The artist who pushed us

An English writer once referred to Bishan Singh Bedi as ldquopoetry in motionrdquo In a way it did justice to his beautiful rhythmic flawless and effortless bowling action He mastered his craft by honing his bowling skills for hours in the nets He had the confidence to adjust his line and length especially if he noticed a batsman stepping out early With a subtle flick of the wrist just before the ball left his fingers he could deceive even the best of batsmen who struggled to reach the pitch of his deliveriesI grew up in Nehru Nagar Kurla Although I was a right handed offspinner who enjoyed playing tennisball cricket my Nehru Nagar friends still call me lsquoBedirsquo as he was our idol Such was his fanfollowing that we used to collect and paste his pictures in our scrapbook and exchange those pictures for chocolatesHe was a commentatorrsquos delight Broadcasters the world over would never tire from waxing eloquent on his bowling action variation deception and the colour of his Patka which made him stand out in a crowdI remember a camp we had in Bangalore in 198384 In the nets Bishan Paaji as we fondly called him bowled with such grace and ease that all the other spinners who were bowling along with him appeared to be putting in much more effort than himThe 198384 series against Pakistanmdashthe first after Indiarsquos 1983 World Cup triumphmdashopened in Bangalore It rained during that Test and Bishan being our managercoach took the reserves and standby players to the nearby Cubbon Park for an hourlong run around the parkAlso read It takes a terrorist to know a terroristHe then made us sprint until most of us had no energy left We returned to the dressing room and it started drizzling After lunch Bishan Paaji took us into a hall for agility drills for another hour By then it was tea time When play was called off due to rain Bishan Paaji took the entire team for a run on the road next to the Karnataka State Cricket Association rooms for half an hour He was a taskmaster who pushed cricketers to work hard on their fitnessMany years later he came to visit me in Bangalore during my time as head coach of the National Cricket Academy After seeing us work on improving the cricketing skills of the trainees he confessed to me ldquoBalya as he fondly called me I think I was not a coach or fitness trainerrdquo I kept quiet not daring to utter anything like ldquoYes Paajirdquo in the fear of him feeling bad He broke the silence and said ldquoI think I was a good motivatorrdquo I immediately said ldquoYes Paaji you are absolutely rightrdquoHe was instrumental in motivating the North Zone players especially those from Punjab and Delhi to work hard on their game instilling in them the confidence and selfbelief that they are the best and can take on anybody in the country He changed their attitude and they started playing tough cricket against West Zone and Mumbai The good work of Paaji was then carried forward by cricketers like Mohinder Amarnath Madan Lal Kirti Azad Maninder Singh and Surinder Khanna and passed it on to the current generationI was lucky to be his teammate in veteran series against Pakistan West Indies and South Africa We also toured Canada in 1996 with the veterans team We were practising before a game at Victoria Island Now I just loved watching Bishan Paaji bowl very closely and the interaction during practice was a great learning experience He said ldquoBalya if I could get my followthrough behind the ball I would not allow these Canadians to scorerdquo In the gave he went about bowling until he felt his body was going nicely behind the ballAfter the game Bishan Paaji was in his element with his jokes and cricketing stories that would have everyone in splits He laughter was loud and wholesome and he would narrate funny incidents at his own expenseHe was a man with a great sense of humour and never hesitated to spend and treat everyone without bothering about the billBishan Paaji would send lsquoSholakrsquo on WhatsApp every morning until poor health struck him I missed those messages and to think there is no chance of that activity resuming cuts me deepMay Waheguru bless his soul and I am sure he will continue to motivate and make everyone laugh in his new world Bishan Paaji you will always be in our hearts The world without you will not be as cheerful as you made it