Shimoga. That is where I was born. It’s the headquarters of a district in Karnataka and is quite a big township. I was the fifth of eight children. In other words, when I was born there were four others before me to be pampered. Ours was a typical south-Indian middle-class Brahmin family. My father’s elder brother’s family lived next door. They had six children. So it was quite a battalion that played together. I was always into outdoor sports. We played lagge in which bricks would be placed one on top of the other. The player would target the stack of bricks with a ball and run before the displaced bricks were put back in place. This is the same as tip and run, a method Greg Chappell follows with the team to improve running between the wickets. I was a bowler as well as a good batsman. In gully cricket, everyone is an all-rounder. As one progresses, one’s priorities change. In school, I picked up the award for the highest wicket-taker so many times. By 11, I was the captain of the team. It must have been my competence and attitude to the game that made them promote me. In fact, all teachers liked me for my sporting abilities though I liked none. I was never a bright student though my IQ wasn’t low.

As my father had a transferable job, we travelled to perhaps all the districts of Karnataka, from Tumkur to Mysore to the Kolar gold fields. But as I had a congenial nature, I never had trouble making new friends.

I had an aptitude for all sorts of ball games. I was also in the school hockey team and played softball and basketball in college. As a teenager, it was badminton that was my second favourite after cricket. Playing other games helps one keep fit. But one should choose the other game with care so that it does not spoil the basic structure of the main sport. Cricket, for instance, goes well with golf and basketball. But a golfer should not play badminton as one requires the wrist to be frequently bent while the other doesn’t.

If I were not a cricketer, I would have been a golfer. Or perhaps, an engineer as I had the acumen for analytical study and have a degree in electrical engineering from National Institute of Engineering in Mysore.