Memories with Ratish Ramakant Chachad~~~~

It is the day rather an evening which is worth quoting on the gentleman who is my friend/my senior and above all the million dollar priced asset with whom I interacted after more than half a century. The guy is Ratish Ramakant Chachad or “Ratish Chachad”, the gentleman needs no introduction. I used the word “Million Dollar” as Ratish is in Canada, staying near Niagra falls. On calling him I said “Is it Ratish Chachad, I am Tapan Bose speaking from India”. Hats off to the class of the gentleman, he said “Mia, tumne mujhe bohot tang kiya tha Hyderabad senior Nationals me, I played the decider with you then”. This is the generosity of the high profile paddler of the Indian team , remembering the 1960 Senior national five setter in Hyderabad , the time is when Indian team used to regularly play the Champions Division. Ratish was the boy who used to beat the legend Krishna Nagraj in straight games in the initial rounds of the senior Nationals. This was the class of the boy who always received a standing ovation which followed with the crowd gather. My laptop was on my lap and his complete career record in my database was open. Next I started with The 1963 World Table Tennis Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, it was the year when Team India finished 13th in the Worlds’. It was the Worlds’ when Gautam Diwan was the captain. The Indian team was very good then and all five were equal. Team India comprised of Gautam Diwan, Ratish Chachad, Papu Haldankar and Jayant Vora. It was a moment which I loved going back to the golden era with my friend discussing those times and remembering our friends. The final thing which he stated was the best, “Tapan, I am coming to India this November and we would surely play a decider, again and surely wearing half pant and T-Shirt”. Hope to see you soon Ratish this year……………

Few of the pictures of Ratish.............

Bombay Team - L to R - Bombay Place Holder Dilip Sampat, Sudhir Thakarsey, Gautam Diwan, Farrokh Khodaiji, Jayant Vora, Ratish Chachad, Gul Nasikwala, Joy D'Souza, Indira Iyengar, Prisca Newns,, Monty Merchant.