Travel Bug - Horsely Hills

 Timothy has been one of the few friends from my cricketing days who has remained a personal friend as well. It's an odd relationship since he is a few years older than I. I distinctly remember seeing him for the first time when he dropped in at the Osmania University A ground. I was playing for the varsity league team and he stopped by for a while. Handsome, rugged Clint Eastwood looks, slim hipped and broad shouldered, a distinct gait as he walked. He definitely had an air about him. I had heard about him - his name often came in the cricket scores every week.

Timothy Paul and me - the only pic we have together 

Next i met Paulie was when we were both selected for the Under 25 matches and we sat on the railings at Parade Grounds watching our match. Whatever happened then remained and we continued that friendship all through. We began meeting at Ameerpet Playground for practice. He would give me tips - good ones - like he once told me how important footwork was for batsmen and how he worked on his footwork. Another time he told me how important it was for the skipper to define roles to the players - "tell them clearly, even how many runs you expect from them'. I don't think many captains do that. Very good tip. Set expectations. One more gem - you should not marry someone you love, marry someone who loves you.

Paulie was someone you could count on to bail you out in a tight situation in a game. he always was quick thinking, finds weaknesses and finds a way to win. He may not have great technique but with what little he has, he wins. Like I would rate him 5 and myself 8 at table tennis but he would challenge me and beat me, mostly by understanding my mindset, playing with it and exploiting my weaknesses and compromising my strengths. In a game against a tough opponent in a final (some local tournament) we needed one wicket with one run left and trust Paulie to get him out!

We connected on music. He suddenly picked up a bunch of 'Best Of' cassettes and we would sicuss music. Once we even went to watch a Hindi movie at Lamba - took a bus to Patny and then hired a rickshaw to Lamba! 'Betaab' I guess. That way we also saw movies like Akshay Kumar's 'Mr Bond'a complete B grade movie twice in a row for cheap thrills at Zaheerabad. Or some Telugu movies at Machilipatnam.

Paulie was someone I could never say no to. He would take me to the weirdest places to play local tournaments - Machilipatnam, Guntur, Parbani, Nanded, Zaheerabad, Bidar, Old City, Sanathnagar - we won most. I would not have gone for anyone else to these tournaments. He has this fine sense of humour, always has to have the last word, extremely competitive, loves to be Jughead. I have seen him go through his father's death, buying a lovely house at Begumpet, attending his marriage at the Church at Chapel Road. He was one of the few who attended my marriage in 1995. I somehow started visiting him on Christmas days and now its an annual ritual - he invites a whole lot of his friends every Christmas to his house for a party!

Mr Quick Wit and Always Competitive suddenly started to reveal a different side to him which I never thought existed (never thought he would show openly). He would invite all his old friends, from his school days to cricketing days to work days, without fail to his Christmas parties. they were about people he cared for and it was quite touching to see him put so much effort into the parties, take care to see each one was taken care of. A soft, sentimental side to him which i knew he had but would never show, surfaced.

But he went one step further when his son Akshay got married recently. He booked a bus and invited all the people that mattered to him, arranged food and drink, got the whole party together, put them all up at a lovely resort at Horsely Hills (after doing much research I heard). To me it was an act of love and nothing short of that. I have not heard of anyone do this - his friends from school, their families, college, cricket, work - he called all those who mattered to him. I am glad I was one of those. Despite a crazily hectic schedule I pulled off a day and went in the bus, sandwiched in the back with two heavy duty drinkers.

The happy couple!

The hotel was brilliant. Some functions during the day, cocktails at night with music and dancing. I went on a walk with Ashok to a park nearby which had a tree planted by Mr Horsely himself. We went to a sunset point after that. Late night drinking and dancing by the kids.

Next day was the wedding. After the wedding I headed back with Paulie's friend Raj who was driving back by himself. I ended up driving most of the journey and took a Uber from Aaranghar at 12!

Thanks Paulie (and Seema) for a unique experience. And Akshay, have a happy married life.