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| WITH RENOWNED CRICKET WRITER/ JOURNALIST MR SUNANDAN LELE. |
Once I knew that I would not be able to play cricket at any
level, there was always this burning ambition/ desire to be associated with
cricket in some form or the other. I have since dreamt of becoming a cricket
writer/ blogger. I have been writing
cricket blogs with little or no success for the past 3 years. I have always wanted
somebody to help me channelize this immense love and passion for cricket
writing. With the boom of the social media like Facebook and Twitter
especially since the past 5 years, to
select a topic for a cricket article which is unique has been the most
difficult challenge for budding bloggers
like me. I have desperately wanted to meet a successful cricket writer/
freelance journalist. Who better than to
meet up with Mr Sunandan Lele who happens to hail from my hometown Pune.
.
I wanted to meet Mr Lele for several reasons, since meeting such a
veteran journalist would be an enriching experience for me. I have been reading
his articles and enjoyed his style of writing and his take on various
contentious issues which have been refreshingly different from the mundane
stuff you get to read every now and then. Secondly I had already attended his
show ‘12 GAVACHA PANI’ in on 21st august 2010 in Pune which he had hosted along with famous cricket commentator/ host Harsha
Bhogle and Vikram Satheye. I had just
enjoyed his style of presenting his various experiences on visiting tours to
different countries, where he talked about how the cricketing culture of fans
and supporters was so different in every country which he had visited. Somehow
that show struck a chord with me and therein was this desire to wanting to know
this person on a more personal level. And it all started about a month ago on
23rd august, some days after a disastrous 3-1 test drubbing in
England , when I was sitting pensive in my room and I just thought of sending a
mail to Mr Sunandan Lele, a very well renowned sports writer/ freelance
journalist seeking an appointment with
him I also sent him some of my articles and photographs with famous cricketers
and one of my pics with him as well. To my utter shock and surprise, Mr Lele
responded within minutes of my mail stating that he was in England and on
coming back to Pune he would meet me in the second week of September. Just a
reply from him was more than enough for me to be on cloud 9 and I told this thing
to my parents and my family members.
Meanwhile I was waiting for the
second week of September, when on 24th September finally I again
tried to send him a mail ( read a gentle
reminder ) this time while sending the mail I was nervous as I thought he would
be feeling irritated on my reminder
mail. Nevertheless I mustered all my courage and sent him a mail and again
within minutes he replied stating that we would be meeting at ‘WADESHWAR’ a famous south Indian
restaurant/ eatery. I was getting jittery as to how he would be responding to
me when I finally do meet up. The day 25th September arrived which
happened to be ‘GHATASTHAPANA’ an auspicious day for all Hindu people. I
prepared my compilation of articles and keeping one eye on the watch finally
completed my work at 2 o clock in the afternoon. Once I reached home at 4 in
the afternoon, I just sent him a mail regarding a final confirmation of time. Again
true to Mr Lele’s prompt style of feedback, he replied in Marathi “ TU SHARP 5PM LA F C ROAD VAR CHYA WADESHWAR
LA YE”. This meant I had to reach Wadeshwar our meeting point at sharp 5
pm. I was getting even more nervous and accompanied by my cousin Akshay, we
decided to reach Wadeshwar at 4:45pm before the stipulated time. We reached Wadeshwar beating the ever
irritating city traffic at 4:47. We took 10 minutes to prepare for what we were
going to converse with him as we knew that it would be a brief meet and we had
to be absolutely precise and had no scope for a goof up.
We were standing at the main gate of
Wadeshwar and true to his punctual style
Sunandan sir walked in sharp at 5
pm. Me and my cousin were dumbfounded and were looking at each other just as
Sunandan sir said “ CHAL PIYUSH” patting his hand on my back. We finally settled down on
one of the tables after the handshakes. He asked us “KAI KHANAR KI KAI PINAR “ (
what would we prefer to eat or drink.)
Just watching him in front of us was one of the most unforgettable moments
of my life and I kid you not I was wanting my cousin to pinch myself. You can
call us whatever you wish but the bottom line was we were overawed by his
presence. But by his sheer demeanour and style of talking put us at absolute
ease. After ordering APPE (a south Indian dish) and hot cup of tea, we started
our conversation.
We introduced ourselves and I told him of my
passion for cricket and how i loved to
write about the sport. Me and my cousin
were realizing that we were speaking a tad too fast but again to Mr Lele’s
credit he just calmly replied “TU BOL RE
“(you just speak whatever you want to). He was quite relaxed and I have not met
any renowned person who has given us so much time and we were pleasantly
surprised at his demeanour. He gave us valuable tips as to how to approach
writing and offered his advice as to how to focus on how to write on non ventured fields on which
very few people would have written. We both were just listening to his pearls
of wisdom and imbibing them ever so keenly. I even asked him about how his tour of England
was and in his inimitable style he replied “CRICKET SODUN UTKRUSHTA” (wonderful besides the cricketing part.) Finally it was time for our photo session and
typical of the man he again agreed to click several photos with us unlike to other
celebrities who do not even bother to look in the camera or are in a lot of
hurry. Mr Lele was sitting patiently amidst the photo sessions when it came to
clicking the 3 of us (Sunandan sir myself and Akshay), somebody had to click
the camera in order for the 3 of us to come together in a photo and Mr Lele in
Marathi just told one of the hotel employees “CHAL RE TU FAKTA CLICK KAR KI RE”
(telling him just to click the camera.)
After half an hour of spending time with the respected man, it was time
for us to leave (though we did not wish to leave) I gave him a small gift as
token of his courtesy and graciousness.
. While leaving also when my cousin was hurriedly packing the camera and other
stuff in his sack, he left the chain of the sack open and Mr Lele just
exclaimed “TE BAG BAND KAR KI RE “(close
the chain of the sack properly.)
We both were dumbfounded and bowled over by
his sheer courteous and gracious behaviour. I have never met such a celebrity who has had
the ability to make novices like us feel so comfortable and at ease. SUNANDAN
SIR, we are truly indebted to you for being gracious enough to meet us amidst
your busy schedule and putting us at complete ease and making us feel so
comfortable. It has been truly one of the most memorable and cherished evenings
spending time with a humble person like you.
I am also very thankful to you for sharing your experiences with us
regarding writing cricket articles and helping me channelize my passion for
writing.
“SUNANDAN SIR TUMHALA AAMCHA MANACHA MUJRA”
