A chance encounter of the envious kind, to the most unlikeliest of souls

Neither I am a fan nor do I like cricket. In fact, kind of hate it (please don’t kill me for this). Meeting the maestro wasn’t even on my bucket list of things I wanted to do. So going for Saturday’s event was not too great an excitement for me. I actually didn’t have that much of excitement as some of friends had, who couldn’t contain their self cause they were a legend, a person they worshipped. But still there was a bit of excitement that I would be seeing someone who others would have given anything to meet.

So being there i could be feel the excitement of those present. It was palpable, it was contagious, it was driving everyone crazy with giddy. I felt it a little weird with all the rules of being around him. I even quipped, is he the queen of England when we were told not to touch him and click selfies with him, but then I can understand why the precaution (as later I would see).

In the end I got caught up in the excitement, cause it was contagious l, though not at a level of my fellow ambassadors (read Pankhuri). We smiled, captured selfies, clicked pics of one another, laughed and teased, and waited with baited breath for the man to appear.

Now when he finally arrived (IST I say) he was greeted with an enthusiastic cheer and applause (mine included). He sat down and began the session. Now we were lucky to be given the first two rows, the perks of being an IDBI Federal Life Insurance Mumbai Half Marathon Ambassadors, and thanks to Sunil Sir and Sangeeta Ma’am. So we literally had front row seats to something great in our lives.

As he answered questions, shared anecdotes, gave us the inside scoop of important events, of highs and lows, he became more and more human, unlike the god like image his fans had. The conversation seemed personal, it felt real, felt honest, felt like he was just another one of us, speaking to us, sharing his important moments of his life, and in those moment he became human, unlike the image cultivated in everyone’s mind. This spoke volume of his character, the humility, the down-to-earth, a lack of pretension, he became one of us, no longer god like, no longer just a legend.  It felt like a conversation, something honest, something from a treasure throve of experiences.

So we laughed when he narrated light incidents that involved the team and wasabi (now who hasn’t had friends who thought wasabi was chutney), cheered when he spoke about his knocks, especially against Pakistan (now who wouldn’t cheer that), felt the emotions when he narrated the successful world campaign (especially after being almost written off in a previous one) and seeing his mother and family while he batting for the final time, and were moved when he spoke about the passing of his father. It all felt so personal and whether you were a fan or not (which was my case) you couldn’t help but smile, laugh, cheer and even be moved. You felt the privilege of hearing it in person rather from the pages of a book.

Now there were questions asked in between, like a spot prize, where you were handed a copy of coffee table book on the maestro by his brother, getting the opportunity to meet him and be handed the book. One the question was about Carlos Ramos, and being a Serena Williams fan, I knew the answer. So there I had it, a once in a lifetime opportunity to share the stage and shake hand with someone way bigger than I will ever be. I guess I just smiled, albeit goofily, for the shutterbug. I knew I would be the envy of everyone in that room (I think I could see my friend Pankhuri trying to put a hex on me for getting to do what she wanted to do), as well as others who would get to know about it. And I was kind of excited for it, glad to be lucky enough to get the opportunity.

I would have loved to get it personally autographed by him, but didn’t want to go overboard and act like an over enthusiastic fan. I waited if they would allow us to get it signed. Alas that was not to happen. He was actually mobbed by quite many in the room, by selfie seekers and autograph seekers. So after clicking a group pic, I retreated to the back of the room. But I couldn’t loose that goofy grin that I wore since I stood on stage with him.

So in the end, was I convert, the answer is still no. But I have grown to respect the man more, to admire him a bit more, cause the opportunity gave me an insight to the man behind all the adulation, and it felt honest, felt true. So in the end I was grateful for the opportunity, a chance encounter of the envious kind, to the unlikeliest of souls.