The Crazy Fan

God of cricket implies “Sachin Tendulkar”.

A fan of this God is “Sudhir Kumar Gautam”.

Sudhir Kumar loves not a girl but the game of cricket to the point of craziness! Even these days, he is seen on any match that is broadcast on TV with his body painted in tricolor and hands waving a big tricolor.

I have never been interested in cricket, although I was sure to be staring at the TV screen each time there was an India-Pakistan match and it was in these moments perhaps, that I had spotted Sudhir Kumar with his face painted on the TV screen.

During the days that we were staying in Kolkata, it was my husband’s perpetual rant that I had never accompanied him to the stadium to witness a game of the Indian team.

To tell you frankly, I never liked the idea of going to the stadium. I got greater joy sitting under the shade of a tree in a park and writing something. In fact, I was happier bracing through the hot, sticky weather and skimming through a book.

Yes, I am very fond of travelling. Even as part of my job, there is that much travel that I need to do every now and then. My husband was also accompanying me on my trip this time. We were on our way to attend a wedding at Dhanbad.

The Howrah Rajdhani Express was just about to leave when a man came hurriedly and sat beside us. Three or four persons were bidding him farewell from across the coach window, their faces stuck to the glass.

My husband whispered, “Do you recognize him?”

Looking at the person attentively, I replied in the negative.

My husband was shaking hands with him and asking, “You are Sudhir Kumar, right? The fan of Sachin Tendulkar’s”? I am IRTS….”

The man eagerly responded and shaking his hands replied, “Yes”.

What else could one expect next? Nuggets of cricket started getting exchanged between the two cricket lovers.

I was seeing Sudhir Kumar without paint for the first time. He was lean, thin with a personality that was simple and gentle.

Due to a lack of knowledge about cricket, I did not hijack their conversation.

But I was taken aback when I saw Sudhir Kumar's passion for cricket.

Sudhir Kumar, who hails from Muzaffarpur, had quit three jobs to ensure his presence in every match. To avoid missing the sixth one-day match between India and Pakistan at Delhi, he even tore off his interview letter.

He noted that in the India-Australia and New Zealand series in the year 2003, the India-Australia match was scheduled for 1^st ofNovember. On 8^th of October he left his home and cycled all the way to reach Mumbai on the 24th of October.

That was when he breached the security to reach Sachin and touch his feet when he arrived to attend an event.

Sachin invited him over to his house the next day and offered him a meal. He also gave him a pass for the next one-day match. Sudhir informed him that since he had been busy attending matches, he had missed being a part of his brother and sister's wedding ceremonies.

During the World Cup that India won, Sachin had personally invited him to the dressing room to join in the celebrations and also gave him a chance to lift the World Cup. He narrated that to date he had watched 204 One Day and 40 Test matches, 43 IPL, and 17 T-20 matches. He had  been awarded the "Global Fan Award".

In order to finance his expenses, he does some odd private jobs or works in some events. This time around, his friend from Delhi will sponsor his trip to attend the World Cup.

He mentioned that his family was eager that he gets married but he was not agreeable to it. He said that his life was totally dedicated and he could think of nothing but cricket.

Many a time, in his eagerness to meet Sachin on the field when he had breached the security and was caught, Sachin’s intervention got him free.

He considers Sachin as God. This time I did not say a word in the entire four-hour trip, just kept on listening. His craze for cricket kept getting me more and more amazed.

The junction was about to arrive. He asked my husband Dev to send him a friend’s request on Facebook but could not accept the same when Dev sent the request. He informed us that he had five thousand friends on his list. He then removed a contact from the UAE and included my husband Dev in the list.

The train stopped at Dhanbad station and we took leave from Sudhir Kumar.

My husband was speechless when I first expressed to him my interest to watch the IPL at Eden Garden.

“Since when have you got interested in cricket”?

I smiled quietly. I had wanted to watch that painted "super fan" waving the tricolor! I had already become a fan of that “super fan" of Team India.

THE END

Courtesy Dr Lakshmi Vaideeswaran

एकदीवानगी 

★★★★★ 

© Rupa Bhattacharya

 https://storymirror.com/read/story/hindi/r2g15s7n/ek-diivaangii/detail

जिंदगीयात्रासमर्पित