Why Leander made me cry!

Earlier this week my mum Rachael, the official fountainhead for great content in our extended family, shared a video of tennis legend Leader Paes accepting his induction into the tennis hall of fame!

It was so moving I started crying on the metro!

A few reasons why I think the tears came rolling down:

1. I identified with the subject matter. He spoke about his origins in a middle class family from Calcutta. How he played cricket and football on the streets growing up. His ambition was actually to play football for India. I could relate completely.

2. He used simple yet eloquent language. He refrained from using very complicated words or speaking long sentences. His language was easy on the ears and had just the right amount of gravitas.

3. Not overloaded with stats but embellished with them. He refused to take himself too seriously. He had already reached the summit. He didn’t need to thump his chest anymore! Of course I didn’t know he had represented India in 8 Olympics. So his data points were interesting like trivia and not overwhelming.

4. He didn’t read from a pre prepared script (something I might have done given the occasion). He trusted himself to cover his life’s journey within the alotted time and knew just when to reel it out and reel it in! Not having a paper infront meant the entire speech came across as being very conversational. Everyone loves to listen to a friend.

5. He told some great stories. I especially loved the one about him surprising his dad with a PHD! That’s when the tears started rolling down!

Maybe the fact that he uses such an August occasion and global platform to also shine a light on India got me even more emotional!

What were your thoughts? Do share in the comments!