After teenage sensation, Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s mind blowing, record breaking century in the RR vs GT’s IPL T-20 match just a few days back, there was a poser ‘Where were you at the age of 14 ?’ just to remind us how some of our prodigiously talented young can operate in another stratosphere, thanks to new opportunities, manifold support systems and growing commerce in sports, specially enhancing cricket to a blue-blooded status.
Seniors will have a pretty staid answer to the question posed- like normal kids we were in school studying (hard or hardly, it matters little) but mostly playing with classmates sans smart phones & app games. However, a certain ‘cricket obsession’ existed then too and most of us played cricket in our college field wielding wooden chair backs broken as bats & with tennis balls during lunch intervals & gully cricket on holidays. In the 1960-70s, no system existed for purchasing a prodigy’s cricketing skills in an auction bidding for a thousand bucks, forget tens of millions that today’s IPL owners lavish on ‘winnable’ prospects. Sports and even ‘divine game’ cricket, wasn’t a viable job option that parents could urge their kids to pursue, barring the ‘sports quota’ available to few select players.
Flashbacking, in Class X at age 14, I recall doing reasonably well in both studies and in hitting square cuts but having some brilliant geeks as friends focused on pure academics & one couldn’t get left far behind in class. One genius actually came up with a scientific invention based on ‘physics’ leaving teachers in awe and earning applause. Yet, many (including me) dreamed of becoming batsman of class watching the phenomenal rise of ‘little masters’ Sunny & Vishy in 1969-70. Our parents were sports lovers & indulgent to our passions as long as we labored enough to become engineers/doctors/civil servants that ensured respectability in terms of family tradition, pride and marital prospects !
As it happens, in school there always existed a ‘different kettle of fish’ who were wild and ‘bohemian’ in outlook indulging in irritating teachers, bunking classes and smoking pot. One of the most interesting incidents of our time was when three of our classmates were reported missing from school & were certainly not at home. When they didn’t return till night, a search was launched by the influential parents and the local police tracked them to discover that they had boarded a train to Mumbai to become actors ! At that time it was all quite sensational, we now hear similar ‘struggler’ stories from successful stars !
It’s universally emotive bringing back happy memories when reminiscing school days of playful exuberance & precociousness with an innocence that hadn’t got vitiated in a pre-digital era. Few decades ago, pressure of unrealistic expectations, ‘being the best’ and of making it big, wasn’t so intense ! As a 60’s song cries ‘Koi lauta de mere beete hue din..’ !
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