Dosa seller spends Rs 12,000 on son’s ODI dream

Dosa seller spends Rs 12,000 on son’s ODI dream

Ramu sells dosas for a living, but was game enough to spend most of his savings on two tickets for Sunday’s India-England match so that his young son, who wants to become like Dhoni, could get to see his hero in action

Atul Chaturvedi
Posted On Friday, November 21, 2008

Ramudu alias Ramu has a dream. He wants his 12-year-old son Rathna Ganesh to become a famous cricketer like Mahendra Singh Dhoni. This is not an idle dream, like the infatuation with the game and its big names that periodically strikes every Indian middle class family with young sons.

“For 30 years, I have been selling dosas on the pavements and I don’t want my son to be a dosa seller,” Ramu says matter-of-factly, but in a tone edged with steely determination.

To achieve this, he sends his son to a coaching camp in Basavanagudi. He also takes his son to watch cricket matches (Test or ODI) whenever they are held at Chinnaswamy Stadium so that he soaks in the ambience of the big game and is motivated by the stars out in the middle.

On Thursday, Ramu went to the stadium at 7 am to buy two Rs 1,000 tickets. There was already a big queue by then and his sixth sense warned him that tickets would be sold out by the time he reached the counter. This made him go to another counter where there was no queue. Tickets were available easily, except that each ticket cost Rs 6,000!

He hesitated for just a fraction of a moment before buying two tickets for Rs 12,000. Incidentally, Ramu, who has a pavement stall at V V Puram’s Food Street, earns between Rs 10,000 and 15,000 a month. These two tickets have eaten away a month’s income.

‘My son’s wish is the most important thing for me. With god’s grace, I have saved a small sum in my bank account. This I want to use to make my son a cricketer. I earn around Rs 500 a day. With this, I have to run my family and spend on my son’s education and cricket. I know it will be difficult for me after spending my entire month’s earning for the cricket, but...” he trailed off.”

SON VOWS TO WOW
Meanwhile, Rathna Ganesh joined us. He said he wanted to become a bigger batsman than Dhoni. “I am studying in 7th standard at Vasavi Education Trust. I am crazy about cricket. I first played the game when I was a seven-year-old boy. Next year, I want to play for my school’s under-14 team,” he said, adding, “I love to see Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Veerender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar batting. In Sunday’s match, I am going to miss Sachin and it is a sad situation for me.”

So far, he has seen five international matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium. “Last time I saw Sachin was when India played Australia in Bangalore. I regularly watch cricket on TV,” he said.

“I will take my son to watch the match on Sunday. From the Rs 6,000 stand, he can watch the game from close quarters and get to see the players in the pavilion,” Ramu chipped in.

Rathna Ganesh is full of admiration and gratitude for the risk that his father has taken. “I thank my father for spending so much to fulfill my costly desire. I will not let down his and my dream,” he gushed