Sporting Side Of My Dad

Though he was a writer and an officer in the Government of Sikkim my dad, Purna Rai was a huge sports fan. football though used to be his favorite. He did not play much as he grew up in a humble household, where playing was the last thing in his mind. He used to tell me he didn't even have decent shoes when he was a boy. Later on in life, he also developed a knee interest in Volleyball and even attended a coaching camp in 1977 done by the sports department at Tashi Namgyal Academy ground. But slowly he drifted towards writing and that became his first love and he never looked back taking out numerous books most of which were a collection of short stories. He made a name for himself in the Nepali literary world.

Deep inside however I feel sports always attracted him. I remember sitting with him and watching Lawn Tennis, He used to watch mostly the Wimbledon and Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Michael Chang was his favorite amongst the men and in women’s, it was Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Gabriela Sabatini and Martina Navratilova. I also remember him talking a lot about Arantxa Sachez Vicario saying she was a very tough player. Sometimes he told me about players from his younger days like Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Arthur Ashe, etc. In 1996 when Leander Peas won the Bronze Medal in Olympics, my dad was really happy. I remember him telling me about former Indian Tennis players Ramesh Krishnan and Ashok Amritraj. Later the doubles pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes took the world by storm.

He also loved Cricket which I used to find boring as a kid. My dad used to explain to me the rules but for a kid of that age It was quite difficult and those days most of the match used to be in white clothes which looked very dull. I was in class II and faintly remember the 1992 World Cup which Pakistan won. From there I guess slowly my interest in the game developed and I vividly remember watching Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly making their debut at Lords. Later on, we watched a lot of matches together and the one I remember the most was that superb innings by Sachin Tendulkar played at Sharjah. Later on, as I grew older I was so much into cricket that the same person who forced me to watch it use to say “Stop watching now and go to do your homework.”

Football any day was his favorite which is true for most people of our region. I remember my dad taking me to All India Governor’s Gold Cup matches and treating me with all sorts of jhal muri and chana etc during the match. Sometimes even my grandfather used to come from Rongo and all three of us to go for the games. It was my Dad who told me about the great Kolkata clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting and also a bit about the history of Indian Football, talking about players like Shyam Thapa, Pem Dorjee, IM Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri, and many more. Once I remember during the Gold Cup we had gone with my dad’s friend who was a very funny person. Cheema Okorie was playing and he told me “Kid we should shout in unison, Cheema Uncle” we did that and Cheema did look towards the gallery with a grin, bending down and touching his knee though I am not sure whether he had heard us. I also remember watching a lot of World Cup matches with my dad and the one coming to my mind right now is the Final of 1994 World Cup which Brazil won on penalties and Roberto Baggio missed his kick.

I was an average player and now when I think my dad knew about this but he always encouraged me to improve, during the house matches he used to give me some pep talk every evening before the match and used to show me different formations with those crushed papers rolled into small balls depicting a player. I don’t know what he showed was right or wrong but he used to tell me as a striker you have to keep making runs even if the ball doesn't come your way and shoot whenever there is an opportunity.

In 1997 I was selected to play for the school under-14 team and my dad had bought me a pair of boots which I had really liked, Later when he had gone on an official tour of Delhi he had got me a “Diadora” boot as a gift.

My dad also watched a bit of hockey and I came to know about the Legend Dhanraj Pillai through my dad and even watched some matches of the Indian hockey team. Dilip Tirkey is another name that comes to my mind at the moment.

I don't know why once I had written “I hate sports” in my diary. Maybe that was after a tiring long day at School followed by football practice. My dad saw it and told me you should never hate sports, It teaches you so many good things. Never use that word for Sports. I can’t recollect his exact words but it was in the lines of “Sports brings Unity”.

Once my dad had enrolled me in Table Tennis class but I could not survive those 15 days hitting the ball on the wall while the rest was playing on the table. I left the TT classes and slowly started liking Tae-Kwon-do but here too in one of the fights I was pitched against a blue belt though I was just on white the coach thought I was tall and I could give that guy a fight. I fought him well but suddenly he went for a hammering kick, I dodged but the full impact of the downward forced was taken by my thai, I was in excruciating pain and I could not move my leg and the fight was stopped. My dad came to me and said “Don't worry you fought okay, don’t tell you mom about the injury”.

I owe a lot to my dad for developing my interest in football and cricket along with other sports. I don’t watch much of Lawn Tennis these days and Hockey, but keep a basic tap on the news. I think we should respect all sports and the people who dedicate their lives to it. I regret not talking too much with my dad about sports and life in general but our times were like that, son and dad always kept a distance from each other though they had enormous mutual love. Happy Father’s Day Papa, Be Happy Where ever you are.