A meeting with the legendary Prakash Padukone

As I entered his residence office, on the centre table lay the book of famous badminton player and eight-time All-England Champion Rudy Hartono. Well, this wasn’t a surprise as Prakash Padukone has many times said that Hartono was his idol and old-timers would recall that Padukone had defeated his idol in the finals of the Swedish Open in 1980.

Pretty soon, the man himself, India’s first All-England champion Padukone came in. He went inside his room as I waited for the instructions from his staff. After a few minutes, I was called in. The purpose of my visit was to present a copy of my book on the Indian spin quartet ‘Fortune Turners’ to him.

The original star of Indian badminton had provided me inputs for the book from his growing up days in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). Out of the spin quartet, he was particularly close with Erapalli Prasanna, while Sunil Gavaskar was his favourite cricketer. In fact, he was and still is a cricket buff. Although, now with the amount of cricket being played, he watches only selected matches.

When I gave him the book, he didn’t just give a cursory glance or look at the pictures. Instead, he spent the next few minutes flipping through multiple pages. Post that, he kept the book on the table and inquired about me.

Over a cup of tea, we discussed various things, none of which was about his game or greatness. If anyone would have overheard the conversation, it would sound like a normal one between two average Indians. Such was his humility, that any reference to his greatness would be dealt just with a smile. It was as though he was playing a gentle drop shot at the net and soon the topic would be changed.

“Not really, but I do play squash just to keep myself fit.

Of course, given my limited knowledge about badminton, I didn’t have much to offer there. But what struck me was the level of comfort that he put me in while discussing normal things. He asked me, “Do you play any game?

To this, I said that on weekends, I did play badminton or tennis, although not at any high level. With words of encouragement, he said that irrespective of the level one plays at, sports is important to keep one fit.

Prakash Padukone receiving an award from Sunil Gavaskar. Picture Courtesy - Sportstar Magazine

He further asked me about the place where I played badminton and said that the various badminton clubs that have come up in the city are good for sports. He reminisced that during his time, the city had very few places to play badminton. That is another reason that I really admire the sporting greats of the by-gone era.

For, they took up any sport just for the love of it. None of the sports in the 1970s or 1980s could guarantee you financial security in India and it was the love for the sport that brought about a lot of accolades.

Given his physique even at this age, I was curious to know if he still played badminton. “Not really, but I do play squash just to keep myself fit,” he stated in response. I then requested him for a few autographs on his photos and poster from the Sportstar magazine. Before I left, he obliged to click a selfie with me and agreed for a photo with the cabinet of some of his trophies in the background.

“Best Dad Ever”

While stepping out of his room, I observed a showpiece on his table reading “Best Dad Ever” and was reminded about the letter that he had written to his daughters some time back. He probably did value this trophy as much as he valued the ones he received courtesy of his heroics on the badminton court.

At the end of the meeting, I was pleased and could only admire the man for his humbleness. I knew that this was a meeting which I would cherish forever.