You've always been my hero
"Namaste Mr President, ladies and gentlemen
There may be some
among you who on receiving the invitation to this evening's lecture
must have seen who was going to speak and said "Oh! Yeah! Only if he is
allowed through the gate!"
There must have been a question in
your mind whether the lecture would take place at all. It's a bit like
getting an invitation to a party on 1st April; you don't know whether
it's for real or if it's an April fool joke. Having now got to the
podium which does afford me a better view than my natural height, I can
see that you all did take the chance that I would be allowed in!
I had, of course, made sure that there would be at least a couple of people attending by requesting MCC to invite a few of my friends, who are present here.
As
you can see, I am here - let in by the stewards who over the years have
become quite charming. No more does one hear "Oi! Where do you think
you are going?" Instead, now we hear "Excuse me, sir, can I help you?"
Now this is a tremendous change and the MCC needs to be complimented on
the remarkable improvement in the attitude of those manning the various
entrances at the ground.
Words of a great man delievering the Cowdrey lecture, who turns 60 today. The word 'steel' that was unheard of in the annals of Indian cricket, was introduced by this most unlikely looking fellow in an Indian cricketer's dictionary. Whether he was facing the bouncers of the West Indian quartet or the bouncers at Lords, he did it with equal flourish and poise. Later in his career as a media person, Sunny has not flinched from facing any verbal attacks and has given it back as good, if not better, than he got.
Another great man has already put one's feelings in words today morning in the news papers in just one sentence. It seems futile to add one's own two bits to it.
Just as he would have thought little of reaching 60 in his innings, SMG has bigger things on his plate to think about. This is just a minor landmark.
Waiting for another Century Sunny.