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AK Seshakumar is no more

AK Seshakumar is no more

Seshakumar (Sesha) K. Aragam passed away peacefully on Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at the age of 93 surrounded by his close family.

Sesha was born to Krishna Rao and Gouramma Aragam on July 18, 1930 in Bangalore, India, the eldest of nine children.  He was married to the late Prema Aragam for 51 years until her passing in 2012.

Sesha studied at B.M.S. College of Engineering in Bangalore and received his Masters in Business Administration from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India.  His professional journey spanned 48 years, including managerial roles with Hindusthan Machine Tools and Central Machine Tools.  His work took him to places near and far, including a one-year collaboration in Paris, France, for which he learned both French and German. He immigrated to the United States in 1981 where he worked for IBM, MIT, and served as CEO for VNS America, a computer hardware company in Marlboro, MA.

While an engineer by profession, Sesha’s true passions were in sports and the arts.  He played both cricket and softball in college and was an active member of the Mysore State Cricket Association serving as umpire and official scorer for various league and international matches.

A talented painter, he was the premier Rangoli (colored sand) artist in Bangalore, creating large portraits of prominent scientists such as Albert Einstein for the city’s Science Exhibition.  A versatile actor, he took lead roles in several stage productions in Bangalore like MacBeth, My Three Angels, and The Teahouse of the August Moon. In his later years, Sesha continued to draw and paint whenever inspiration struck.  In addition, he actively nurtured a passion for the arts among those around him, often inspiring them to explore their own creative talents.

Sesha shared a close bond with his siblings and is survived by Lakshmi (late Nagaraj), Subramanya, Saroja, Padma (late Satya), Nagabhushana, Gopalakrishna (Jayashri), and Uma (Krishna), and many adoring nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. He was predeceased by his next born, Parvati as an infant and loving youngest sister Pushpavalli (Jagannath).

A funeral service to honor Sesha’s life was  held on Friday, February 9, 2024 at Rural Cemetery, 180 Grove Street, Worcester, MA at 11:00 AM, followed by cremation.

The cricketers I have met during my long journey of fifty five years as a scorer-cum-statistician

The cricketers I have met during my long journey of fifty five years as a scorer-cum-statistician

During my 55 years of cricket journey –from 1968 to 2023,  I have met the following Indian test cricketers and interacted them. I was indeed very lucky to have the autographs of few cricketers on their test career chalked out by me. MJ Gopalan, PR Umrigar, HR Adhikari, L Amaranath, ML Jaisimha, MAK  Pataudi, FM Engineer, CT Sarwate, BP Gupte, EAS Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar, GR Viswanath, BP Patel ,SMH Kirmani, S Venkataraghavan, SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, J Srinath, A Kumble, Shivlal Yadav, AM Mankad, Raghuram Bhat, GR Sunderam, VG Kambli, P Amre, L Rajput. CS Pandit, BS Bedi, CPS Chauhan, M Amaranath, M Azharuddin, K Srikkanth, Kapil Dev, V Merchant. VL Manjrekar, SV Manjrekar, P Mhambrey, VVS Laxman, CK Nayudu, CD Gopinath, HT Dani, JM Ghorpade, P Roy, AG Kripal Singh, VL Mehra, RG Nadakarni, CG Borde, RB Desai, VM Muddaiah, SA Durani, AG Milkha Singh, Hanumant Singh, SM Gavaskar, AL Wadekar, HK Jayantilal, Arshad Ayub, MSK Prasad, S Madanlal, AD Gaekwad, DB Vengsarkar, Bharat Reddy, RMH Binny, STR Binny, J Arunlal, TE Srinivasan, L Sivaramakrishnan, TAP Sekar, NS Sidhu, M Prabhakar, CS Sharma, WV Raman, SA Ankola, V Razdan, SLV  Raju, AS Wassan, SB Joshi, BKV Prasad, SC Ganguly, Ghulam Parkar, DJ  Johnson, Dodda Ganesh, Robin Singh, RV Bharadwaj, RR Powar, A Mithun, R Vinay Kumar, KL Rahul, KK Nair, MA Agarwal, Ajay Ratra, AA Baig, V Subramanya, Yashpal Sharma, DG Phadkar, RC Shukla, VV Kumar, VB Chzndrasekhar and Ravi Shastry and  a few others

I had also met PBH May and was lucky to have coffee with him during a Test match while I was working in Madras. Other visiting cricketers I have met are – Hanif Mohammad, John Wright. Desmond Haynes, Alvin Kallicharran, Rohan Kanhai, Garry Sobers, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Ian Bishop, Ramiz Raja, Donald Kerr, Arjun Ranatunga. M Jayawardene,  Russel  Arnold, John Reid, Danny Morrison, Ali Bacher, Kepler Wessels, Bobby Simpson,  Raman Subba Rao, Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, David Gower, Barry Richards.

Amongst the first-class cricketers on the Indian domestic cricketers I have met are – Vinay Lamba, Venkat Sundaram, V Ramanarayan, his brother Sivaramakrishnan, B Raghunath, BS Viswanath, CB Prasannasimha Rao, CR Lasminarayan, Captain K Thimmappaiah, AV Venkatanarayuan, SK Tarapore, Yere Gowda, Carlton  Saldhana, Sanjay Desai, YB Patel, MR Patel, PR Ashokanand, AS Krishnaswamy, CJ Ramdev, Safi Darashah, Vijaya Prakash, Siddarama, AV Jayaprakash,AV Jagannath, Najam Hussain, KR Rajagopal, Kastuirangan, K Sriram, P Mukund, K Srinivasan Balaji, HS Puttakempanna, PV Shashikanth, HT Bhaskar Rao, HT Ramesh Rao, Sai Eswar, MR Jayaram, MR Sridhar and MR Vasudev, JK Mahendra, Padmanabhan, MS Ananthaswamy Rao, MS Hanumesh and a host of others.

EAS Prasanna turns 83 today – 22 May 2023

EAS Prasanna turns 83 today – 22 May 2023

Erapally Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna was born on 22nd May 1940 at Bangalore. He will be turning 83 on 22 May 2023.

EAS Prasanna made his Ranji Trophy debut representing Mysore against Hyderabad at Secunderabad on 25 Aug 1961 under the captaincy of G Kasturirangan. His performance on debut with the leather was 3 for 15 in 8.3 overs of which three were maiden overs, He also took a catch in Hyderabad’s innings to dismiss S Lokender Raj for five of the bowling of Raj Gurav. Prasanna’s victims were L Mohan for 19, Wahid Yar Khan for a duck and Habib Khan for a duck. Skipper G Kasturirangan {6 for 42} and EAS Prasanna {3 for 15} skittled Hyderabad for 85 in its first innings. With the willow, batting at number eleven, EAS Prasanna scored 26 and partnered 82 runs for the last wicket with YB Patel in Mysore’s innings which folded at 319. Prasanna’s 26 helped Mysore to reach 300 plus runs. YB Patel made  101 – a century on debut. This game contained five debutants for Mysore – KR Rajagopal, A Ramakrishnappa, AV Jagannath, YB Patel and EAS Prasanna. In Hyderabad’s second innings, EAS Prasanna was amongst wickets by capturing two wickets conceding 65 runs and had impressive match figures of five for 80.

EAS Prasanna played 71 Ranji Trophy matches representing Mysore/Karnataka. He scored 811 runs which included two half centuries. He scored 81 not out against Andhra at Bangalore in 1968-69 season which remained his highest individual score in Ranji Trophy matches. With the leather, he captured 371 wickets. He has taken five or more wickets in an innings on 23 occasions and his best bowling figures in an innings was 8 for 50 against Andhra in its second innings in 1970-71 season at Belgaum.This game is one of the unique games in Ranji Trophy as rival bowlers took eight wickets in an innings. Andhra’s B Mahendra Kumar had captured eight wickets conceding 118 runs in Mysore’s innings. EAS Prasanna has captured ten or more wickets in a Ranji Trophy match on five occasions. His 12 for 109 against Andhra at Belgaum in 1970-71 {4-59 and 8-50} is his best match effort in Ranji Trophy. His farewell Ranji Trophy match was against Hyderabad in 1978-79 season at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore which had a start date of 26 Jan 1979. He captured nine wickets in the match conceding 162 runs {7-70 and 2-92}. Thus EAS Prasanna’s debut and farewell match was against Hyderabad – another rare coincidence. Prasanna has captured 25 plus wickets in a Ranji Trophy season on six occasions. His best effort in a season was in 1968-69 season in which he accounted for 39 wickets conceding 405 runs at an average of 10.38. He captured five wickets in an innings on five occasions and ten wickets in a match once. He pouched 49 catches in Ranji Trophy.

EAS Prasanna played 24 Duleep Trophy matches. With the willow he scored 248 runs at an average of 12.40. With the leather he captured 81 wickets conceding 1856 runs at an average of 22,36. He has captured five or more wickets in an innings on six occasions and ten or more wickets in a match once. He pouched 14 catches in Duleep Trophy which spanned 15 seasons starting from 1961-62 to 1978-79.

EAS Prasanna’s test debut was against England at Corporation Stadium, Madras in 1961-62 season. This test had a start date of 10 Jan 1962. EAS Prasanna made his test debut under the captaincy of NJ Contractor. His debut performance with the leather was none for 20 and one for 19.His first test wicket was England’s wicket keeper batsman G Millman whom he had caught by NJ Contractor for 14 in England’s second innings. With the Willow, batting at number eleven, he scored 9 not out in the first innings and 17 not out in the second innings. He was the second highest scorer in India’s second innings after VL Manjrekar’s 85.

EAS Prasanna played 49 tests in his career. He captured 189 wickets conceding 5742 runs at an average of 30.38. He captured five or more wickets in an innings on ten occasions and ten or more wickets in a match on two occasions. His best innings bowling effort was against New Zealand at Auckland in Jan 1976 when he returned with figures of 8 for 76 in New Zealand’s second innings. His best match bowling effort came also in this test only with figures of 11 for 140 {3-64 and 8-76}. With the willow, his highest individual innings of 37 came against England at Chennai in 1972-73, which had a start date of 12 Jan 1973.

EAS Prasnna had the record for capturing 100 wickets in least number of tests – 20 tests – to his credit. R Ashwin recently broke this record. EAS Prasanna’s last fifty wickets of this achievement came in just seven tests.

EAS Prasanna played under seven captains. He took 116 wickets of his total of 189 wickets under the captaincy of MAK Pataudi. MAK Pataudi has this to say about EAS Prasanna’s crafty spin “With Pras you can expect a wicket any where in the country. Australia’s captain Ian Chappel has paid glorious trbute to Prasanna’s art of spin bowling

Here is an excerpt from Cricket Monthly of espncricinfo.com in which V Ramnarayan has interviewed Ian Chappell

Ian Chappell regards Erapalli Prasanna as the best slow bowler he faced, and Prasanna retains healthy respect for Chappelli’s proficiency against spin. Foxed by Prasanna in the first Test in Adelaide in 1967, Chappelli held on to his spot with 151 in the following Test, in Melbourne.Prasanna was happiest when batsmen attacked him, when they left the safety of the crease to reach for the ball; Chappelli knew that decisive footwork was the key to playing spin. Prasanna, who was successful on vastly different pitches in Australia and New Zealand, says a spinner must bowl length in all conditions; Chappelli, who starred in Australia’s series win in India in 1969-70, says batsmen should always stay positive.Their undiminished confidence, vast knowledge and delightful anecdotes led to a fascinating conversation nearly 45 years after they last played against each other.

V Ramnarayan: You’ve often said Prasanna is the best spinner you faced. Would you expand on that?

Ian Chappell: The thing that intrigued me was, I felt like he was trying to get me out every ball. So that made it an interesting challenge. Here in India in ’69, the difference between Pras and Bishan [Bedi] was, Pras was trying to get me out every ball whereas Bish was trying to tire me down and wait for me to get myself out. So it was enjoyable to bat against Pras.The other thing was his ability to flight the ball. We were having a beer after play one day and I said, “You little bastard, you’ve got a string tied to that ball. Every time it leaves your hand I say, I’m going to get to this one, and I get down there, and suddenly you pull on that string and drop the ball.”A lot of people talk about the blind spot for a batsman. Tiger O’Reilly, the great legspinner, said if he can curl it into middle and leg, that’s the blind spot for a right-handed batsman. At the Brabourne Stadium in the first Test in 1969, Pras threw this one up and I came charging down the track and I thought I had it covered and I went for this big drive. And I don’t know where it went. It just disappeared and the next thing I know I heard a clunk behind me and I was on my way. Throughout that tour in ’69, Doug Walters and I used to have this ongoing discussion/argument, “Who was the best spin bowler?” And he would say Bedi and I would say Prasanna. I saw Dougie only a few weeks ago and the argument started again. Who’s the best spinner? Prasanna or Bedi? I don’t think we’re ever going to resolve that argument.

Anandji Dossa, Doyen of Statisticians in India has this to say on EAS Prasanna in Indian Cricket 1986 edition

Prasanna, Erapalli Anantrao Srinivas Prasanna born in Bangalore on 22.05.1940. Studied in National High School, Bangalore and National Institute of Engineering, Mysore. Represented Mysore Schools in All India Schools Tournament and Mysore University in Inter-University tournament. During his time considered to be the best off spinner in the world. Quickest to capture 100 wickets in tests by an Indian bowler. He accomplished this performance in his 20th test. His last fifty wickets of this achievement came in only seven tests. Captained Karnataka State Cricket Association in Ranji Trophy 1969-70 to 1977-78. Irani Cup 1974-75 and led Karnataka Vs West Indies 1974-75. Also led Rest of India team 1973-74. Board President’s Eleven Vs MCC in 1976-77 and Dungarpur Eleven in Moin-Ud-Dowla Tournament in 1970-71. Appointed Manager of the Indian team for the World Championship of Cricket played in Melbourne 1985. Has been honoured by Karnataka State with Sports Award for the Best Sportsman in 1968. By Union Government with Arjuna Award 1969. Decorated with Padma Shri in 1970. Picked up as one of the five cricketers of the Year by Indian Cricket Annual in 1986 and also for the Special Portrait in 1986. Was an Expert TV Commentator for the test between India and West Indies at Madras in 1983-84. Author of “One More Over” published in 1977.

EAS Prasanna was one of the famed “Spin Quartet” who mesmerized the best of the batsmen across the cricketing globle with a massive 853 wickets amongst them

His first class career read thus

Batting MINORunsHSAve10050Ct 
 Overall2352756724768111.9002127 
Bowling BallsMdnsRunsWktsBBAve510SREcon
 Overall544652292224429578-5023.4556956.912.47

Awards and achievements1970 – Padma Shri Award : 2004 – C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award : 2006 – Castrol Lifetime Achievement award. : 2012 – Award from Board of Control for Cricket in India for playing more than 50 Test matches. ; The road in which he lives – 3rd Cross Road in Dommaluru, Bengaluru has been respectfully named as EAS Prasanna Road

My Autobiography – Anandji Dossa’s huge compliments

My Autobiography – Anandji Dossa’s huge compliments

I apologise for having discontinued posting the excerpts of my Autobiography. The main reason was dual fold. First we have shifted our residence from Vasanthnagar to Jayanagar Seventh Block and the second was the availability of Internet connection. I assure you that there would be no break till the completion of posting the final excerpt

I had already started contributions to Sportstar – a weekly tabloid from The Hindu Group of Publications, Madras, and courtesy Rajan Bala.  Sri Sunder Rajan, an Iyengar from Mysore was its first editor. He wrote me a letter requesting an article on five decades of Indian cricket. The lay our formalities were left to me. I sought the advice of Rajan Bala and sent the article to Sportstar. It was published in two issues – three decades on one issue and two decades in another issue.

I had reached Bombay to attend the Golden Jubilee Test and was sitting in the pavilion with the commentators who were to broadcast the game. Sri Ananda Rao who was one of the commentators of the match and Bishen Singh Bedi who had a long walk on the periphery of the stadium came to me. Bishen Singh Bedi asked me, “Gopal, where is the next issue?”. He had gone through the article on three decades and was eager to read the article on next two decades. I told him that the magazine is expected to hit the stands next day.

Anandji Dossa complemented me that “you are the first statistician in the Indian cricket history to write the Descriptive Statistics”. Statistics of Indian cricket till then meant the batting and bowling averages of the players at the end of the series/season.

I wrote for Sportstar for eight consecutive years. One issue used to contain three to four statistical articles. They used to publish sometimes under my initials “HRG” and sometimes with my full name “H.R. Gopala Krishna”

My Autobiography – Meeting Cricket Stalwarts

My Autobiography – Meeting Cricket Stalwarts

During a test at Bengaluru between India and Australia in September 1979, S.M. Gavaskar completed 5000 runs of his test career. He made ten runs in this match. He reached 5000 runs land mark when he was on three. I gave him the list of other batsman who had reached the land mark of 5000 runs in tests.

He was the editor of Sports World, a weekly publication from Calcutta. He wrote thus “Even though I scored ten runs in this game, I had completed 5000 runs of my test career when I was on three. The importance of this achievement was not known to me, till the statistician H.R. Gopala Krishna gave me a complete list of other batsmen who have completed 5000 test runs”. I cherish the wordings of S.M. Gavaskar verbatim even after 39 years nine months.

Another important event I want to recollect that took place in this year. Immediately after the test against Australia, Bengaluru hosted a test against Pakistan in November 1979. Madras TV station was in charge of televising this match. They needed a Statistician . Mr Raghavan – Station Director and Programme Executive approached authorities of Karnataka State Cricket Association and my name was suggested. They were told that I would be available at YMCA Grounds where I had an umpiring assignment. They came to the ground post lunch and waited for nearly two and half hours as the match got over at 5.00 PM. They met me and requested me to officiate the game for TV. 

I refused the offer as I have accepted the All India Radio assignment. They had a scorer by name Arunachalam who was just a scorer with no statistics at all. My dual role as a scorer-cum-statistician had caught up with the media already.

Dr. Narottam Puri was one of the commentators for this game and he used to send a staff of Doordarshan to AIR Hindi booth requesting for statistical tit bits of the match. I used a carbon sheet and catered the stats to both the booths.

My Autobiography – I got married on Emergency Proclamation day – 25 Jun 1975

My Autobiography – I got married on Emergency Proclamation day – 25 Jun 1975

Thus began my journey with International games and it’s just a coincidence that I will be officiating my 100th International game at the very stadium where I had begun my journey. The test match between India and Afghanistan which begins at Bengaluru on 14.06.18 would be my 100th International game. It is also a coincidence that this 100th game has come in my 50th year of my cricketing career.

On May, 10, 1975, at home, Doddamma, Kitty, Seeki and Dodda Jayamma interviewed a girl in alliance for me. Her name was Vijayalakshmi, who became my life partner on 25th June 1975.

Marriage took place at Hoysala Karnataka Sangha Hostel. Wilson Gardens, Bangalore and was attended by mother’s mentor “Seeni” with his family, which made me very happy. 

I was never aware of the fact that the “Emergency” was clamped in the country on June, 25, 1975.  When I reported for duty at the Bank, one of my colleague – Clement Susainathan, called me aside and asked “what were you doing on 25th June”. I told him sheepishly, that I got married on that day. He joked that when the entire country was having Emergency on that day, you were having your “Emergency Night”. Clement resigned from the bank later and has settled down in US. We had a get together when he visited Bengaluru last year.

Prior to our wedding, I went for a walk with Vijayalakshmi and her sisters and cousins. At one moment, we two were left alone while her sisters and cousins were walking a few steps ahead of us. I suddenly told my would-be wife that you are “my second wife”. She was puzzled for a moment and stared directly in my eyes. I told her that Cricket is my first wife and she was my second. She was relived and told that she is very much interested in Carnatic Classical Vocal music. From that day to this day, we have never interfered in our respective fields.

My Autobiography – First test match at Bangalore – My debut as a scorer for All India Radio

My Autobiography – First test match at Bangalore – My debut as a scorer for All India Radio

I was the official scorer for many domestic matches such as Irani Cup matches, Duleep Trophy matches and a couple of Ranji Trophy matches played at Bengaluru.

In one such Irani Cup match played in the month of October in scorching heat, there was no shelter for official scorers. Sri M Chinnaswamy saw the lapse after the start of the match on the first day of the match and arranged for shelter during Lunch. Sri B Satyaji Rao, remembers this incident even to this day and the reaction of Sri M Chinnaswamy to the lapse of providing shelters to scorers was really apologetic. He was feeling a “Papa Prajna” for the lapse. It appears he told all the officials about this lapse and also feeling for me as I scorched under the Sun’s heat.

I sweat a lot and I used to score the matches with an Ink Pen. There were occasions when the score sheet used to get smudged due to my placing the palm on the score sheet. The score sheet used to look ugly. Seeki – my uncle came with a solution of using Dot Pens. I went a step ahead and used four coloured dot pens – Blue, Black, Green and Red. Singles scored by the batsmen were with Red, twos with Green, threes with Blue and fours with Black. This made the score sheet very colourful and also gave it a beautiful appearance. Thus I became the first scorer to introduce colour pens for scoring. This also made me easy to count the number of fours and sixes scored by the batsmen with ease.

Bengaluru became the test Centre hosting the test match between India and West Indies in November 1974. All India Radio had two commentary booths – one in English and another in Hindi. Cavale was an automatic choice for English Booth and M.S. Srihari, Programme Executive, All India Radio, was scouting a scorer for the Hindi Booth. It appears that he contacted Sri M. Chinnaswamy who had suggested my name. B. Satyaji Rao had also used his good offices to have me as a scorer for the Hindi Booth. B. Satyaji Rao and M.S. Srihari were good friends.

Thus, I made my international debut as a scorer for the first ever test match at Bengaluru between India and West Indies.

Suresh Saraiya, who was the Commentator for the English Booth had travelled to Bangalore along with Yashwant Chad, a scorer for All India Radio commentary broadcast of commentaries in Bombay, assuring him of the scoring assignment for the Bengaluru test.

It appears that Saraiya had put pressure on M.S.Srihari, to have Chad as a scorer instead of me citing the reason that I have no experience of scoring a test match. But M.S. Srihari, according to him, told Saraiya, that since Bengaluru has become a test centre and will host test matches in future, I have to build up a panel at Bengaluru and cannot have Chad as a scorer for the test. Thus H.R. Gopala Krishna, the International test cricket scorer was born.

Seeki my second uncle – was all help to me on the eve of the test. He knew that I have little knowledge of numbers in Hindi and gave me a book containing the Hindi equivalent to numbers. Seeki was a Hindi teacher and had passed MA Examination in Hindi from Benares University. He was also a Tamra Patri Awardee by Sri B.D. Jatti for his contribution to Hindi in the State of Mysore/Karnataka as a Hindi Pracharak.

Another interesting thing happened during the test. On the second day of the test, Tony Cozier, Guest Commentator for English Commentary broadcast saw my score sheet in person during lunch and appreciated it. He asked me whether I am officiating the third test at Madras.  I said no and requested to have the autographs of West Indian Cricketers on the score sheet. He took the score sheet to each of the touring West Indies team member and had their autographs for me. The score sheet is still the proud possession of mine. I have laminated all the four sheets. All the four score sheets of four innings of the test are annexed to this note.  I am glad to note that these score sheets have found a place prominently at the entrance of the club house of KSCA.

My Autobiography – Me and Former England Captain Donald Carr

My Autobiography – Me and Former England Captain Donald Carr

In the year 1971, Engineers did not get a job as there was recession in the entire country. Civil Engineers were absorbed in PWD. It was a hard time for Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. I had worked on Daily wages of Six rupee a day in the Soil Testing Sub Division of PWD at Ananda Rao Circle, Bangalore.

I applied for a Box Advertisement in Deccan Herald from a Nationalized Bank calling for Clerks and wrote the written test. I was selected by Dena Bank and got an appointment letter asking me to report at Sarjapura Branch in the first week of December 1971. Doddamma was unhappy at my joining the Bank job. She expressed her unhappiness and said, “Annaiah was an Engineer and was an officer and you being an Engineer, I am unhappy at your joining the Bank as a clerk.” Again Kitty came to my rescue in convincing Doddamma and I reported at Sarjapura Branch of the Bank and joined Dena Bank as a clerk on 15.12.1971

Annaiah’s concern about me was evident from the following conversation in the year 1969. I was doing my fourth year Engineering and on a particular Thursday (Thursdays we did not have classes after 10.00 AM – I used to be back home by 11.30 AM), we were conversing. Suddenly he asked me, ‘Gopala – have you taken drinks’. I was taken aback at this and asked why you are asking me the question. He told me that you are going to a college which is far away. If there is no class, you are spending time in the room of a friend/class mate who is in the hostel. Now a days drinking has become a habit among the students in the hostel. If you are into it, please tell me, as a father, I ought to know your habits. I told him, that I am not into it, and promised him that I will never take it. As long as he was alive, I never touched it and after his demise also I never touched it. I was offered drinks by G.R. Viswanath on his birth day, Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath and K. Srikkanth offered the drinks on the tour of Sri Lanka at Kandy and many clients had offered me the drinks while in service with the bank. I have said a firm “no” to all these offers and remained a “teetotaler” through the 49 years that have gone by.

In the year 1972-73, MCC toured India and played a match at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. It appears that MCC did not have a scorer on the tour and requested Shri M. Chinnaswamy to arrange a Scorer for them. M. Chinnaswamy was looking out for me in the Stadium. I was in the stadium premises. I had gone to the stadium to collect the entry badge for scoring the match next day. He sent words for me. When I appeared before him, he handed over the MCC Score Book and asked me to score the match for MCC.  My joy knew no bounds and the first thing I did was to inform my Guru Cavale regarding the assignment. He felt happy for me and gave me some useful tips as the score cards differed in style.  I brought the score book home in the evening. I was introduced to Mr. Donald Carr, who was the former England Captain and the Manager of the touring MCC team by Shri M. Chinnaswamy on the morning of the match as ‘Your Scorer’. I warmly shook his hands. It was a three day match and at the end of the first day, Shri Chinnaswamy asked me to show him the score book and expressed happiness at the way the work was carried out. On the last day of the match, I handed over the score book to Mr. Donald Carr after the match was over and he patted on my back saying “Well Done, My boy”. His words of appreciation came in presence of Shri M. Chinnaswamy, Shri Nagaraj and Shri B. Visweswara Rao. It was great honour for me. I cherish those encouraging words by a renowned England captain even today.

My Autobiography – Two tragedies in the family

My Autobiography – Two tragedies in the family

During July 1969, there was a tragedy at home. Chikka Jayamma who was pregnant had an abortion at her in-law’s residence. She saw the abortion happening in front of her eyes and breathed her last immediately suffering from a heart attack. It was on Ashada Shuddha Trayodashi, two days prior to Bheemana Amaavasya Festival, she breathed her last.

Her death has a huge impact on my educational career. I was unable to concentrate on studies. I completed the Engineering course but withdrew from the Examination in April 1970. Appeared for the examination in September 1970 – passed in all subjects except two in which I got ordinance.  Appeared for two papers in April and failed again.

During June 1971, Annaiah fell sick and was admitted to Bowring hospital for treatment. He did not return home and breathed his last exactly at 9.00 PM on 31st July 1971. I remember the time as precisely as I had a watch in my hand and Annaiah had asked me the time just the previous minute. He was to be discharged on 31st July 1971 in the morning. He called for the “Panchanga” from home and had told the Doctor that he wished to get discharged on 01 Aug 1971, as 31st July 1971 was Navami. He could not fulfill his wish as he breathed his last on Navami itself.

Doddamma, Kitty, Seeki and Dodda Jayamma and we two, me and Chandri were totally shattered at the demise of Annaiah. Doddamma’s pain was unbearable as she lost her daughter and son within a span of one year and that too in front of her eyes and in her old age. She was 85 plus then.  I was direction less and spent many hours playing cards with a decent company of friends. I used to reach home late 11.00 PM or sometimes past midnight. I never bothered to study for the two ordinance papers I had to finish. It was Kitty’s timely intervention and advice put me back on rails. Later on I learnt that it was Doddamma’s direction to Kitty to talk to me. I was at studies again and passed the two papers with ease by getting good marks and completed the B.E. Degree in Electrical Engineering. I paid heed to Kitty’s advice and stopped playing cards with the same intensity I used to play. Late coming home was put to halt and I became an obedient boy of the family.

In retrospect, Annaiah knew his time of demise. This was confirmed as he had casted Ashtaka Varga, which gives the exact time of one’s death. I found this casting/prediction hidden in a box kept in his cup board after some years. He has learnt Astrology so well from his maternal uncle “Kanti” who was a renowned Astrologer of his times in Channaraya Patna. I was also lucky enough to learn Astrology basics from Annaiah and Kanti.

Annaiah’s profound knowledge of Astrology was made known to me by his brother-in-laws – Ramanna and Kittu. Ramanna was to tell me that he had gone to Thirthahally to see my mother who was sick. During conversation with Annaiah, Ramanna was told the exact time of death of my mother. My mother passed away almost the same date predicted by Annaiah. Kittu also told me the same incident appreciating the knowledge of Astrology of his brother in law and was awe about his predictions.

During Annaiah’s hospitalization, I was with him in the hospital. He was hospitalized for a month. I used to spend nearly Ten Rupees a day. During the last week of July, he had asked me how much money I have. I told him I have fifty rupees with me which I had borrowed from his cousin Prabhakara {Yenkana Maga} towards the examination fees which I had to pay on the last date of August,04, 1971. He asked me to spend the amount and assured me that the examination fee can be drawn from his Pension Account which would be disbursed on 31st of July.

Annaiah’s colleague by name Shri Gundu Rao used to visit him at the hospital on hearing the news of his hospitalization. Shri Gundu Rao had retired as Executive Engineer from PWD and was staying in Bowring hospital quarters with his son Dr. Somashekhar who was an anesthetist. Shri Gundu Rao slipped a note of fifty rupees into the hands of Kitti as Annaiah’s body was taken out in a trolley from the ward. Annaiah’s cremation expenses were met with the amount of fifty rupees given by Shri Gundu Rao. I paid my examination fees by borrowing from my classmate Chandrashekhar who was already employed with MICO.

My Autobiography – Me and Cavale

My Autobiography – Me and Cavale

He taught me the nuances of scoring. He was instrumental in appointing me as a scorer for the Press Box for the match between Visiting Australian Eleven and South Zone Eleven at Central College in December 1969. I am now in my 50th year of my cricketing career and would be completing the same this December 2018.

I still can visualize Ian Chappell leaning on the wall sitting on the rolled mat in dressing room allotted to Australians.

There were many occasions where in both of us scored the same match at Chinnaswamy Stadium – I as an official scorer and he as the scorer for Radio Commentary team. Believe me – there was not even a run difference between our scores. It was so accurate.

Cavale had passed the Umpiring Examination conducted by the Mysore State Cricket Association and was enrolled as an umpire on the panel of the Association. He influenced me take up the Umpiring Examination conducted by the Association.  He taught me Laws of Cricket threadbare which helped me to pass the Umpiring Examination conducted by the Mysore State Cricket Association with distinction. I was only one to get through the examination out of sixty and odd persons from Bangalore Centre in the first attempt. His words of advice still ringing in my ears – He impressed upon me that in Umpiring Examination  is not  like  an University Examination where 35 percent is  enough  to get  through. In an umpiring examination you should always get one hundred percent as one error would have a bearing on the result of a match. It can also make or mar a cricketer’s career.  Hence you should get 100 out of 100 in an Umpiring Examination. I took his advice in right earnest and prepared myself well by studying the Laws of Cricket twice or thrice a day prior to the umpiring assignment. This practice made me to err less while umpiring.

These were the days when I started breathing cricket and cricket only. We used to have Deccan Herald at home as News Paper. I used to read only the last page – Sports Page and nothing else. Come Nine AM in the morning. I used to disappear from home for an umpiring assignment on my cycle, that too when my father was not in his room.

He was a very strict disciplinarian. He observed all my activities and tried to prevent/dissuade me from cricket. The methods employed were keeping Deccan Herald away  from me by hiding  it  in a place known to  only himself, locking the cycle and keeping  the key in the locked cupboard and deflating the cycle by removing the valve tube and keeping it in the locked cupboard.

When I brought to his notice that the umpiring assignments were paid by the Cricket Association, he allowed me to do the umpiring. He advised me to choose between the two – Engineering Degree and Cricket. I pondered for a while and chose the Engineering Degree first.

After my first scoring assignment in 1969, I never did any matches as a scorer. However, I had to attend to a call from the Association to do the scoring of All India Universities matches played at St. Joseph College Grounds, Bengaluru. These games included Ceylon University.

Scoring these matches made my mark with the officials of the Association. Late Shri M. Chinnaswamy, Late Shri Nagaraj, Late Shri Visweswara Rao, Late Shri M.G. Vijayasarathy and B. Satyaji Rao observed my growth as a scorer and advised me on finer aspects of scoring. B. Satyaji Rao was a helping hand to me – in both fields – Scoring and Umpiring.

During the Lunch break of these games, Late Shri M.G. Vijayasarathy used to have a thorough look at the score book which I used to leave with him while having Lunch. There were occasions he used to ask someone to fetch the score book for him if I had failed to deposit the score book with him. He was kind enough to point certain mistakes/errors which I used to correct. His vigil and advice on the finer points of scoring made me a complete scorer.

Mysore State Cricket Association shifted all its activities from Central College to the present M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. The first official game on this ground was the Ranji Trophy match between Mysore and Hyderabad in December 1970. This game was played on 05th, 06th and 07th of December 1970. I had the honour of crossing the field – from Pavilion to the Score Board. This was my first Ranji Trophy match as a scorer for the Association.