A striped blue shirt, steel grey trousers, a backpack casually slung on one shoulder. Leander Paes was on his way to the CC&FC changing room to gear up for an exhibition match on the club’s greens. The special occasion? To celebrate his dad Vece Paes’s 70th birthday on Wednesday evening. On the way in, the non-starry champ caught up with friends just like any one of us would. He also promised t2 an interview after the game. And, he kept his word. As we stood near one of the tables on the greens, a crowd began to mill about him. They all wanted a picture with him. “Tell me, tell me,” he smiled, unfazed by the chaos. For the next few minutes Leander spoke to t2 about 31 Grand Slam finals, 70-year-old dad, and daughter nine-year-old daughter...

Great to see you back in Calcutta! How have you been? 
Fun! It’s great to be back home where my roots are and great to be back at CC&FC. On this field itself, I learned how to handle triumphs and defeats. I learnt to handle life. Life in Calcutta was what really taught me how to handle being a professional athlete and handle what life throws at me. Calcutta, with all my father’s friendships here, my parents’ friendships here, was what really made me me. So, no matter how far I travel, how long I travel for, Calcutta is home for me. I really celebrate my roots. I have just come in for literally one day. His (Vece Paes) birthday was on April 30. Today we are celebrating it because that’s when all his friends are here at the same time. His classmates from school, his benchmates from college, his medical friends, colleagues, doctors, all his friends from the club here…. Calcutta has been my father’s home from many years, almost like six decades. So… 

The party had to be here! 
Nowhere else but here! 

What Maidan memories do you have from Calcutta?
Going back to when I was six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, watching my dad play hockey in the Maidan for Mohun Bagan was something I was basically brought up on. Also, myself as a mascot of the Indian hockey team, travelling all over the country, travelling abroad with the Indian hockey team, really built my character. The pride that I have of being a Calcutta boy comes from the sporting heritage we have here, from my Bengali heritage. Today itself I was reading a collection of poems by my great great grandfather Michael Madhusudan Dutt on the flight. 

How much football did you play as a kid?
Tons! At one point my dream was to play in the European league, in La Liga or the EPL at that time. I would have loved to have become a footballer. With my Goan and Bengali roots, football is the number one sport, still is for me. Sport as a profession teaches you a lot about yourself and about others. It taught me a lot about how different people react in different situations… in positive and negative situations. How there were some leaders and some followers and very early in my life I realised I was a leader. Sports taught me how to handle the different nuances of life. I am very blessed to have grown up in Calcutta. My closest friendships and bonds are still here. Wherever life carries me, I will be always be a Bangali boy from Calcutta. 

 

Your dad has been a special person in your life. Hats off to his energy levels, something that is reflected in you too… 
Very much like father-like son. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without my parents. My father has done an amazing job over the years with me to be my mentor, my father, my guru, my best friend, my closest confidant, my personal doctor. He’s quite a special man. My father being a doctor of medicine and an athlete, I am very blessed to have a father like him. 

What’s the next goal for Leander the tennis champ?
Olympics (Rio, 2016). It will be my seventh Olympics. It’s been just a blessed career… touchwood… the longevity of my career… to get to 31 Grand Slam finals…. Lots of people talk about the 15 Grand Slams I have won. Lots of people talk about the 25 years I have played. To me, winning my Olympic medal in singles and to get to 31 Grand Slam finals in a career is something really special. I look at the young kids coming up all over the world and they are like, I want to get to my first Grand Slam and I find it really cute. After you win your first 10 and then you get to your 20th final and 30th final… through seven generations of players, one just kept evolving.

The real lesson I have learnt in life is about how you always have to be a student of life. You keep learning new things and you keep evolving. You can learn from anybody. I learn from my young daughter Aiyana. I learn from my parents, sisters, the amazing wealth of people I meet… whether I learn from a king or a pauper, I just love being a student of life and that’s the essence of who I am. 

How are your 40s different from your 30s?
This is the best part of my life. I have achieved pretty much more than what I had dreamt of achieving. I still am very passionate about achieving more in different walks of life. It’s all in your mind. People call it karma, naseeb, taqdeer… but for me, I love to be a student of life and am very passionate about the goals I set for myself, about the path I choose to take and achieve those goals. I am focused and have a zest for life. 

At 41, what has changed in your fitness routine? 
I have to do four times more than what I did when I was younger. 

Does your mind give up sometimes? 
I don’t know how to spell ‘give up’. (Smiles) Over the years you learn what to do. So, it becomes a way of life. It’s probably the reason I still play tennis at such a high professional level because I love that way of life. I love the cleanliness of it, the competitiveness of it, the ability to handle triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same. Those are the famous two lines that are written above Centre Court at Wimbledon. It is a Rudyard Kipling poem… If (If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/And treat those two imposters just the same). Coming from a family of a poet, those two simple lines are the essence of what my life is. 

Tell us a bit about the two Martinas in your life, Navratilova and Hingis…   
Two of my greatest friends. I am very blessed to not only have won multiple Grand Slams (mixed doubles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2003 with Martina Navratilova and the 2015 Australian Open mixed doubles with Martina Hingis) with them, but I am also embarking on my next Grand Slam with Martina Hingis. Martina Navratilova was in the stands at the Australian Open supporting us. She still wears my cross on her neck. 

Complete the sentence for us: Aiyana is…
Phenomenal! This is the best thing that ever happened to me. I love my little girl. She is a carbon copy of me. She has the athleticism of both my parents, but the stubbornness of my father. She wants what she wants and she will go and achieve it. That’s the one thing I love about her. Even through trying times, Aiyana is just a great kid. She is a beautiful child. She is someone who motivates me to be the best that I can be. She is one of my biggest lessons in life. I am very blessed to share a bond with Aiyana just like I share with my father. I love coming back and spending lots and lots of time with her and giving her the confidence to dream, to have goals and go after achieving those goals with passion. 

Finally, what do you think you’ll be like when you turn 70?
I’ll let you know then!

Saionee Chakraborty
Leander Paes is my hero because.... Tell t2@abp.in

 

SNAPSHOTS FROM VECE PAES’S 70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS AT THE CC&FC SHAMIANA ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT