A TRIBUTE TO MY FRIEND RAMAKANT DESAI

A TRIBUTE TO MY FRIEND RAMAKANT DESAI

 It was on Thursday, September 22, 2016, exactly a week back, India began its milestone journey of playing 500th Cricket Test match, a feat previously reached only by England (976 Tests), Australia (791) and West Indies (517). England’s landmark occasion was a drawn affair in 1974, Australia’s was an Ashes win against their arch rival England in 1990, while the West Indies celebrated their crushing win against Bangladesh in 2014. India crushed New Zealand by 197 runs to celebrate the 500th test in style. During this period there was mention of many cricketers of the yester years. Sadly there was no mention of my friend Ramant B. Desai by anyone.

I knew him since his college days. I was schooling then. I used to go to watch Inter- collegiate matches. He had left Ruparel and joined Siddharth. There was this classmate of his, Dinoo, who became pally with me. He introduced me to Ramant, Sudhakar Adhikari (who later on married my sister’s friend Radha). Ramakant was quite soft spoken and down to earth person. But he was very friendly. If  there was a man who proved that size and stature could be two very different things, it was Ramakant Desai. Standing at five feet, four inches tall, Desai was capable of bowling at a deceptive pace and getting the ball to rear up unnaturally for a man of his small size. He was affectionately called “Tiny” because of his height, but he was still by far the fastest bowler India possessed throughout the 1960s. He troubled the batsmen with bouncers, which was unusual for an Indian bowler at the time. He had ‘bunnies’ of two batsmen, the first being the Pakistani legend Hanif Mohammad, whom he dismissed four times in nine innings during the 1960-61 series. I remember, in that test match at Brabourne Stadium, it was the fourth day of the match and one of my uncles, Prabhakar Dharadhar, who was the chief scorer, took me there. As a fourteen year it was my first experience to watch a live test match. When India’s 8th wicket fell at 300, everybody thought the innings would fold up and Pakistan would start their second one. But in came my hero. He mixed his innings with aggressive and lusty big hits and perfect copybook defense. At the end of the day’s play he was not out on 60 and wicket keeper Nana Joshi unbeaten on 29. In the evening both the teams were invited by one of my relatives, Dr. Prabhakar Kothare at his residence. (Dr. Kothare would always invite teams when they played at Brabourne. His son Raju would often take me to their home on such occasions.) I also remember, how I had congratulated Ramakant and he had replied, “Vinay, come to watch me score some more runs.” He did score some more runs, coming in at no.10, he scored 85 (unfortunately not a century) and shared a record 149 – run with Nana Joshi, which was broken by Pakistani players Asif Iqbal and Intikhab Alam. But it is an Indian record for the ninth wicket that stands even now. India had taken lead in the first innings. Pankistan started its second innings. All the eyes were on the great Hanif. Ramakant ran in. First ball - hhsh- went past his bat, narrowly missing the edge- beaten neck and crop! We could hear the radio commentary blaring 'beaten all ends up!' Ramakant ran in again - second ball, a bouncer, his most reliable weapon - and this time it did not fail to take the edge and the ball safely landed in the hands of Polly Umrigar in the first slip. The whole stadium erupted. This time we could not hear the radio commentary.Though they say 'seeing, is believing,– we simply couldn’t believe our eyes! The legend was out for a blob -a zero! It must have been his first zero in Test cricket and it started 'his 'Ramkant's bunny - days' as we Indians say, since then he became Ramakant's 'bakra' or goat.

 In all the subsequent matches in that series,  he made the great Hanif  hop at times and the legendary opening batsman was generally all at sea against Ramakant. Ramakant also created 'bunny' out of England's Peter May. 

Ramakant played Test cricket for only nine years, appearing in his final Test against New Zealand in India’s 1968 tour Down Under. New Zealand batted first at Dunedin, getting bowled out for 350.Desaitook two wickets. In response, India were 300 for eight when Desai walked out to bat, and were soon 302 for nine. Then Ramakant and No. 11 Bishan Singh Bedi added an invaluable 57 to help India take the lead. This was impressive in itself, but there was more. Desai was struck on the face by a bouncer during his innings. His jaw was fractured and there was an instant swelling. Braving the pain, Desai batted on to remain unbeaten on 32. He even bowled some overs in the second innings, but it was EAS Prasanna who turned the tide with a six-wicket haul as India won what proved to be Desai’s final Test. It was heroic final hurrah. 

In his first year in the Ranji Trophy, he took 50 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 11.10. It is still a record for Bombay (Now Mumbai), and that too in his first Ranji Trophy season, a record at least till 1972-73 It included a performance of 5 for 10 and 6 for 28 against Saurashtr In the Ranji Trophy final in 1960-61 he took 7 for 46 and 4 for 74 in Bombay's victory over Rajasthan. Two years later, also against Rajasthan in the final, he scored his only first-class century, 107, in another victory. In his 11 years in the Bombay team (1958-59 to 1968-69), he never finished in a losing side.

I had watched him in the Times Shield ‘A’ division inter office matches, he would often take me in their tent. It was indeed a treat to watch batsmen getting clean bowled by him, in any form of cricket, Test, Ranji or first-class cricket, especially when the stump would get uprooted and go cart-wheeling quite some distance. Playing for A.C.C. he would bowl his heart out just as he did in Tests, and that too on the dead pitches in India. Perhaps, a more judicious use of his talent both in the Ranji Trophy and other matches could have preserved him as a penetrating bowler for a longer period.

I not only had the privilege to know him personally but also to play against him once. It was in Kalyan, it was during my college days. During the vacation at gone there and staying with Vernekar family. Raju Vernekar was captain of Kalyan XI team and had selected me. It was Tennis ball cricket match between Kalyan XI and Thana XI. I do not why or how, but many ‘outsiders’ in both the teams. Ramakant was in the Thana XI. We lost the match. But I had remained unbeaten on some 10- 15 odd runs, faced some overs from Ramakant. May be he bowled loose deliveries to me with a purpose. He had taken all the wickets, so I think. A tribute to you my friend,the 'Tinny Terror' - On the occasion of this India’s Cricket milestone!

On reading this tribute of mine to Ramakant his friend and class mate, Prabha Karle sent methis WhatsApp msg.: Excellent tribute, Vinay. What a  good natured boy was Ramakant! I also remember him taking 25  quick wickets in Australia tour. Hescored some 85 runs at the Braborne Stadium if I mistake not.' (which of course I had already written in this block.)

Vinay Trilokekar

TEACH WITH MOTHERLY LOVE

TEACH WITH MOTHERLY LOVE

 [ A letter for our teachers]

Dear friends,

YESTERDAY was Sunday. It was a weekly off for many Such Sundays come and go. Saturdays will come and go, Sundays will come and go and Monday will come. And many of us will go back to work after enjoying our weekly holiday.   But it’s Diwali vacation of for the school children and those of you who teach them in our organisation. The vacations are coming to an end. You will go back to your class, may be on this coming Monday. We all resume our work after our weekly off or after a long vacation. So will you and so did this teacher – Mrs. Thompson.

It was Monday and she entered the class on that day. She had this habit of starting her class by saying, “I love you all my dear children.”  But she was lying because she could not feel that love for one of the children in the class, who was unkempt, untidy and there was nothing in the child that drew attention from Mrs. Thompson. She was a little indifferent to the child. She would pick him for every negative example and ignored for all the positive reasons. Not infrequently he was scornfully panned by this very teacher, who seemed to enjoy watching him wince under her satirical jabs, which were more painful than the doctor’s needle. A question, having been bungled or muffed by forty or fifty, would be tossed at him in some such manner as, “And of course you, you wouldn’t know the answer, would you, Teddy?” (Yes, that’s how he was called – TEDDY) And the whole class would burst out laughing.

That year she had written his progress report card for the first semester and there was this system in place in the school that the Head Master had to countersign every progress report of each and every child. Reverend Father Joseph was the principal and the Head Master then. On seeing this child’s report he immediately called for Mrs. Thompson and said to her,” A progress report should report some progress. It should make a parent feel ‘My child has a future’. But the way, you have written the progress report for Teddy and for that matter if one writes such a report for any child then the parent of that child will certainly give up on him.” Out came Mrs. Thompson prompt reply,” But Father Principal, there is nothing I can do for Teddy. I have nothing positive to write about the child”.  The principal was shocked to hear this. But he did not say anything to her then. He asked her to report to him again after some time. He then asked his administrative staff to immediately trace the old progress reports of all the previous years of Teddy and send them across to Mrs. Thompson’s class. Mrs. Thompson saw the third standard final progress report and it was written: ‘Teddy is the brightest child in the class’- the final remark. She was stunned by what she read. She read his fourth class results and the fifth class one. And progressively all the results suggested that he was going down. Teddy’s mother was suffering from terminal cancer. She was not able to devote much attention to Teddy, take up his studies as she used to earlier and it had begun to reflect on his progress. The fifth standard final report read: ‘Teddy has lost his mother and along with mother’s loss he has lost himself. He desperately needs help; otherwise   we will lose this child.’ By this time, there were tears in the eyes of Mrs. Thompson. The next day she went to the principal’s cabin, knocked and entered in. She looked at him and said, “I know what to do now, sir.”

She went to her class, looked at the children and from the dais of the class she again said, “I love you all my children.”  But she knew that she was lying. The love that she right now feeling for Teddy was far, far greater than love she had for the others in the class. She had decided to change her approach towards Teddy. Now every positive reasons and good example she called Teddy’s name and there were no more negative remarks for him.

It was the last day of their academic year. Every child had brought some gift or the other for their teacher. But there was this gift wrapped up in an old newspaper, which had turned yellow and the the print too had begun to fade. Somehow, may be because of her acute sense of a teacher, perhaps this sense every good and observant teacher possesses ( good teachers like many of you are), Mrs. Thompson knew that it must be from Teddy. She carefully opened the parcel. A half filled perfume bottle and a bracelet from which a few stones had already fallen, were in there. The whole class laughed for they knew that it was from Teddy. Without saying anything Mrs. Thompson picked up the perfume bottle, unscrewed the cap and sprayed the half-used perfume on herself. Then she took the bracelet and wore it.

There was a hint of a smile on Teddy’s lips. He said, “Teacher, now you are smell like my mother.  This the last perfume that she used before she left me and this bracelet was the last thing that was removed from her body before she was taken into the coffin.”

By the end of the next year there was a note on Mrs. Thompson’s table, which read: I have seen few more teachers but you are, Mrs. Thompson, still the best teacher I ever had - With love, Teddy.

Every year, at the end of academic Mrs. Thompson would get letter from Teddy and which always read: I have seen few more teachers but you are, Mrs. Thompson, still the best teacher I ever had - With love, Teddy. Soon Teddy passed out from the school, but the letters kept coming at the end of each academic year and was always the same: I have seen few more teachers but you are, Mrs. Thompson, still the best teacher I ever had - With love, Teddy.

Years rolled by and they had lost contact with each other. Mrs. Thompson had retired by now. Then one day, some courier agent traced her and handed over to her a letter. It was from Dr. Theodore.  Teddy had gone on to become a doctor. Teddy had done his Ph.D.  He had acquired a doctorate.  And the letter read: I have seen many more people in life, Mrs. Thompson. This is your Teddy and you are the best teacher that I have come across. I am getting married and I cannot dream of getting married without your presence. Along with letter were enclosed to and fro flight tickets to Cochin. She was moved by his gesture; she couldn’t resist and decided to attend the church wedding. She no more had the perfume bottle but did preserve that bracelet, may be a few more stones had come off it.

She wore that bracelet and went to the church and tried to sit in the last row. But the volunteers identified her, may be that they had been specifically instructed to so. They ushered her right to the front row and right in the front row there stood a beautifully decorated chair with a placard written at the top of the seat ‘MOTHER’.  Dr. Theodore personally asked Mrs. Thompson to sit in that chair and whispered in her ears, “You are closest to my mother that I have experienced. Whatever I am today is because of you, mam.”

 The wedding happened and after the wedding he introduced Mrs. Thompson to his newly wedded wife in this manner: Without Mrs. Thompson I wouldn’t have been what and where I am today. Tears rolled down his eyes as he said this. They were tears of gratitude. Mrs. Thompson replied, “And Without Teddy I would never have realised that a teacher should first be a mother to her student and then and only then be his teacher.”

Now friends, there could be a Teddy sitting somewhere in your class. When you go back to your class room on Monday morning remember that there is this Teddy in your class who needs your love and you could be that Mrs. Thompson. Don’t go back to the institute as a teacher but go back as a parent, a mother, who can also be a teacher. You could be that mother first and then a teacher, and thus be the turning point in the life of our children.

Vinay Trilokekar

[Some time back (September, 2014), the Managing Trustee of the NGO (we look after the education holistic development and health care of underprivileged children, where I am a consultant, was discussing with me how some of our teachers were giving up on children, labelling them with tags like ‘good for nothing’ , ‘dud’ ,’duffer’, etc. I was pondering on what she had said. Then I remembered this story which my son's school principal (St. Sebastian High School), Rev. Father Lurdino Fernandes had once told me (way back in 80s). I emailed her the above story ‘Teach with motherly love’ and responded in this manner, she asked me to put it as a sort of address to teachers and I actually did it , (as a letter addressed to our teachers)

Dear Vinay,

Sorry that I couldn't read your mail earlier.  I'm very touched by the story that you have sent for the teachers.  I shall certainly pass it on to them by personally talking to them individually, especially to those teachers who need to soften down a bit and be more of friends and mothers rather than strict teachers whom the children would be scared of.

Thanks once again.

Regards,

Khurshid]