(I did this piece in 2003)
“I LOVE playing at the
Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It has 90,000 people in the stands, with perhaps just three cheering for Australia.
Six years ago, we had just lost a match there against India. I was feeling
sorry for myself when I returned to my hotel room, where I found an invitation
to visit the children of leprosy patients. It sounded genuine to me,” recalls
Australian Test captain Steve Waugh, 38, in a live chat session with the head
honchos of industry and government at the ITC Hotel Windsor Sheraton and Towers
in Bangalore on August 18.
“I found Udayan, a
facility for 250 boys. I asked to visit their parents in the slum, where there
was no water, no electricity, no sewage clearance. I asked a woman there: ‘What
do you look forward to in life?’ She said: ‘Nothing.’ That shook me… My
daughter, one of our three children, was just six months old then. I wondered
why there were no girl children. I learnt that girls of six or seven often sold
their bodies to support their parents. That’s when I decided to raise the
$400,000 they needed to set up a facility for 80 girls. I keep going back to
visit them,” he confesses with a shy smile that belies his formidable
leadership record, and over 10,000 runs off his bat.
Waugh, up close and
conversational in an informal interview with star Indian athlete Ashwini
Nachappa, was participating in an evening sponsored by AMP-Sanmar life
insurance, an Indo-Australian venture for which he is the brand ambassador. It
was the first of the new Parikrma Humanity Foundation’s “Change Your World”
leadership series. The invitees included the crème de la crème of Bangalore’s
masters of business and industry ~ including Mohandas Pai of Infosys, Pratap
Thambuchetty of Capital One, Kalyan Ganguly of United Breweries, Chander Baljee
of Park Hotels, Subodh Bhargava of Eicher and Ashok Rao of ING Vysya Bank.
As Waugh faced over
after over of fast-paced questions from Nachappa, he emerged as a person in
touch with his own potential, responsive to the cries and whispers of the
underprivileged world. By the end of the session, he had earned the unqualified
admiration of even non-cricket buffs. To them, his 32 Test centuries and 162
Test caps since 1985 meant little. But they were bowled over by his tremendous
social commitment. “Udayan is a lifetime involvement for me. We’re planning to
start another facility for 200 needy children. We’re hoping to raise funds from
Indian and Australian corporate bodies,” adds Waugh. “There’s only so much you
need to live comfortably. If you have enough to spare, just money in your bank,
look beyond your offices.”
He seemed perfectly in
tune with Parikrma which, over the past four months since its inception, has
set up two schools at Yelahanka and Koramangala for orphaned, abandoned, street
and slum children, in a bid to create equal opportunities for them to realize
their dreams. Through a network of hub and satellite schools, it hopes to “take
full responsibility of a child until he/ she starts earning a living.”
The corporate majors
could take a cue or two from Waugh, whose tour diaries have become best-selling
books. When he began his cricket career, Australia was struggling to find its
form as a team. Today, there is no more formidable side. How come? “We believe
in strong motivation. As a team, we share the responsibilities,” Waugh mulls
over his words. “We have tremendous pride in performance. We’ve learnt to
appreciate the achievements of others. Partnerships are important, both on and
off the field. Each player is free to express themselves. But finally, cricket
remains a team game.”
What motivates Waugh
to play with equal passion as a 20-year-old drafted into the international
arena after just his second season in first-class cricket and as seasoned
captain, who led the Australian one-day side in 1997-98, then in 2001-02?
“Cricket has given me opportunities to meet different people, experience varied
cultures… When I scored just one run in my first match against India, I thought
I wouldn’t survive more than a couple of Tests. But I’m still here. That proves
anything is possible,” he answers. “I love competition. I still believe my best
innings will be the next one I play. That’s the great thing about sports. You
never know what’s coming next.”
As the audience
remained riveted by the stylish verbal cover drives and fluent hooks with which
Waugh treated Nachappa’s googlies, they were offered insights into captaincy
strategies by a man lauded for his performances under pressure. Remember his
breathtaking battles against West Indies pacer Courtney Ambrose? Or his twin
centuries against England at Old Trafford in 1997? Or even his blood-and-guts
120 against South Africa in a must-win match at the 1999 World Cup? “It’s all
about putting pressure on the opposing team, perhaps through body language. We
do make mistakes, but we’d like to be remembered as a great team. The current
team is very well-behaved,” Waugh smiles, dismissing media hype about sledging.
Could corporate home truths be summarized more pithily?
Despite his track
record, Waugh’s personality remains low-key, almost media-shy. Yet, the person
within the Test captain since 1999 and 1989 Wisden Cricketer of the Year
encompasses an uncompromising player, who treats both victory and defeat with
the philosophical nonchalance their transience deserves.
A Parikrma school
child tosses a question at Waugh off a huge video screen: “Steve anna,
how can I become a cricketer like you?” The cricket star dwells on the
importance of nurturing dreams, of aiming for the stars. “I once took classes
at a teachers’ college, dabbled in music and drama, and a part-time job. But at
the end of it, I found myself full-time in professional cricket. I’ll always be
associated with cricket in some way,” confesses Waugh, who once wrote an inspirational
poem for his team.
Parikrma Founder-CEO
Shukla Bose’s introduction to “making hope work” for 400 children through their
schools, ensuring 98 per cent attendance, found a responsive chord within
Waugh. “Steve is the captain of one of the world’s best cricket teams. Our
audience comprises captains of the corporate world,” she noted. “This event is
all about sharing leadership qualities. And acknowledging that it’s time to
give a little of what we have to others who are not so fortunate.” Or the first steps towards changing our
collective world.
And so, Waugh urged
the corporate assemblage: “Get out your cheque books. Help the children out
there.”
As an auctioneer
called for bids on a large canvas done by the Parikrma kids at a workshop with
Bangalore artist Milind Nayak, a pony-tailed hotelier-businessman offered Rs.
1.10 lakhs for the cause. Matching his words with spontaneous affirmative
action, Waugh offered an autographed bat for auction. And a CEO, who chose to
remain anonymous, won it with a bid of Rs. 1 lakh.
What’s left to say of
an encounter with an individual equally inspired on and off the field, who
seems to have mastered the art of living? Waah, Waugh!
(The Hindu Business Line, 2003)
Very great captain ...Steve waugh..
ReplyDelete