Thousands of people waited outside his house for hours to just catch a glimpse of him. He finally came out of his house and waved at the crowd. For some it was a part of daily routine to see him and then carry on with other their work while others came from far off places and some were just curious as to what was going on.
Two armed men followed him closely as he put on his glasses. He waved one final time to the crowd and got into his car. The glass of the car door slowly moved upwards while many heads bent to get one last look of him. He smiled, that was probably enough .Many of them dreamt of seeing him just once.
He gazed at the bullet proof glass on his car. Weather was surprisingly good today. He so wanted to enjoy the cool breeze outside but couldn’t. He wanted to drive his car which was the 20th in his collection but no one let him. It was too risky at this time in the day.
He closed his eyes and reflected upon the day ahead. He remembered the time in school when his teacher asked him what he wanted to be and he had said that “I will be so famous one day that even I would be bored of it!” That day had really come. Sometimes what you want is the exact thing that you don’t want.
“Sir, we have a press meeting at 11.00 I am afraid we might be an hour late” the bodyguard in the front spoke.
“That’s Okay. They will wait for me” he said
“Right Sir” the bodyguard replied.
“Sam, why do you think people like me?” he asked
“Sir, that is because of your image, your background and your achievements. People want to be like you, have a life like yours. The list is endless really”, Sam replied almost instantly.
“But, what do they know how my life is? Do they know that I get to spend time with my family for only about 2 months a year? Do they know that my kids can’t have a normal childhood just because I am their father?” he asked
“Sir, but you are “Sam was a little lost for words.
“Do these people even realize that I am as normal a human being as anyone of them?”
“Sir, I think I may not be the best person to answer this.” Sam said
“That’s fine Sam; you are one of the very few people I trust. Thanks for everything that you have done for me.” He said
“An absolute honor to serve you Sir” Sam said while his eyes sparkled.
“I am afraid I won’t need you from tomorrow Sam.” He said and closed his eyes again.
The scene was set; he sat in front of around 50 people representing the various news channels. Their curious eyes had already started questioning him. It was very rare of him to give interviews but this time he had called them. People present there were in anticipation of something big.
“Sir, congrats for the century last night.” A lady from the crowd spoke up.
“Sir, how does it feel to have broken a new record?” another voice was heard.
“How is the team preparing for the next match in a few days?”
“No questions please. Mohan is here only to make an announcement and that will be it” a man who was sitting next to him in a black suit spoke up.
Murmurs of discontent were heard while Mohan lifted his right hand indicating that he wants to speak. Suddenly there was silence. The kind of silence that Mohan feared the most. He could hear his heartbeats. He took a deep breath and said,
“I really would thank everyone here for coming here at such short notice and sorry for making you wait. Well the reason for calling you all” he sighed and fought back his tears.
“As a kid all I wanted to do was to play for India. I am 28 today and all my dreams have come true. I have played for the country. I have lead India to a world cup win and I have every possible record in my name. But today I am here to tell you that I have taken a decision to quit” he paused.
The journalists were shell shocked; it was not something they expected out of a man who hit a century just last night. The silence had finally broken in the truest sense for him. Everything became crystal clear.
“I have decided to retire from all forms of the game” he said and walked away from the place.
