Himali Khadka Vesawkar is not a well known name among Nepali sports fans, but her son is. Sharad Vesawkar is a household name among cricket fanatics, and his heroics against Hong Kong at the ICC World T20 Qualifiers in Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday, has shot him to stardom.
Over the years, there have been many critics who doubted Sharad´s caliber. But, his mother always had faith that her son had it in him to do his country proud.
“I woke up early on Wednesday as I had to go a nearby temple and pray for the Nepali cricket team,” said Himali, the proud mother of the cricketer.
“I made laddoos (sweetmeats) to offer to the Lord Ganesh and my sisters also helped me.”
Himali Khadka Vesawkar, Sharad Vesawkar’s mother.
As she devoted the entire day to prayers, she was quite sure about the victory of the Nepali team in the cricket match.
“I was just feeling very positive throughout the match,” she shared and added that she had even dreamt about her deceased husband which she thought was a good omen.
“If I see him (husband) in my dreams, something positive happens the next day. Like on Tuesday night I saw him and on the next day Nepal qualified for the ICC World T20 2014,” she said.
After Nepal defeated Hong Kong, telephone continuously buzzed at her home. The whole day, she was busy in answering the calls by her family members, friends and well wishers, who had called to congratulate her family.
“The excitement of the people makes me happier. Sharad also called me after finishing the match with his voice thrilled with joy and excitement. I congratulated the whole team,” she said.
Soft-spoken Himali said that for her, who scored the highest or played well in the match is not important, but Nepal qualifying for the World Cup actually matters.
“My son secured the last run but it could have been anybody scoring that. That does not matter to me,” she said. “All the players are like my own son. I pray not only for my son but for the whole team. I believe cricket is a team game so everyone must give their best and make their country proud.”
Emotional Sharad Vesawkar, after hitting the winning runs for Nepal against Hong Kong on 27th November. Pic courtesy: CricketingNepal
Born as a second child to Dilip and Himali Vesawkar in the UAE, coincidentally the same country where he reached the World Cup milestone on Wednesday, Sharad started playing cricket from his early years, says Himali.
Dilip, an engineer in a chemical company, and Himali, a homemaker, always encouraged him to play well. In every match he played, he gathered accolades for his performance.
Sharad used to be compared to Rahul Dravid, for his batting style and composure, in his early days as a cricketer. Having played continuously for around a decade, he became a bona fide Nepali citizen only this year. However, it was not easy for him to acquire citizenship as he had to struggle a lot because he was born to an Indian father and a Nepali mother. And the decision to grant him Nepali citizenship has been vindicated by his superb performance in the World T20 Qualifiers.
“He did not lose hope and finally he got it. He did not let me know about the entire problem which he had been facing with citizenship. All of his seniors and well wishers supported him in getting the citizenship,” says Himali.
Now that he has a Nepali citizenship, his fans would wish he keeps scoring runs in important matches for the country.
Ed: This write-up appeared in Republica, written by Pratibha Rawal.