A new experience can be extremely pleasurable, or extremely irritating, or somewhere in between, and you never know until you try it out. Almost everyone remembers their first kiss, their first salary check, the first time they fell in love and, of course, the first time they had sex. Saturday 18th December was going to be my first time.. and for the sake of posterity and my old age, I’ve decided to archive the experience in cyberspace.
Its Saturday 11-30 AM and I am waiting opposite Fashion Street for Mustafa & Shayamal who are the conduits for my first experience. I’m equal-part nervous and equal-part excited. At the age of 31 years and 4 months, I’m finally going to do it. I’ve done the cyber version before but this was going to the real thing. The butterflies in my stomach flap faster. I feel like I do when I go for a job interview. I hope I would be able to perform. Mustafa arrives and signs me in. We head to the designated venue. I'm wondering if he can make out I'm a novice. He introduces me to Shayamal. I thank him for arranging this. He says no worries and that I’d have to wait for a bit. There’s a foursome going on in front of me that I’m only too delighted to sit back and watch. I ask Mustafa if I can take some pictures and he says it should be ok. In front of me, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna are playing a doubles set; Mahesh with 18 year old Shahbaaz Khan and Rohan with Purav Raja. I’m a few minutes away from doing my first live interview with a tennis player (make that players) - Mahesh and Rohan.
Let’s rewind to 24 hours ago. It’s a regular Friday morning at the bank. I’m multi-tasking; trying to wrap up work and planning the next couple of days. Which movie to watch, when to play tennis, how not to study for my exams in June - in short, my usual weekend. Subhash, the editor of Tennis India, calls and says he needs me to do him a favour. He's learnt that Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, India’s top doubles players, are training in Mumbai and he would be grateful if I could meet them for a quick interview the next day. I think “Are you kidding me?” I say, “Sure, I’d love to.” In all the years, I’ve been a tennis writer (actually, in the 5 months that I’ve been a tennis writer), I’ve always dreamed of interviewing a tennis player. I recently completed one with a current top 3 player but that was via email. This was going to be the real thing.
The modalities are fixed. I am to meet Mustafa Ghouse (former India Davis Cupper) at 11-30 AM the next morning at Bombay Gymkhana. In between work, I try to figure out how to record an interview. Dictaphones are out of style but thanks to Google, I learn of digital voice recorders. Soon, I also learn that none of the major electronic chains in Mumbai stock them. I finally track one Sony dealer in Fort who has what I need. Unfortunately, he would be shut by the time I reach home tonight and opens shutters only at 11 am the next morning. Too close for my comfort I’m thinking but I’m not sure if I have any alternatives. On my way back home, I discover my phone has a voice recording facility. At dinner with my friend Ami (name changed to protect identity), I record our conversation to test my phone. We do an impromptu version of Koffee with Karan (India’s most famous celeb chat show). I ask her questions in rapid fire succession – “Pooja or Himali” – “Jay or Suvir” – “What would you do if you woke up one morning next to Jay” (the answers to those shall go with me to my grave). In between eating dinner, watching and sleeping through the new Tron movie, sleeping some more and my early morning jog on Saturday; I managed to list down 15 questions for the interview. Subhash sent me some that he had in mind too.
I reach Bombay Gym before the appointed time. I'm equal-part nervous and equal-part excited. Mustafa arrives shortly. I shake his hands (the same hands that played Davis Cup for India). He signs me in and we head to the practice courts. I'm wondering if he can make out that I'm a novice. He introduces me to Shayamal Vallabhjee, a mental coach and fellow writer for Tennis India. I thank him for arranging this. He says no worries and that I’d have to wait for a bit. I take a seat on the side of the baseline. I take my camera out and take some pictures of Rohan, who is receiving serve at the far end. I turn to take some of Mahesh as he tosses the ball to serve. He catches the ball mid-air and stares in my direction. I’m not sure if it was me or something else in the same line of his vision but it’s enough for me to put my camera away.
There’s a practice doubles set going on - competitive and light-hearted at the same time. Rohan looks fitter than when I saw him last year. Mahesh as always looks fit. There’s lots of big serving from the two. Rohan’s serve is fast indeed. There are some spectacular rallies and some breathtaking volleys. During a long exchange, Rohan takes a ball mid-air and swings a forehand drive that finds the back of his partner. Everyone is laughing. Not his partner, Purav. The ball’s left a mark on his back. Some moments later, Mahesh is not too happy with the number of people passing by on the side of the court and shouts, “Is this a garden or a gateway where people just walk in and out whenever they feel like?” A little later, he also indicates to one of the coaches watching them that he is not too happy with his backhand return. During the next change of ends, Rohan asks one of the markers for his bottle of water. The marker picks up the one nearest to him and hands it over to Rohan. Rohan’s not sure if this is his bottle and does not want to risk using someone else’s bottle. He sternly asks the marker if he is sure that this is his bottle. The marker immediately runs and gets him a new one. About 40 minutes later, the set comes to an end. The players take a short break for water. Some kids and their parents have gathered for a fitness camp with Shayamal and the coach Mahesh was talking to. They start with some fitness drills. All four players join the drills too - running on the courts in a particular sequence. I’m guessing that it could be anytime now. Shayamal calls me over and introduces me to Mahesh & Rohan. I shake their hands (the same hands that have played for India in the Davis Cup). I go through my list of questions and my phone’s voice recorder works like a charm. Both players answered all the questions I had without any hang-ups (You’ll have to wait for the January issue of Tennis India for the actual interview) and also agreed to pose for a picture – one of the two of them and one with me. I thanked them for taking the time out. I also went up to Shayamal who was busy with some of the kids on court and thanked him for arranging this. I leave Bombay Gym with a big smile on my face. I call Subhash to share the experience and then like an excited adolescent, text some of my closest friends about my latest conquest. The first time was smooth and painless. I can’t wait for the next. I’m thinking about who I’d like it to be. I’d love to do Sania. I find her intriguing. But the ultimate fantasy remains Steffi. It’s funny.. I recently re-read Andre’s autobiography “Open” and it’s uncanny how the two of us feel exactly the same way about the same person.. “I was thunderstruck, dazzled by her understated grace, her effortless beauty. She looked, somehow, as if she smelled good. Also, as if she was good, fundamentally, essentially, inherently good, brimming with a moral rectitude and a kind of dignity that doesn't exist anymore. I thought I saw, for half a second, a halo above her head.. It feels like I've been chasing her all my life, and now I'm literally chasing her.”
There’s definitely something about experiencing something new for the first time. Saturday 18th December was the first time I did a live interview with a tennis player. At the age of 31 years and 4 months, I’ve finally done it. And I shall never forget it.
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