On the write line with Vasoo Paranjape, the king of conversations

Rohit Sharma and Sunil Gavaskar. Pics/AFP

On August 30, 2021 cricket lost its most faithful son.

Vasoo Paranjape, a coach and mentor who influenced more cricketers from Sunil Gavaskar to Rohit Sharma, spanning generations, decades and mindsets, breathed his last in Mumbai.

His body left us, and he is no doubt in a better place, where he will speak cricket, tongue firmly in cheek, with his favourites, Sir Don Bradman and Vinoo Mankad, but the idea of Vasoo kaka will remain with us forever.

He was a player of considerable skill for his beloved Dadar Union Sporting Club and Mumbai, a winner all the way, but one who played the game hard but fair, in a manner that no opposition player or umpire could ever find fault with.

A teacher and guide

As a coach, actually that is too limited a word to describe him for he was a teacher and guide, he influenced more great India players than any other of his kind. When I was fortunate enough to work with Vasoo's son Jatin to try and capture a lifetime's love of cricket in the book Cricket Drona, it was perhaps the greatest honour and privilege I have been granted as a cricket writer.

I was welcomed into their Matunga home not as a facilitator or a scribe who sat at his feet and listened to him talk cricket, but as a member of the family.

The cricket conversations were of a quality almost unmatched, for Vasoo kaka, even in his advancing years, was sharp.

If India was playing, the match would be on the television, and his observations and remarks were far ahead of what the commentators, or even the captains were thinking.

Kind soul

But, the thing that stays with me today, is his kindness.

Vasoo Sir never had a bad word for anyone. His sense of humour is famous, but the beauty of his wit was that it never came at the expense of someone else. He did not demean, ridicule, or make fun of anyone, at any time.

In his passing, cricket has lost a lover, a father, a son, a brother.

The shining light, if one can seek out one on a dark day, is that he will live forever through those he touched over the years.

This is a time for condolences, to the family, and commiserations, to all those cricketers who will not benefit from his light touch.

But Vasoo would have wanted us to remember him with a smile. I will do that today, and I hope the rest of the cricket world will join me in this.