Alvida Bish!

In 1985, Sports Authority of India (SAI) announced their first month-long coaching camp in Cricket with Bishan Singh Bedi as the coach for the youth, under 16 and under 19. Father was in department of telecom and posted in Meerut. Satya was in school and I was in undergrad program. As the coaching camp was in the summer break, Satya and I persuaded our parents to send us to Delhi, for the trials. I was an 18 year old and Satya was 14 and parents relented finally as one of father’s friends was living alone in Atul Grove Road, in Delhi and he said we can live with him at his one bedroom apartment if we get selected for the camp.

I was the care taker and guardian for Satya, as much as myself, as we boarded the bus to come to Delhi and participated in a 2 day selection process. At the end of the selection process, Satya made it to the list of 30 selected, and I was not in the top 30.

We convinced parents, saying that it is a great opportunity for Satya to be coached by Bish at the National Stadium, New Delhi, under the Aegis of SAI. Since, Satya was very young to live alone in the new city of Delhi, and it being summer vacations, I stayed with Satya at our ‘uncle’s place in Atul grove road.

It was a grueling summer camp with about 6-7 hours of coaching at the National Stadium, and we were to fend for ourselves, cooking for ourselves and also for the uncle, and cleaning the uncle’s place. We used to walk down those 5-6 kms to the stadium for the camp every day. While Satya was busy with the cricket camp, I became part of a group of athletes, many national athletes, and a few veterans who used to practice inside the national stadium. Asiad happened in Delhi in 1982, and I am talking about 1985, and the national stadium was the hub of Hockey and we used train with the Indian hockey team members along with other visiting teams too.

I used to invest time with the Bish’s cricket camp, with Satya serious involved in under 16 practice and I used to be involved in the periphery of the camp. We used to have regular interaction with Bish about our struggles in Delhi, staying alone. Bish became very fond of Satya as he was an amazing leg spinner and a decent bat. In 1985, India won the Benson and Hedges world championship of cricket that had just happened in Australia and India won that trophy, with a young Lakshman Sivaramakrishnan bagging a bagful of wickets, and came to the international limelight.

Satya’s action was very similar to Siva’s and Satya became very popular in the camp, and Bish took special interest in him. There were a few articles too published in Newspapers as the next Siva spotted in the Bish’s camp.

Bish was a real task master, and he used to set high standard of physical fitness, by being a great example. I still remember he used to have 3kg weights (sand filled) strapped to his ankles and used to run with us. He must have been about 39-40 year old then, and his fitness regimen was excruciating.

At the end of the one month camp, he was keen that Satya and I shifted to Delhi. I had just graduated and Satya was getting into class 9. Bish spoke to parents and convinced them, that for the bright future of Satya, we must be in Delhi and be regulars at the National Stadium, and promised that he would take care of Satya’s education along with his Cricket. He made sure that Satya got admission in a very good school in Delhi. I still recall Bish driving his car all the way to the school in Ashok Vihar, with us to finish the admission process….

Thus started our relationship with Bish and his initiation of our relationship with Delhi ….

I still recall a few visits to his home in Panchseel park then, Anju madam took care of us on our visits, and Angad was a chubby young school going boy then…

When the news came today of the demise of Bish, I felt really sad and Satya and I re-lived our memories with Bish that started about 40 years ago…

Bish was an amazing human being, good at heart, and he lent his facilitating and mentoring hand to many many bright youngsters who were talented but could not afford to pursue their passion of playing cricket….. During that camp, there were many youngsters who later went on to represent India in cricket…

When we went for higher studies – Satya to Stephens and IIMB, and I went to JNU and IIMB, he used to tell father, that he had never come across youngsters like us who pursued education as passionately as cricket and other sports. He used to say, it is all in the upbringing and south Indian Values. After we founded Career Launcher, he continued to invite Satya mostly, to interact with Angad and Neha, as they were finding their feet in their professional pursuits.

The newspaper articles from 1985 talking about Satya and Gagan Khoda

He even inaugurated the cricket academy at our Indus World School Gurgaon campus in 2013, a couple of decades later. Here are a few pics from that occassion… Here is the link to the article that I wrote then