The King And I

COLLADO Mediano translates literally into 8216;Middle of the Hill8217;. The little town, 50 km from Madrid, though, is better known in Spa...

COLLADO Mediano translates literally into 8216;Middle of the Hill8217;. The little town, 50 km from Madrid, though, is better known in Spain as 8216;The Place where That Indian Guy Lives8217;. Anonymity, then, is not the lot of Viswanathan Anand.

If the 2003 Chess Oscar, the latest honour to come his way, is any indication, Anand8217;s move to this town of 4,000 people was well justified. He came here in 1995 in search of better facilities than could be accessed in Chennai, his home. Five years later, he won the World Chess Championship in Teheran; in 2001, he received the Jameo De Oro, one of Spain8217;s highest civilian awards for foreigners.

8216;8216;I think Indians in general would like this country.8217;8217; Anand is characteristically to-the-point when he explains shifting base. 8216;8216;I don8217;t aim to be a recluse, but it8217;s nice to live in a quiet place like this. Besides, Madrid8217;s weather grew on me.8217;8217;

And Spain, as a whole, reminded him 8216;8216;of home8217;8217;. So, when chess buffs from Collado Mediano came to know that Anand8212;then in Holland for the Linares tournament8212;was looking for a European base, they laid out the red carpet. The chess whiz was still a bachelor, had never lived away from home, and couldn8217;t cook to save his life; but so thrilled were the townspeople with the new arrival that they went out of their way to make him feel at home.

8216;8216;The local baker offered to cook for me and my team of seconds ahead of tournaments,8217;8217; remembers Anand. 8216;8216;And an elderly Spanish couple8212;chess fans, both of them8212;taught me about the regional culture and cuisines.8217;8217;

The couple, Maurice and Nieves, flew down to Chennai when Anand married Aruna the next year. Today, the couples are best friends, notwithstanding the disparity in age. 8216;8216;They are so caring8230; I tell Nieves she8217;s the only mother-in-law I have in Spain,8217;8217; laughs Aruna.

It was a far more reserved Aruna that this correspondent had first encountered over the phone, when the subject of making the Madrid-Collado Mediano trip first came up. Initially hesitant about revealing this very private aspect of their lives, she suggested driving down to Madrid, and then, meeting at the local market in Collado Mediano. On the appointed day, though, the skies threaten to open up, and the venue shifts to Anand and Aruna8217;s stylish villa.

The couple open the door themselves; they had been expecting a visitor and will not have it any other way. Aruna bustles around, wondering if the living room will photograph well since it8217;s under renovation, but then adds good-naturedly, 8216;8216;You can see his training room in the basement.8217;8217;

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A huge space spanning the length and breadth of the house, the basement houses Vishy8217;s trophies, a desk stacked high with chess journals 8216;8216;They8217;re mandatory, otherwise anyone can become outdated within a month8217;8217;, a bookshelf and Anand8217;s favourite painting of Don Quixote. The windmill is present behind the Man of La Mancha but the foreground is taken up with chess pieces. 8216;8216;I like it. It8217;s unique and quite relevant to the room,8217;8217; says Anand.

		TAKE SEVEN

			8226; MY GAME: I am in the process of enjoying my game. Setting high goals can be distracting. I believe in steady accumulation of success. 8226; CHESS IN INDIA: There is a certain momentum in the game back home, but it needs to be marketed properly. 8226; MENTAL STRENGTH: I think its importance to the game is a bit exaggerated. One will naturally be tense before a match. I try to take my mind off the tournament by going for a walk, taking a shower, watching TV or even sleeping. 8226; ON THE 8216;LACK8217; OF KILLER INSTINCT: I find it funny when people say this about me. Maybe the impression persists because I am seen to be a pleasant guy. 8226; ON KASPAROV: He is not arrogant as people think. I think it is the intensity of the man that gives the impression. Kasparov hardly socialises with other players, while we, the younger ones, go out in a group to restaurants after the tournament. 8226; OTHER SPORTS I FOLLOW: Tennis and football are among my favourites. I follow Paes and Bhupathi. The attitude towards sports is changing now in India. More people are taking it up as a career. 8226; MEDIA HYPE IN INDIAN CRICKET: Frankly speaking, why is there so much attention even on cricketers8217; weddings? I don8217;t understand it.

The fusion sensibility impacts almost all areas of their lives. If the villa is Spanish, the decor is pan-Indian, from Gujarati wall hangings to Tamil motifs. The magazines on the table are Spanish, the food preferences global though Lebanese and Thai are Anand8217;s current favourites, the hobbies8212;Salsa classes and spa-hopping8212;distinctly worldly.

At that precise moment, Aruna walks in, laden with plates of idli-sambhar, chutneys, bissi bele bhaat8212;and a couple of tapas. 8216;8216;Asian cuisine is definitely making an impact,8217;8217; says Anand between munches. 8216;8216;Every year, when we return to Collado Mediano after visiting our parents in India, we carry back so many South Indian masalas.8217;8217;

The couple are unabashed foodies, and both look forward to checking out the restaurants in Madrid when Anand can get away from his intensive training. Travel is another high point. 8216;8216;Life is very hectic during tournaments, but when they end, I like to take Aruna out to see the place8212;but only if I8217;m satisfied with my performance,8217;8217; grins Anand.

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8216;8216;Recently, we went to Corsica for a short holiday after a tournament, and I was so excited to see the house where Napoleon was born. I8217;d been there quite a few times earlier, but never got around to seeing the sights,8217;8217; says Anand. 8216;8216;And I was quite surprised to see that Napoleon isn8217;t too popular among the Corsicans8212;they think he8217;s too French.8217;8217;

Not much chance of that happening to Anand, though. India8212;and, indeed, the world8212;continues to place Anand second only to Garry Kasparov as the all-time best chess player. And in Collado Mediano, he is an inspirational figure: This year, the only local school reached the semis of the countrywide competition for the first time. Truly, the King and Queen of all they survey.