If you have the talent and fire, you’re unputdownable
LEGEND WRITES Former India skipper Dhanraj Pillay tells his younger self not to get blinded by the spotlight of fame
Dear me LETTER TO MY YOUNGER SELF Dear 14-year-old Dhanraj,
Did you get asked by that one teacher again why you bother coming to school? That’s been happening a lot, isn’t it? You’re not a studious kid. But those words hurt, don’t they? I know you’re upset. Seething. But trust me, fate has something bigger in store. Many years from now, there will be a chapter on you in textbooks. And you will get there because of hockey. Let me tell you how.
In the fishbowl that is Khadki, where you were born, you only have two options: you either go to work at the ammunition factory where your father works or seek employment elsewhere. Evenings in the sleepy town are to be spent playing carrom or trying to avoid trouble. But often in Khadki, trouble finds you.
Your elder brother Ramesh understands this. That is why he will make you come and stay with him in Mumbai in a couple of years. Ramesh is proof that even kids from Khadki can make it big. At first, it won’t seem like you can follow in his footsteps. There will be a day when the state’s hockey officials will laugh at you when you ask if you can make it to the India team.
But you put your head down and keep working hard. At 21, you will make your debut for India against China in the Asia Cup. Yes, you! The boy who grew up playing hockey on a dusty patch of ground in Pune. Then in a couple of months, you will be playing in the BMW tournament. India are playing Pakistan and you’re in the starting XI. This is it. Your turning point.
When you boarded the flight to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, it was a dream come true. At the Games Village, you are amid greatness. There’s the US basketball Dream Team and there’s Carl Lewis. It makes you expect more from yourself.
You’re still a wide-eyed youngster. Shy. The Olympic world is alien to you. But you find your place. You don’t just fit in, you belong. With the ball at your stick, you’re an artist. You catch everyone’s attention and the offers pour in from foreign clubs.
Lyon, wants you to play for them. The money is good. So you go to play there for three months. In Tony Fernandes, you find the teacher you never had. Under Tony, your fitness levels will go up. It is here that you develop your sudden burst of pace with the ball.
Back from Lyon, you are a changed man. Faster. Fitter. Hungrier. And it shows. At the 1994 World Cup, even though India finish fifth, you’re the only Indian to be picked for the World XI. But it is one year later, at the SA Games in Chennai, that you become a household name. You score a hattrick in India’s 5-2 win against Pakistan. You will never forget that moment.
But remember, the spotlight of fame can blind you. Don’t get carried away. When you are older, you will see players who are incredibly talented. You feel they could even replace you. But they don’t. They let attention get to their heads. And lose their way.
Truly yours, Dhanraj Pillay