Nicknamed ‘Robbie’ by his teammates, Robin Uthappa was known as a shy person even in college. But by the time he was 25, he had won national and international recognition in cricket. edex caught up with the 'walking assassin', at the National Cricket Academy, Bangalore, after his practice session.
Chuckles and peals of laughter followed as Uthappa went down memory lane. “I completed high school at St Joseph’s College in the arts stream. It’s here that I met my best friend, Kartik. He was my mentor, who taught me how to approach girls,” he quips.
He recalls a time when he and Kartik were caught playing knots and crosses in class. “My lecturer asked us to stand outside the class for three weeks. I left town to play a cricket match, while Kartik had to endure the punishment during the lectures.”
Bunking classes, watching the first-day-first-show of any film, hanging out on Brigade Road and spending all their money at Cafe Coffee Day, were some of the memorable times.
Come exam time, however, Uthappa says he and his friends would group at each others’ place and study through the night.
He says he joined Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore, just to make friends and get to know people. “It is here that I met snooker champion Pankaj Advani and swimmer Shikha Tandon, two of my closest friends,” says the commerce graduate.
Jain college had motivated Uthappa to continue playing cricket as a result of which, he missed many classes. “I used to rush to college whenever I got an opportunity. Sometimes I’d break from cricket practice just to meet people and foster new relationships. It is healthy to have friends outside the cricket field,” he shares.
Did his classmates treat him differently after he became a popular cricketer? “When my classmates saw me on campus, they’d tell me that it was an honour to see me. It was a wonderful moment.”
His classmates would help him out with notes and taught him some of the topics he missed. “I can’t thank them enough,” he says. Uthappa wishes he could turn back time and relive his college days. “College was the place to be,” he adds n
— tasneem@expressbuzz.com