Boria Majumdar
Great champions are all about humility. And it is a quality that is passed on across generations. D Gukesh is no different. Since he won the World Chess Championship, we had been planning an interview. In fact, the exchange was on with his father, Dr Rajnikanth. We did not want to do a two-minute news interview. That was already done in Singapore, so the idea was to go deeper and do a proper celebration. Dr Rajnikanth had suggested that he’d message the moment they settled down in Chennai, and had a breather from the celebrations. And true to his word, he sent me a message on Wednesday evening suggesting we do the interview, as Gukesh had an evening window and it would be good if we recorded immediately.
With my Ravichandran Ashwin special show just done, the plan worked to perfection and we fixed the interview for 7pm. While it is now known what Gukesh’s mother had told him that she wanted him to be a better human being than a chess player, it was only fair that I asked him about his parents. And when he echoed his mother’s sentiments, I reminded him that someone else had said the very same words to me during the writing of Playing it My Way. The moment I mentioned it, his eyes lit up. “I have read Playing it My Way and have read this quote many times,” said Gukesh. “I know what Sachin Sir’s father told him.”
There is an invisible bond. One that binds champions across generations. From Sachin to Gukesh, the tradition continues.
As the interview went on, and I asked him about the bungee-jumping story, I sensed Gukesh relax. “You all know the bungee-jumping story by now,” he said. “I have to tell you it was scary, but cool as well. I have forever been very scared of heights. So much so I wouldn’t even climb a ladder for I was scared of falling. Doing bungee jumping was also a way to overcome fear. And I must say it helped.”
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Within a second, I was taken back to another great Indian champion and what he had said to me. “Just ahead of Beijing 2008, I climbed the lamp post in Germany to overcome fear,” Abhinav Bindra told me. “Each one of us has a fear of failure. It was a German military drill and they would climb the lamp pole fairly easily. I decided to do it and did so without anything tied to my waist. So, in case I fell, I could even die. Halfway into it, I looked down and must say was scared. But I did not stop. And when I managed to climb to the top of the pole, I sensed the top was like a pizza box. I had overcome my fear.”
Yet again, two champions had come together for me. I mentioned Abhinav to Gukesh, and again, he was off in a flash. “I know the pizza pole story,” he said with a huge smile.
Bindra is coming to the Trailblazers Conclave, and you will meet him for sure in March, I mentioned. “That would be just fantastic,” said Gukesh. “Abhinav Sir, [Viswanathan] Anand Sir, Gopi [Pullela Gopichand] Sir – they are legends of our sport. Would be an honour.”
Champions and humility – the story continues.
Watch the interview on RevSportz at 12 noon today.
Also Read: Gukesh won the world championship because of his attitude – Viswanathan Anand