Salutations to an octogenarian
A DEDICATION to a truly great man – M. Kandiah – who celebrated his 80th birthday recently.
The following is written in an unorthodox manner, in contrast to the typical orthodox person that he is.
Title: A Tribute to Mr Kandiah
Theme: Cricket
Flashback (mandatory, as in most Tamil films): Summer of 1968
Setting: A remote goldmining town in Pahang Event: Hi-tea (not T20 cricket) Occasion: The “sighting” of my sister (not the anak bulan), by Mr Kandiah, a Klang Crow
It was a very eventful tea, comparable to present-day T20 cricket, where Mr Kandiah was the first “ball” bowled over by the wit and charm of my sister.
From then on, as the Tamil song goes, it was all “Kaathal Crickettu Vilunthachu Wickettu, param pam-pam par rum, par rum pam pam ...”
Soon the smitten BS 7354 Love Bug came zooming to the goldmine town ever so often. I too looked forward to the visits as, along with them, came the buah tangan (mata kucing, to be precise), which ended up in my tangan most of the time.
And so, on Dec 9, 1968, Mr Kandiah married my sister and, in the process, helped complete the jigsaw puzzle, that is, to form a cricket team comprising 11 members, as my parents and their brood of eight were one man short.
Naturally, as my parents were the opening batsmen, my brother-in-law was tailor-made to fill the all-important one wicket down specialist batsman slot, similar to what Virat Kohli is to India.
Mr Kandiah has been a mainstay in our team, being ever so dependable, consistent and reliable. He played in an orthodox manner, with a straight bat – meaning, he did not take any undue risks. It was always a well-compiled and disciplined knock.
Mr Kandiah’s composure at all times gave confidence and assurance to the others batting together with him at the crease. Advising, inspiring and even counselling were his forte, just as MS Dhoni did for India.
When he was at the crease, he never did the reverse sweep nor the slog sweep crossbat shot, as there was always an element of risk involved.
My brother-in-law helped forge great partnerships with all my family members due to his charismatic personality, what more with an aura that transcended and radiated to all of us.
In cricket, when a batsman reaches the half-century milestone, there will be applause reverberating across the whole stadium. Now having reached the 80th mark, Mr Kandiah fully deserves another round of applause for a well-accomplished innings filled with discipline, devotion, dedication, application, commitment, perseverance and tenacity.
Well done and congratulations, Mr Kandiah! Great batsmanship! Brilliant innings! Keep the runs flowing. Cheers!
Happy 80th birthday, Mr Kandiah, husband to a caring and loving wife; father to four successful children who are always full of concern for you as well as conscientious and understanding daughterin-law; and Datuk to seven adorable grandchildren.
My salutations and cheers again!