A Dozen Years...

It was an evening in August 1996, Kalka Mail. I was then in the sixth standard, and that is the first time I heard, chota Sourav. My name is Somnath, not Sourav! Yet many eyes stared with awe about the then similarity. Seldom did I know about the feats of another Bengali, done a few weeks back in Lords, The Bethlehem of Cricket.

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, made a Test Debut comeback against England, where he made back to back test centuries, under the able captaincy of Md. Azharuddin. Incidentally, the legend made his debut on the last test match of another legendary name in Cricket, Dickie Bird. Those two knocks ensured that the Son of Bengal was never to look back, and continue some glorious years, before he would retire 12 years later in November 10th, 2008.

Today, I am not going to enumerate his achievements, as have many many articles do, but I would put forward some incidents where by the Great and myself bear resemblance. Not only in Kalka Mail, but the direct "sweet" assault about my resemblance came in 2000, when in Netaji Bhawan I was taking some data to write a curricular project of Netaji Subhash Chadra Bose, when the museum curator inquisitively looked at me. He couldnt stop his inquisition, and went a step ahead to ask... Are you relative of Sourav Ganguly?

2001, while taking a regular class at Amartya Mukherjee's tuition at Rabindra Sarovar, sir followed the same lines and asked, tumi Sourav er bhai? (Are you Sourav's brother?) In both scenarios, the answer was No!!!

2005, while in my undergraduate years, I got slapped by a girl, Kasturi...the ONLY time in my 20 odd years, because I said Sourav is better than Sachin. Later on the poor soul treated me with chocolate candies to soothe my anger!!!

Sweet memories I would cherish through out my life. Dada will be missed, like a King is missed from his empire....