The wrists of steel that so many times wrested the initiative for India couldn’t stay hidden for long. They kept peeping out from under an elegant grey suit. Nor could they be kept under wraps by a gown, scarf and insignia, topped up by a hood.
“As I walked up the steps to the dais, I felt I was making my debut,” said V.V.S. Laxman. “I felt the flow of nervous energy like when I was going out to face the mighty South Africans in 1996,” said the batting stylist shortly after he was awarded an honorary doctorate by The Energy and Research Institute (TERI) Chancellor and environmentalist Dr. R.K. Pachauri on Wednesday evening.
“I dedicate this degree to my parents,” he declared. Present were Dr. V. Shantaram and Dr. Satyabhama, the physicians who nursed his career to greatness. “Like my parents I dreamt of becoming a doctor. My goal was always to become like them. They have always been my role models,” he said in grateful tribute.
When at the critical juncture, aged 17, came the dilemma of whether he should play cricket or pursue medicine, the parents gave him the freedom to decide. “My paternal grandfather Jagannath Sastry, who taught me the Bhagvad Gita, introduced me to the concept of Nishkama Karma.
“Do your work without thinking about the fruits of your action,” he’d urged. “Both my dreams have been realised, of playing for the country and of becoming a doctor,” said Laxman, otherwise an arts graduate in public administration, sociology and political science.
“There was a plan to pursue a degree in medicine after my cricket career. But that was dropped because that would mean six more years of sacrifice by the family,” he told The Hindu after the convocation.
