बीज पेरले गेले Bij Perle Gele (The Seed Was Sown)

चंदू बोर्डेंचे घर पुण्यातले, आणि परिस्थिती फारशी बरी नव्हती. वडील पोलिसात कमी वेतनावर काम करत, त्यामुळे खेळणी घेणे कुटुंबाला परवडत नसे. तरीही गल्लीतल्या सोबत्यांबरोबर काठी-गोटी, चेंडू-बॅटचे खेळ खेळण्यात त्यांचे बालपण आनंदात जात होते.

Chandu Borde notes that his boyhood passed in an ordinary, financially struggling household in Pune. His father's meagre police salary barely covered household expenses, so buying store-bought toys for the children was not even a thought worth entertaining. Watching the neighbourhood children with their toys stirred a quiet envy in young Chandu. Yet he never let this stop him, gathering the boys of the lane for a stick-and-pebble game, flying kites into the sky, sneaking a dip in the river, carving a bat and stumps out of firewood meant for the kitchen fire, and scrounging up some old ball from somewhere to play cricket, this is how his whole day would pass. Coming home late in the evening usually meant a scolding from his mother, sometimes a swat or two, and he would cry himself to sleep.

वडिलांची जागा बदलली म्हणून चंदू आणि त्यांचा भाऊ पुण्यातच काकांकडे राहू लागले. काकांचे घर वाय.एम.सी.ए.च्या आवारातच असल्याने चंदू तिथे येणाऱ्या खेळाडूंना रोज न्याहाळत असत. काही खेळाडू सराव करताना त्यांना गोलंदाजी करायला बोलवत, आणि याच रोजच्या संधीतून चंदूंच्या मनात मोठे क्रिकेटपटू बनण्याची आस निर्माण झाली.

With his father's posting shifted to Wadgaon, Chandu and his older brother had to move in with their uncle in Pune to continue their schooling. Barely nine or ten years old at the time, being cut off from his parents felt very painful to Chandu, yet his parents, driven by their hope that he would study and rise in life, hardened their hearts and bid him farewell. Since his uncle's home stood right within the YMCA grounds, Chandu began spending his days closely watching the men who came there to practise, and before long it was cricket above every other game that had cast its spell on him. Some members, wanting extra batting practice for themselves, would call on Chandu to bowl to them, sometimes getting out on purpose, which only fuelled his eagerness further, and it was in these very years that he privately made up his mind to become a great player.

थोड्या काळाने वडिलांची बदली पुन्हा पुण्यात झाली, आणि खेळाडूंकडून चंदूंच्या खेळाबद्दल कौतुकाचे बोल ऐकून वडिलांनी एका दुकानातून सहा रुपयांना जुनी बॅट विकत आणून दिली, त्यामुळे चंदू खूश झाले. मात्र वडील अभ्यासाच्या बाबतीत अजिबात सूट देत नसत, एकदा शाळा बुडवून सामना बघताना पकडले गेल्यावर त्यांनी चंदूंना छडीने फटके देत शाळेत नेले, त्यानंतर चंदूंनी शाळा कधीही बुडवली नाही.

Some months later his father was again posted back to Pune, and hearing YMCA members speak admiringly of young Chandu's cricket filled his parents' hearts with pride. His father, a noted volleyball player in his own right, gave him constant backing, and one day paid six rupees at a shop for an old bat for Chandu, notable given that his monthly salary at the time was a mere twenty-four rupees. The moment that bat was in his hands Chandu's excitement soared, and he ran off to show it to every friend he could find. Yet when it came to studies and school discipline his father would not bend an inch, and on one occasion, catching Chandu having skipped school to watch a cricket match, he found him on the spot and, cane raised in anger, marched him straight back to his classroom. After that incident Chandu never again played truant from school.

१९४५ मध्ये पुण्यात आलेल्या ऑस्ट्रेलियन संघाची मॅच पैसे न भरता बघण्यासाठी चंदू व मित्र मैदानाशेजारच्या झाडावर चढून बसले. खेळ संपल्यावर खेळाडूंची सही घेण्यासाठी उडालेली धावपळ पाहून चंदूंच्या मनातही स्वतःसाठी अशीच गर्दी व्हावी असे वाटू लागले, आणि तेव्हापासून ते वहीत स्वतःची सही गिरवू लागले.

One year a well-known touring side came to play in Pune, and watching that match cost money Chandu simply did not have. Still, missing it was out of the question. Tall trees ringing the ground came to his rescue; he and his friends perched on a branch and took in the entire day's play from there. Watching the wild scramble of fans chasing autographs once the match ended, a resolve took shape in Chandu's mind too, that he would earn a name just as big one day. From that moment a habit took hold of tracing his own signature on blank notebook pages, so much so that even in a maths class cricket words would slip from his tongue by mistake, setting the whole classroom laughing.

एकदा गणिताच्या शिक्षकांच्या प्रश्नाला चुकून क्रिकेटच्याच शब्दांत उत्तर दिल्याने चंदूंची मान लाजेने खाली गेली, पण काही दिवसांतच आंतरशालेय स्पर्धेत शंभर धावा काढून त्यांनी तीच मान अभिमानाने वर उंचावली. फलकावर त्यांचे नाव झळकले, आणि इथूनच खऱ्या अर्थाने त्यांच्या मनात रुजलेले क्रिकेटचे बीज उगवले असे ते सांगतात.

During one maths lesson an ill-timed remark drew laughter from the whole class and left Chandu's head bowed in embarrassment, but that very same head was raised high with pride only a few days later, when he crossed the hundred-run mark in an inter-school match. His name appeared in large letters on the school notice board, and teachers and students alike praised him wholeheartedly. It was at that moment, for the first time, that Chandu felt a deep, genuine pride in truly being a cricketer, and with this memory of how the seed sown in his boyhood finally sprouted, he closes his account.