A golden trip - literally

By V. V. Subrahmanyam

VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 23. It has been a strenuous journey with a big difference but worth remembering. For Pullela Gopi Chand, the All England badminton champion, it was gruelling and yet as satisfying as his odyssey in life which began in a remote village of Nagandla of Prakasham District.

If Birmingham saw the champion shuttler scale the summit of the game which only the legendary Prakash Padukone achieved, Gopi's maiden trip to his home district - turned out to be truly golden - literally.

For on April 20 in Chirala, where the three-day hectic schedule of felicitations began on his whirlwind tour to Prakasham, Guntur and Krishna districts, Gopi got the first feel of the warmth of the common man in this business centre. For once, one thought the entire municipality came to a standstill to welcome and acclaim a truly deserving champion.

Neither the blazing sun nor the congested lanes and bylanes deterred the man in the street to accord a hero's reception to the shuttler. That it took one hour, 15 minutes to complete the four km stretch from the ITC guest house to the Bharati Junior College was a fair indication of the huge turnout with an `keen' battle amongst them to garland the champion. And at the venue, the warmth and genuine love for the player was too discernible to ignore.

It was crowning glory for Gopi when the organisers felicitated him with a golden crown worth Rs 1.10 lakhs besides various mementoes. It is not just the cash and the gifts that mattered. It is the massive awareness about Gopi's feats.

Next was the long route to Inkollu. A place which should carve a niche for itself in badminton history for a full- fledged indoor stadium - named after Gopi Chand - is coming up thanks to the State Government. The Sports Minister, Mr.Tammineni Sitaram, was the guest of honour at the foundation-stone laying ceremony. The huge crowd that turned out resembled a prominent politician's meetings.

Then his nostalgic trip to his birth place - Nagandla. A sleepy village which came alive to the drum beating and bursting of crackers as the ace badminton star arrived in an open-top, flower-decked tractor. People lined up on either side showering petals to accord yet another rousing reception. The first thing he did on getting down was to meet his grandfather, 71-year-old Veeraiah Choudhary. When this retired postmaster was on duty in Muppavaram village, Gopi used to dabble with anything that was available on the streets, recall the elderly gentlemen there. ``We never thought that he would be back to this sort of welcome,'' they said. Gopi went into the house where he spent sometime in his childhood here.

In fact, every venue reverberated to thunderous applause as the motorcade of Gopi reached it. The big convoy included 24 cars besides many motorcyclists and included Mr.Balaram Krishnamurthy, MP, State Ministers J.Lakshmi Padmavathi, Tammineni Sitaram, District Collector Mr.Sunil Sharma to name a few. More than that, the response was seen to be believed - the villagers may not be aware of the rudiments of the game but did express their sentiments in a telling manner.

They enjoyed every moment of their encounter with the superstar. And the star in focus too responded right throughout in a polite, dignified manner, often wearing a disarming smile and waving to the crowds's delight. This despite, the organisers not bothering to provide any protection from the Sun in the open- top vehicles.

For, even the best of the sportspersons would be reduced to ordinary mortals after such a tiresome and gruelling schedule. Yet, Gopi didn't complain at any stage. For he knew in his hearts of hearts, these honours are as rare as the triumphs on international sporting front for an Indian.

He confesses that there is no point in complaining about the hectic schedule while on the one hand they keep telling that only cricketers are adored. For, he was stopped at almost village that the convoy passed through and was garlanded, posing for countless photographs. His refrain at all venues was predictable too - he will spend more time with them during his next visit.

A touching reception

Perhaps, the most touching reception was given by the young students of Jawahar Navodaya in Ongole. All the students sat on the floor and clapped in unison as Gopi walked upto the podium to be felicitated. The loud cheers at the indoor hall should have been music to him coming from such innocent and clean hearts.

A moment of realisation for the 27-year-old Gopi who switched over to Arts faculty on the advice of his grandfather when the former expressed serious doubts about his academics future. ``I just kept on drilling three ingredients to be a better human being - discipline, dedication and hard work. I am happy he combined all of them to reach this level,'' the old man recalls. ``We all knew he would be a champion in badminton for his commitment was unquestionable,'' he says to another query.

Only the numbers might have diminished as the journey reached Vijayawada via Ongole, Chilakaluripeta (arguably the most disorganised reception with no one there knowing who was amongst them), Guntur, where the function was the most colourful at the NTR Indoor Stadium in pleasant weather. In Blazewada, the scorching sun predictably kept the fans away and the response to the rally was lukewarm.

But, it was a fitting finale to this arduous sojourn, for Gopichand was felicitated at DRMC Indoor Stadium, where he won his first State title (under-14) in 1987 to send his first message to the badminton world. He went down memory lane even as the Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association, under the dynamic secretaryship of Punnaiah Choudhary felicitated him. The APBA presented a cheque of Rs.1 lakh, while other educational institutions also presented mementoes and cash awards like the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (Rs 1.11 lakhs), the Hydari Club (Ongole) (Rs 1 lakh). Conspicuous by their absence were the two coaches - S.M.Arif and Ganguly Prasad.

Yet, the inevitable question crops - where were all these gentlemen who are basking in the glory of Gopi when he badly needed a small sponsor to take care of his Asian circuit travel and participation in 1995.

His grandfather hit the nail on the head when he reminded that Gopi had to bank on his US-based brother Rajasekhar who sent him a knee-cap costing Rs.15,000. ``We didn't get financial assistance from anyone else then,'' he said. That was the phase only when Mr.Kailash Charan, a jeweller from Hyderabad, had the spirit to back this player to become the first sponsor for him. Who can dispute the fact that it is always easy to felicitate champions rather than producing one?

And, the big question - will Gopi's preparations for the next month's prestigious World Championship in Spain be adequate - will be answered in due course.

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