Dhoni's shy parents are a big hit in Delhi
By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
New Delhi, Sep 1, 2008: During the three days that Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s parents were in city to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award on his son’s behalf they were clearly the most sought after among the other award winners, their families, top bureaucrats and sports administrators, who took turns to meet the shy and reticent couple and pose for photographs with them.
Amazingly, the more they tried to remain low profile, the more people were attracted towards them. Even someone of the stature of former cricket captain Bishan Singh Bedi walked up to the Ranchi couple's table at official sports awards dinner, hosted by the Sports Ministry on Aug 29, and congratulated on their son's winning the award and lauded his exemplary temperament on the field. “You have produced a hira (gem). His feet are still on the ground - that's the best thing about him,” Bedi told Dhoni's mother Devika Devi, with her husband Pan Singh standing next to her.
The quiet and humble couple from Ranchi was the toast at the huge Convention Hall of the five-star Ashoka Hotel as they sat at the round dinner table with only a former Delhi player, who had especially been summoned from Mumbai to be their permanent guide during their stay in Delhi.
Pan Singh told Bedi that they might be meeting for the first time, but he used to listen intently to the radio commentary of matches when the leftarm spinner represented India in 1960s and 1970s.
“I remember when they used to describe… here Bedi bowls an armer… I was always interested in cricket,” he said turning to Bedi and then to me. Bedi simply smiled.
“Have you gone around this jungle?" Bedi asked them, referring to the burgeoning national capital.
Pan Singh, visiting Delhi for only the second time and after over 40 years, and his wife, who was here for the first time, visited age-old Qutub Minar and a few other historical places. “I had seen the Lal Qila earlier,” offered Pan Singh.
Dhoni missed the awards ceremony at the President’s Palace on Aug 29 as he was playing the fifth and final ODI series in Sri Lanka. India won the series.
Talking about Dhoni's marriage, Pan Singh said that the most eligible bachelor of the country was free to marry the girl of his choice. “We will have no objection to his choice of girl. We will never impose our choice because if, God forbid, something goes wrong then we will be responsible,” he said.
The superstitious couple never watches live telecast of Dhoni's matches. “We only watch the highlights, like Mohammed Kaif's father. We think something might happen if we watch matches,” said Pan Singh. But it may not be due to any superstition that Dhoni parks his motorcycles at different places.
Talking about his son’s passion for bikes, he said: “He has eight bikes. Some of them are parked at our house (in Shyamali Colony in Ranchi) and some are at the residence of my daughter, who is married in the city,” said Pan Singh. He said the new home that Dhoni is building would take time to complete.
The Dhonis have their roots in Wali village in the Almora district of Uttrakhand, where Pan Singh's elder brother still lives. “The last time I visited Wali was when he performed janeo (sacred thread) on Dhoni after the tour to Kenya and Zimbabwe in 2004," he said.
