up with the BIG 5 of the Indian cricket and has the sweetest and fondest of memories about and with them. While talking over the phone and via e-mails she showed me the person behind these personas, something that left me warm in the heart and something that I had to share with all of you.

After talking about her Anil Mama, Subiksha now tells me about her Jam Uncle- The one and the only- Rahul Dravid.

This time Subiksha and I had a conversation about the Wall. Her Jam Uncle, and a much loved person both on and off the field. Rahul Dravid over the years has not only captured millions of hearts because of his superb cricketing skills but also because of the gentleman he is.
Having grown up with the BIG 5 of the Indian cricket, Subiksha insists that she had always been OVER-fond of the wall because he was the first guy who gave her a rose; and we girls always have a soft corner for the first rose (and coming from Rahul Dravid it must be SOMETHING else).

She says after a while "he's such a sweetheart, always smiling and calm. Never loses his chill and he always made it a point to visit my place whenever he was in Chennai." The smile itself told me how deep her affection goes for the Wall.

Such is the greatness of the person, Subiksha points out while explaining how he took her friend to sit beside him on a flight just because he happened to be her friend. Though he has reached unsalable heights our wall remains well grounded

I was very curious to know why JAM UNCLE? To this Subiksha gave me a sheepish smile and said "Loved the kissan ad he came in so started calling him Jammy Uncle which got shortened to Jam uncle...”

Speaking of Rahul Dravid, I would never forget how smitten I was to meet him during the Royal Challengers Bangalore Fanatic Fans Challenge 3 finals. His appreciation for my poetry was all I needed to hear. And even though I did not win, those words of appreciation made my day. I would never forget his words "Keep up your poetry. It was really impressive" when I went to take his autograph.

Jam Uncle, Jammy, The Wall... Call him whatever you like the greatness of his personality always shines through.

The journey that was...

This poem was written for my favourite team Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was for a contest called 'Memoirs of IPL' and I won the first prize for it. Do have a read. (Note: It was written before Champions League, Sept- Oct 2011)

It started with a win like we knew it would

With the next game also in the bag the journey got almost as good as it could.

But then we lost our way along the path with losses on the trot

We needed a whiff of joy that the City of Joy had brought.

There Gayle announced his arrival with 6s and 4s

Where began our streak of wins, opening doors after doors.

Not only did Gayle blow away the teams

Our bowling came good with Arvind rightly tackling the seams.

Red, Blue and Gold turned to a natural green

And from Bangalore, we sent Kochi back to their land serene.

Our juggernaut of wins came to a halt in the hills

Where dear old Gilly and his Punjab gave us the shocks and thrills.

We sailed to the final 4 with a easy victory

How we started and where we reached seemed nothing less than a history.

At the top of the league table, that’s where we belonged

With wishes, accolades and love our RCB stars were thronged.

It was a bit of a juggle as we lost the easy way to the final stage

But a second chance was all we needed and Mumbai Indians came under our carnage.

All came down to the finals where we faced the Yellow crew

It was the spicy sambhar against the enticing coffee brew.

The day was not ours and outplayed were we,

The loss was disheartening for us to see.

Things go wrong only to remind us to try harder for the next time to come

And lets not deny the RCB men gave us many highs and not rarely but often and a sizable some.

The Champions League is where we’ll stamp our authority

We in our Red, Blue and Gold will, for sure this time, establish our superiority.