BANGALORE: Unlike most people, I wasn't born a football fan. But I remember the exact moment I fell in love with football. It was in 1997, and I was sauntering through my summer vacations.
It was then that he 'step-overed' into my field of view: a lean, muscly young man who sidestepped defenders and thundered away from them. There he was, weaving his way through tackles that could have broken mere mortals. And then I sensed for the first time what inevitability actually meant. It was inevitable that this man would score, inevitable that he would become the greatest footballer in the world.
I was felled — not by the extravagance of talent that was on display — but by the idea of a gap-toothed, index-finger waving, grinning idiot.
My father, who was quietly watching from behind me, whispered in my ears: "This is Ronaldo. He is the greatest footballer in the world. He is a Brazilian." If there ever was a moment of epiphany, that truly was it. No one appreciates magic quite like children do — the younger they are, the bigger suckers they tend to be. I was no different.
One of the great tragedies of being a young boy who has sensible parents is the inadequate amount of time you are allowed in front of the television. The one notable exception was when Sachin was batting— this naturally meant that my parents would be watching and that they were too involved in the game to actually bother me too much besides the occasional half-hearted, "Go sleep."
But then, my father, in a quite extraordinary step for the times, undoubtedly risking the wrath of my mother, refused to stop me from watching the late night matches of the 1998 Football World Cup. When I saw France raise the trophy, what I had in me was beyond anger. It was loathing. I have never missed a chance to passionately hate French football ever since that traumatic night.
Like all immortals, he was given one more chance at glory, and he memorably seized it four years later at the World Cup.
Ronaldo retired last year. However, he had long before given up pretending to be a footballer. Yet he lingers on, one of the last memories of a childhood that had many sporting heroes.
Hrishikesh Varma is a consultant with a Bangalore-based start-up.