Jonty on a ride

Over the last few years,however,Rhodes has made an effort not only to discover India but also his own country. “As a player,you spend more time in other countries on tours,than your own. I am now making an effort to revisit the places I saw as a child,” says the former cricketer,who spent his 44th birthday last month at a game reserve in South Africa.

On one such trip across the Rainbow Nation,to facilitate what he calls a cultural exchange,Rhodes — also the South African Tourism brand ambassador for India — was joined by four Indians,chosen through a contest. Their escapades and adventure have been made into a television series for NDTV Good Times. Titled My Travel Escapades in South Africa,it will go on air on August 12.

Rhodes is glad that his career — earlier as a cricketer and now as a fielding coach as well as traveller — has been an extension of what he loves. “We are a sports-crazy nation and I was encouraged by my father,a teacher by profession,to play everything from football and hockey to cricket as a child. So while I kept getting better at cricket,there was no team to play for. I remember having posters of Australian cricketers on my walls — until 1991,when the 21-year-long apartheid-caused ban was lifted by the International Cricket Council,” he recalls.

In the absence of cricket coaches in his country since the game offered no career opportunities,he worked on his fielding skills through other sports such as hockey and football. And when the ban was lifted,playing for the country became just another means for earning some more pocket money. “Back then,there was very little advertising-generated revenue,so we were not paid as well as the players are today,” says the former player,who earned the reputation of having redefined fielding in the world of cricket.

While he remains a legendary figure among Indian cricket lovers even today,Rhodes admits that the new generation back in his own country doesn’t know him much. “South Africa lays equal emphasis on all sports,so the youngsters know those players across sports whom they can currently watch playing on television. In contrast,10-year-olds in India know me. There’s no other country that’s as cricket-crazy as India,” he says.

But there’s more that binds Rhodes to India than the adulation and fan following. He has come to like the chaos and idiosyncrasies that make the bustling country “incredible”. And he likes to experience that,especially in Mumbai,first hand on his two-wheeler — his companion in both adventures and misadventures,which he says he has had plenty.

“I was once riding back from Bandra Kurla Complex to the Race Course and lost my way. I asked a pedestrian the way and he asked me to take “a left and left”. I did that but couldn’t find the Race Course. I asked another motorist,who gave me the same directions,which also turned out to be wrong. Yet another Enfield rider said the same and I felt I was riding in circles until I asked someone to literally show me the way,” says Rhodes,who intends to make a road trip to Ladakh next.

“Travelling in India can be frustrating sometimes but I never feel threatened. It’s that kind of place,” he says.