Between the Wickets and Beyond | Padma Shri Syed Kirmani | TEDxRUAS

0:08 Good evening to all of you.

0:11 Ah, there you are.

0:12 You're all awake.

0:14 All right.

0:14 I was born in Chennai.

0:16 It was called Madras then.

0:18 And then I was My childhood was in Hyderabad.

0:23 And the rest in Bangalore.

0:26 Yes.

0:28 All right.

0:29 So, that's where I am.

0:32 Right from the age of 7 years I have been into Bangalore.

0:36 It was called Mysore state then.

0:39 I'm going to share my little experiences.

0:41 You will find the greater detail in my which

0:44 I have come up very recently in with my autobiography.

0:48 Called Stumped.

0:51 You know, S T U M P E D.

0:53 Stump.

0:53 Cricket may stamping hoti hai na?

0:56 So, that is what is called stump.

0:58 So, the greater details are in that book.

1:00 I'll just touch a few here and there from that book also.

1:03 It is available online.

1:05 It is available on Amazon.

1:07 It is available on all the book stores.

1:11 He was transferred during the bifurcation

1:13 of the government and reorganizations of the state 1952.

1:18 Sorry, it was 1956.

1:20 Yes, I was 6 years old.

1:22 He came into Bangalore.

1:23 It was called Mysore state and then he was given the one-bedroom quarters.

1:27 Right, it's still there.

1:28 15D is the number of that D-type quarters in Jayamahal Extension.

1:32 That's where I grew up.

1:34 One-bedroom upbringing.

1:36 Father was a stenographer.

1:38 I don't know how many of the current

1:40 students know what stenography is all about.

1:43 Right, it's a shorthand.

1:43 It is called It was called shorthand.

1:46 So, that that's where he was and I used to walk I

1:51 know the kind of I'm sure the current students of this era,

1:55 20th century, are very fortunate, very lucky to have the wonderful facilities,

2:00 amenities provided to all of you.

2:03 Right?

2:03 I used to walk 8 km to the school, come back 8 km St.

2:08 Germain's to start with.

2:11 Okay, from there on, third, fourth, I studied there.

2:15 St.

2:15 Joseph's, again walking.

2:17 Father could not afford a bus pass.

2:21 All right?

2:22 And uh we used to walk.

2:25 And all the way from Jay Mahal extension to St.

2:28 Germain's High School and St.

2:30 Joseph's, walk, walk and come back.

2:33 Lovely, good walk.

2:34 That's why I'm so fit, I think, right now.

2:38 So So on that count, my father was only interested study, study, study.

2:48 Pado, pado, pado.

2:49 He used to grill into my head.

2:52 Because those days sports were not very popular.

2:57 And um my father was only interested get a get a get a degree,

3:02 get a good government job.

3:11 He used to tell this very regularly into me.

3:15 Itna grill kiya mera call.

3:18 Bahut jaldi saaf ho gaya main.

3:21 So that's the way and he was a very very strict person.

3:26 Of course, to me.

3:29 To whatever little experience I have

3:31 gained going around the world playing cricket,

3:33 everything is through cricket only.

3:35 Right?

3:36 And it has given me a good experience to evaluate an individual.

3:42 An individual is a reflection of his or her parents, 80%.

3:50 And the rest 20% is from the paternal paternal

3:53 side and the society and the environment one moves into.

4:00 You see, we are all carrying the genes of our parents 80%.

4:05 Right?

4:05 So, we are a reflection of our parents.

4:07 If somebody does good, who excels, it reflects on the parents straight away.

4:12 Wow, because of his upbringing, because of her upbringing.

4:16 So, it goes like that.

4:18 So, not to go into the greater details of that, doctors are all here.

4:23 This is all This is where I confirmed with the doctors who I came across whether

4:27 my evaluation was right or wrong about the individual

4:32 who is a reflection of his parents 80%.

4:36 So, on that count, my father could not afford canvas shoes as well.

4:42 I used to take part in my sports on the sly.

4:45 Never ever informed my father that I'm taking part in sports.

4:49 I believe my father was a good athlete.

4:52 I don't know what sort of an athlete he was in the 30s.

4:56 My mother was a good badminton player in her days,

4:59 I believe in her school, ball badminton.

5:02 Okay?

5:03 So, probably that was the extra gene sporting genes

5:09 I carried from my father and my my mother.

5:12 The PT master whistle, all of you,

5:15 whoever wants to take part in the sports, come and qualify.

5:19 Ran 100 m, 200 m, got selected for the St.

5:24 Joseph's relay team.

5:25 Rest of my colleagues who took part in sports, they all had spikes.

5:31 I ran barefooted.

5:33 I played house games barefooted, hockey barefooted, football barefooted.

5:40 For the cricket selection into the junior school team, I used my uniform shoes.

5:48 I was an average student.

5:50 Yes, I passed in every examination.

5:53 From there on, I got selected for the junior school team,

5:58 graduated senior school team.

6:00 No shoes, all uh uh uniform shoes.

6:04 And gradually, I was invited to play the state school for the selections.

6:09 I got selected.

6:10 Well, that was a gradual stepping stone for me.

6:13 I can still recall my debut New Zealand and West Indies twin tour, 1976.

6:21 We had very poor equipment.

6:22 We had to buy our equipment.

6:24 I used the batting glove as my thigh pad.

6:28 Oh my god.

6:30 And then the chest pad towel from the hotel

6:34 small little towel we used to tie around

6:37 and with a with a string kind of a thing

6:39 tied up facing the fastest bowlers in the world.

6:43 Right, they were so so ferocious, particularly the West Indian fast bowlers.

6:48 You know, I was excelling in wherever I took part.

6:52 This is where I came into the limelight.

6:55 Right?

6:56 And consistency is the key.

7:00 In any walk of life, my dear friends,

7:02 consistency is the key which brings you into limelight.

7:07 From all disciplines, whoever you whatever field you want to pick.

7:12 Right?

7:13 Don't become like A B C D.

7:17 Be better than A B C D.

7:19 That should be your motto.

7:20 That should be your aim.

7:22 That should be your focus.

7:23 By the way, it just struck me before things

7:26 slip out of my uh shining and slippery head, uh I would like to, of course,

7:31 uh congratulate uh the women cricketers who won the World Cup 2025.

7:39 And what an inspiration.

7:43 So, in in short, my dear students,

7:46 particularly, I'll pass on with three six alphabets,

7:53 which are very, very important for one and all to climb the ladder of success.

8:02 Right?

8:03 Now, the first three alphabets is the three Ws.

8:09 In our time, sir, in my school days,

8:11 I used to hear the three great Ws from West Indies.

8:16 They were Weeks, Worrell, and Walcott.

8:19 I don't know.

8:19 I've never seen them, but I have been to the grave of Worrell,

8:23 who was the captain of the West Indies team, while in West Indies.

8:27 Right?

8:28 The three Ws.

8:29 First W, who am I?

8:35 The next W, what am I?

8:40 And the third W, where am I?

8:43 Where am I going?

8:44 There's so much of depth in these three Ws.

8:48 Who am I?

8:49 What am I?

8:50 And where am I?

8:53 Such great depth.

8:55 You got to look into yourself first.

8:58 Where you are, what you are, and where are you heading?

9:03 And the three other Ds.

9:07 D.

9:08 First D, determination.

9:10 Second D, dedication.

9:13 And the third one, which is very, very important, is discipline.

9:18 I would put discipline ahead of the two,

9:21 because discipline is what builds one's character.

9:25 And the character will take you a very, very long way.

9:30 That is where you have to be aiming at.

9:34 A good discipline.

9:35 And wherever you are, wherever you are in whatever discipline of life,

9:41 you got to be so much focused saying that I'll be number one wherever I am.

9:48 I want to be the leader.

9:50 I want to be the captain.

9:51 I want to be the chancellor of the university.

9:56 This is how your aims should be.

9:59 This is how your I mean, there was nobody to tell us in our time.

10:04 By the way, we won the '83 World Cup, 1983 World Cup, no coach.

10:12 '83 World Cup.

10:14 Huh?

10:15 We we are You see?

10:18 That was the most of course she mentioned underdogs.

10:22 I think that should not have been said.

10:24 It should have been the fourth weakest team in the competition.

10:28 Yeah, right.

10:29 And Nevertheless, that's how the media says, uh the underdogs will kick.

10:35 Right?

10:35 If if if you have not seen the '83 movie, please have a look at that.

10:39 See the movie.

10:40 It's on YouTube, Netflix.

10:42 How we won, how we were looked down

10:44 upon being the fourth weakest team in the competition.

10:48 Right?

10:49 And how we overcame.

10:51 And what a spirit it was.

10:54 Team spirit.

10:55 It's the team spirit which makes a captain very very popular.

11:02 Right?

11:03 And and of course you did mention about 175, sir.

11:07 Yes, I I I must tell you that you know wherever

11:12 whatever you're aiming at, you there's no shortcut to success for sure.

11:18 You got to be very rigorous,

11:21 very And by the way, life is nothing but a sacrifice.

11:27 You got to sacrifice somewhere down the line to achieve something.

11:31 And the best way to progress on a day-to-day basis is to introspect yourself.

11:39 That is what is required.

11:40 Talk to yourself.

11:42 Analyze yourself at the end of the day.

11:46 And this is the way to progress.

11:48 If you have not had a good day, tomorrow should be a better day.

11:53 The first turning point was we met the reigning

11:56 world champions West Indies who ruled cricket for three decades.

12:01 So, we beat them comprehensively at Old Trafford, Manchester.

12:06 They couldn't realize weakest team in the competition have beaten us.

12:10 Right.

12:10 From there on we went on beating all these stronger teams.

12:14 Came in playing against Zimbabwe.

12:18 We had beaten them in the league uh match

12:22 and we are playing Zimbabwe again to qualify for the knockout.

12:27 If we had lost that match, forget the World Cup.

12:31 We had to win that match and now

12:33 normally I don't get batting in the ODIs, right?

12:37 So, I was relaxed.

12:38 I was in a dressing room preparing myself for a good breakfast

12:44 and a good shower and watch my team perform the top order scoring brilliantly.

12:51 Right?

12:52 So, while I was in the dressing room,

12:55 a call came from outside from one of the players.

12:58 "Hey Kiri, pad up." I was like,

13:01 "Yeah, what happened?" Normally guys play pranks.

13:05 So, I thought I ignored that shout.

13:06 Within 3 minutes again a very serious call.

13:09 "Hey Kiri, pad up, yeah." Pad up, yeah.

13:11 Pad up, yeah.

13:12 Pad up, yeah.

13:13 So, I looked for a window to see why this call, serious call.

13:19 I saw the scoreboard.

13:21 It said 17 17.

13:24 Down below it said five.

13:27 Oh, my god.

13:29 I had a toast and the towel round to have a good shower.

13:34 I said 17 for five ball they toss fell.

13:38 Towel also fell.

13:39 Oh, my god.

13:41 Picked up the towel.

13:42 Thank god nobody was in the dressing room.

13:44 Honestly, I don't know whether I had a good breakfast or a good shower.

13:48 I was walking in 126 for eight, sir.

13:51 Kapil Dev Bechara up there.

13:54 You can imagine after doing so very well.

13:57 With his bad resting and his what

14:00 thoughts would have gone into that captain's mind.

14:03 You can imagine.

14:04 So, while walking up number eight,

14:08 the last batsman, Balwinder Singh Sandhu sitting down there.

14:13 While I just walked inside, Ballu said All right.

14:22 He said that and then while walking, I said to myself, "Okay,

14:26 now is the time that I must give a good stand to Kapil Dev." All right.

14:32 Now, in my mind, I will play one delivery.

14:36 Give Kapil Dev five deliveries to hit.

14:39 This is This was in my mind.

14:42 Because he was the best hitter of the Indian cricket team.

14:45 Walked up to him and I said, "Kiri Caps,

14:49 we are in a do or die situation." As I am going to our caps,

14:55 we have to hit and die.

14:59 In the meantime, the umpire come back.

15:00 Come on.

15:01 Come on.

15:01 You're wasting time.

15:02 Take your stand.

15:02 Meanwhile, I'm talking to the captain.

15:04 You take your place.

15:05 I had to tell him that at that juncture.

15:07 Nevertheless, so one run Kapil Dev five deliveries Summing it up,

15:18 175 devastating knock from Kapil Dev.

15:23 I've never seen a knock of 175 in a situation like that.

15:28 17 for 5 and 126 runs partnership between me and Kapil Dev.

15:37 You're sincerely You're sincerely was 26 not out.

15:46 So, this is where we qualified and after that it was history, my dear friends.

15:52 It was history all along.

15:54 Unbelievable historic win that was for all of us

15:58 and for the entire Indians all over the world.

16:02 It was like that for the women's cricket also who won the recent World Cup.

16:08 Right?

16:08 So, on that issue, I would like to close and say thank you all for I mean,

16:15 there are a lot of inspirational I've given you those six alphabets.

16:20 And that's where you got to follow those and I wish the M.S.

16:24 Ramaiah Group of Institution the very best of luck in its endeavors and all

16:30 the students the very best of luck in whatever you all are aiming.

16:34 You all are whatever you want to become.

16:37 Bring Keep the tripe flag tri-color flying high at all times.

16:43 All right?

16:44 Bring name to yourself.

16:45 Bring name to your family, your state.

16:47 Bring name to your country.

16:48 With these, God bless you all with good health and happiness.

16:54 [applause] Thank you so much.