She is the toast of town yet again, back home victorious after winning the Hong Kong Open last weekend. Everyone's champ. Saina Nehwal.
The 20-year-old champion is this man's baby. Surfing the www, I came across a blog written by Saina's father Dr Harvir Singh Nehwal and these lines caught the eye. "While her ticket to and from Hong Kong cost Rs 33000, my tickets cost Rs 47000 and Saina paid the airfare, just like all flights to other countries. I keep thinking,
Yeh Saina ka udhaar hai mere upar, how will I repay her? This tiny girl is doing so much for me."
So much love, so much pride and so much an Indian father's way of thinking. The scientist's humility is refreshing - having seen all too often the vicarious arrogance of the parents of many other celebrities for many years now.
In the same post Dr Nehwal says, "Her good run this year is largely due to the efforts put in by her coaches, Pullela Gopichand and Bhaskar Babu. Both of them, just like me, treat Saina like a small kid."
Found the blog on a South-India-focused website -
www.thesouthreports.com. The site seems studded with celebrity and hosts blogs by, among others, the rebellious Jaganmohn Reddy and the new Andhra Pradesh CM Kiran Kumar Reddy.
I shared the link on Facebook but then went back with the thought that the daughter and father duo made for a great Catch this week. One for consistently making India proud, and the other for having ensured that she is in a position to do so. Dr Nehwal's blog post gives an insight into the champ that the best sports writing cannot hope to do. Simply because of who he is.
The site also hosts
a blog post by Saina written after her Hong Kong victory. The father's post, I dare say, makes for more compelling reading, but catch Saina talk about plans ahead - "Yes, I will be happy to be world number 1. But my main aim is to win an Olympic gold and also the All-England championship. Plus win all the Super Series as well!!"
She also says, "The Hong Kong win was special because I was feeling a bit low after the loss at the Asian Games and therefore it was more tough for me to get into the groove. In comparision, my confidence in Singapore and Indonesia was already high after the win at Chennai."
Saina also spoke to NDTV after her return from Hong Kong. Appropriate to catch that and some of her best interviews to NDTV right here.
(Watch) Dr Nehwal in his post says, "After her victory, I shook hands with Saina and blessed her. Later in the evening, we were taken to an Indian restaurant where people celebrated by drinking champagne, Saina by sipping coke and me with plain water.'
I had, only a day before I read this, caught a picture posted on Facebook by a friend in Hong Kong, Arshi Narang, and meant to ask why he seemed to be sipping the good stuff while the Nehwals stuck to what seemed like water and coke. Here it is:
Some nice Saina pictures on the South Reports website too.
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