The Hindu : Sport : Anand arrives to boisterous welcome

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Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007
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Sport

Anand arrives to boisterous welcome

Rakesh Rao

President Pratibha Patil gives audience to the new World champion

— Photo: V. Sudershan

PROUD MOMENT: Viswanathan Anand shows his World chess championship trophy to President Pratibha Patil, as wife Aruna looks on, at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan on Monday.

NEW DELHI: World champion Viswanathan Anand has seen enough mess in the chess world. But it is to the credit to this smiling champion that he makes his point without getting too animated about it.

Anand’s reaction was no different when he witnessed the chaos that reigned at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on arrival from Frankfurt past midnight of Sunday.

Anand’s infectious smile remained in place right through the 30 minutes he spent getting pushed and pressed by his fans, a vast majority of them being NIIT students, employees, and faculty members.

Once Anand stepped out of the arrival lounge in the company of NIIT’s Rajender Pawar, among others, the waiting NIIT brigade took control. Some others were trying desperately to get Anand’s autographs.

The waiting media realised that they had no real chance of getting anywhere close to the champion. The still photographers and cameramen had to muscle their way through the “cordon” to get a good frame.

Welcoming party

Anand occasionally waved at the “crowd,” shook some of the stretched hands and finally made his way to the waiting car where wife Aruna had already taken her place. Finally, the car was allowed to move by the boisterous brigade.

A busload of players and officials from the Delhi Chess Association, led by Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan, who is also the Treasurer of the All India Chess Federation, was part of the welcoming party. But, barring Mr. Chauhan, no one managed to get anywhere close to Anand.

Not having got a chance to speak to the waiting media at the airport, Anand graciously accommodated requests for quick ‘bytes’ from the news channels at the hotel and finally retired to bed at 3 a.m. As is his wont, Anand was not complaining when quizzed about the reception at the airport. “I was really touched to see many people who came at a pretty late hour. It was nice, the welcome was warm and I have no complaints,” Anand told The Hindu on Monday afternoon.

When asked for his views on the chaos that followed his arrival, Anand said, “in their (NIIT students) defence, I can say that they were too excited. Their enthusiasm was understandable. It wasn’t so bad, after all,” he said before heading for a FM station for a live show.

Anand thrilled

Later in the evening, President Pratibha Patil gave an audience to Anand and Aruna. “It is thrilling every time to walk into Rashtrapati Bhawan,” Anand said about the visit.

“The President was very gracious. She seemed to have followed the event (World championship) closely. But she was curious to know how many hours we play, how we prepare for the games and study our opponents. I said we study the body language of our opponents, what he did play or did not play in the past and things like that. It was nice to be asked so many questions (by the President),” said Anand before getting prepared for the last two engagements of the day.

Anand is in the Capital until the morning of October 17 before heading home to Chennai. He and Aruna are due to be felicitated by the NIIT in the Indian Institute of Technology campus on Tuesday. He is scheduled to address a press conference also on Tuesday.

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