By the time Shobha Warrier finished talking to Anand's mother Susheela, his father
Viswanathan joined her to talk about his World champion-son.
"She must have told you everything," he said.
Congratulations to the proud father. How has the day been so far for you? Very tiring?
It was not tiring; it was exciting! There were phone calls after phone calls. We
feel happy talking. The tiredness will probably come tomorrow. Today is full of
happiness. We are happy that so many good people want to enjoy the victory. We feel
we should join them though we are old. I am 80-plus. It is a unique occasion that we
shouldn't feel discomforted.
Let me ask you a question that I asked Anand's mother just now. Anand remains the
same person despite being the number one in the world unlike many other sports
persons...
We would like to take credit for Anand remaining the same person. A child emulates
the parents. If you are pompous, they are also pompous. If you are humble, they are
also humble.
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You know we are not looking for any media publicity in spite of all the success
Anand has had. We are happy that he has achieved this. Now we claim we are
responsible for this (for him being the same person). There is no point (denying)
because this is a unique individual ability, God-given. So, we thank God first. It
is divine help that has brought such a wonderful son to us. And we are happy about
it. We are content about it. There is no need for us to jump or shout about his
achievement.
We are being proud. What I say is, be proud to yourself but don't show the pride
outside.
It is a great quality in a person to have humility and the ability not to talk ill
of others. We are happy that he is like this.
Photograph: Sreeram Selvaraj
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