CHENNAI: The tennis community has logged on to Instagram and other online networks to talk about life during lockdown. If Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are live on the former, Tennis United, a show that has brought the WTA and the ATP together, airs on YouTube every Friday.
Closer home too, one current star has taken to Instagram to keep the show running. Last Sunday, Purav Raja debuted his Chai With Raja show with a conversation with Mahesh Bhupathi. The latter has been reticent to talk about his relationship with Leander Paes but was fairly candid when Raja asked him to describe it.
Apart from getting guests to open up, he hopes it will showcase tennis as a fun sport to the people who will tune in to watch it. “It started out as a blog,” he tells this daily. “An option came for me to do it this way and I thought ‘why not’? The whole idea is to get the viewer more interested, it’s all about making tennis a fun sport.”
The camaraderie that Raja has built with Indian players and the wider tennis community means they may be more willing to open up with him. “Playing with these guys over the years has given us a sense of camaraderie. There is also a sense of mutual respect. It means they may be more comfortable talking to me than, say, talking to the media.”
One witnessed that as Bhupathi spoke about Paes without having to worry about his words being taken out of context. “We conquered the white man’s game, Sania (Mirza), Rohan (Bopanna) and all of you guys go there now, believing you can win,” he had said on the show, describing the effects of his alliance with Paes.
This Sunday, he welcomed Prakash and Vijay Amritraj and they were equally candid. “Do keep your eye out for next weekend, I have a surprise lined up,” the 34-year-old, who is not yet sure if this will become a regular feature, says.
Of course, this isn’t his only offering on the platform. Every Friday, he works behind-the-scenes for a live concert done by his wife, Amisha Jalota, and former Davis Cupper Somdev Devvarman. “They have jammed together occasionally and have done a few gigs at weddings.
“So there was an idea to do this (it is aptly titled Devotional Racket) during the lockdown and that’s how it started,” the 112th-ranked doubles exponent says. “The two shows are completely independent of each other. On Friday, I do nothing. I am more of a backpage organiser. On Sunday, I do the main event,” he laughs.
When the topic shifts to the coronavirus pandemic, his voice turns sober. With one Challenger title (Bengaluru) and one semifinal (Pune), his partner Ramkumar Ramanathan and him had shown good promise. The break has halted their momentum but he feels this is not the time to complain. “More than two lakh people have died, don’t really think I want to complain,” he says.
For the moment, he maintains his fitness thanks to a basic gym setup at home. Apart from that, there is ‘Devotional Racket’ and ‘Chai With Raja’.