leander Paes, who has been selected for the Padma Bhushan award this year, recalls his days of trial and shares that in the winter of 1991 he spent one night at the Wolfsburg Tennis Club’s locker room because he didn’t have a penny in his pocket
Olympic baby
If you go by genetic engineering, I am an Olympic baby. As some of you may know, both my parents were athletes. My mom captained India in basketball, all five feet nothing of her. My mom is the reason I got my speed, she was lightning quick both on her feet and with her mind, very clear in her thoughts. My father played hockey for India in 1972 at the Munich Olympic Games, the only Olympics to be shut down for four days, because of terrorism. Out of every tough story a good thing comes through, at least I believe so — I was conceived in those four days. Dad went on after that to achieve a bronze medal, which he reckons was his biggest achievement. I reckon his biggest achievement was conceiving me during those four days.
Dad’s dream
I was born in June 1973. Before I was born my dad would go out and talk about how his first son is going to be a professional athlete and the first number one athlete India has ever seen. Dad worked really hard with me, since I was about the age of three. I still remember being in a crib with all these multi-coloured balls around me and I had to reach up and get them, I didn’t realise I was doing abs... dad made it a fun game. Even today when I bring home a trophy, my father is the last one to greet me, but I must say he is the first one for me when I lose a match or when I have something not-so-good happening in my life. Mom on the other hand reckons everything I do is fantastic. So I have to be a little careful.
First love
Since I was a little boy, Dad introduced me to every sport. I represented my school in cricket, hockey, soccer, boxing, athletics and swimming as well. There was no tennis at that point of time. I thought tennis was an older man’s game. At that age, when I was about eight or nine years old, football was my first love. If I have a football in front of me or any object circular in shape, I guarantee you it would not touch the floor for fifteen minutes.
At the age of twelve I was selected for a junior soccer programme in Europe. Soccer being my first love, I used to even sleep with my soccer boots on. I used to wake up in the morning, polish them and go for training in them. But when I was asked to move to Europe to play for another country and to play for something that was more of a team sport, a club sport rather than for an individual, or a country or a flag, I gave up my dream of being a soccer player.
From football to tennis
It wasn’t an easy choice for a twelve-year old because at that age all you want to do is have fun, at that age you have no guarantees as to where life is going to go. And when I gave up that dream, my dad asked me, what’s nextIJ I said, tennis. I can assure you that I had no idea what I was talking about at that time. And I said to Dad, ‘Find me the best tennis academy on the planet and give me a year, in one year I will tell you whether I can do it or not.’
Early years
‘While I was playing juniors, I had the international tennis federation look after some expenses of travel, my coaches, my tournament schedules, my doubles partners, my practice coach. But the minute I finished the junior circuit and I turned professional and came into the big bad world of professional sport, I found myself very alone. I found myself in a small town in Wolfsburg, Germany. I had about $30 in my pocket, a train ticket and my racket bag. I did not have money to get my next train or flight from Wolfsburg to Garmish up in the mountains in Germany, where the first Winter Olympics happened.
I remember one incident clearly. I did not have any money in my pocket for a hotel room, and that night late in October 1991, I spent in the locker room of Wolfsburg Tennis Club. It was in the middle of winter, so it was not like you could find a train station or a hotel lobby. The attendant there gave me four toweles. I still remember they were green in colour, one was to use as a little blanket, one was to lay down on the floor, one was to roll up as a pillow and the fourth one was for a shower the next morning. The next morning I made sure I woke up before any of my comrades or teammates showed up at the site. I was the only Indian at the tournament; I was the only Indian pretty much for a decade playing on the professional tour, after Ramesh Krishnan.
I won two matches that day, one singles and one doubles, I won two matches the next day. I won two on Saturday and two on Sunday and I won the singles and the doubles and till today I remember the night in Wolfsburg locker room. It was pretty cold that night and even today with thirty-one Grand Slam finals and an Olympic medal and representing you for twenty-four years, I will never ever forget late October of 1991 Wolfsburg, because it’s a cold and lonely day when you don’t win.
Moral of the story
What’s the moral of the storyIJ Many things. The moral of the story is that we Indians can be world beaters. But with the discipline and the hard work we put in, we Indians make great students. We respect our elders, listen to them, sift what they say to see what matters to us and try to incorporate in our lives, be it in the classroom, on the tennis court or in a computer science room. No matter what walk of life we are in we have to then incorporate and execute what we learn from our adults, from our parents. The single thing that I am most proud of is to have proven that a young Indian boy from Kolkata with not much opportunity can be a world leader.
An optimistic realist
I am extremely confident. Some even say bordering on cockiness. That is so untrue; I’m not cocky at all. I would describe myself as an optimist-realist. I’m aware of my shortcomings and I’m always learning new ways to overcome them. I believe every action in life has a karma attached to it and we live out that karma. Everything else is hard work, discipline and practice. I have very; very fastidious work ethics.
My energy during matches is not rehearsed at all. It is confidence and karma. For people on my team, my confidence is almost like raw, infectious energy that charges them. On the other hand, for my opponents, my confidence confuses them; my almost in-your-face body language puts them off. They call me brash and many other names but I’m not a bit brash. I have to live with it; this is my karma.
Big push
What keeps me going: I think my passion for life. I think I haven’t yet satisfied the hunger that I have to master the game of tennis. So if you’re talking tennis itself, I’m 5’lO”, thanks to mum. I don’t have a big serve, but my team and I keep trying to get enough explosiveness in my legs, because I’ve inherited that speed and explosion from her as well, to get enough explosiveness off the floor of a tennis court and to be able to have a big serve.
courtesy My Way edited by Derek O’Brien (Rupa)