When cricketers share the stage with other sportspersons, the spotlight—besides religiously following the flannelled gods—also focuses on the class divide of our one-sport nation. The BPCL awards night had Padma Shrees, Arjuna Awardees, Asian Games medallists, Commonwealth stars and Olympic medal aspirants, but none was more popular than a Man in Blue. S Sreesanth is yet to play a game for his employers, but he got the best seat in the hall, the fattest pay cheque, the most attention from the VIPs in suits, maximum autograph requests and almost ritualistically gave his quotes on aggression, sledging and the Aussies to the media’s countless queries. Standing close to this chaotic camera huddle around Sreesanth was the star-studded Kochi Refinery volleyball team. Among them was spiker 27-year-old Tom Joseph, who at 6’ 5”, got an aerial view of cricket’s popularity as he stood out in the crowd. He is an undisputed superstar in volleyball circles, but today that circle just comprised of the other ‘6’ plus’ spikers standing around him. In cricket-crazy Mumbai, it was his towering personality that saved him from being just another Tom along with Dick and Harry. Soon a request was floated by a few young members of the Kochi team that a photograph with the more famous Malayalee wouldn’t be a bad idea. Soft-spoken Tom isn’t the kind to make a fuss or have any ego issues. The spiking star was ready to play the perfect fan. And soon the several phone-cameras and zoom lens captured the moment— the volleyball great is third from left to cricket’s new kid on the block. Asia’s best attacker once, the long-serving Indian captain and presently a big name on the professional circuit in the middle east, Tom can be confused as one of Sreesanth’s several hangers-on. And there lay the tragedy of India’s popular sporting culture—it’s all dark beyond the floodlights of the cricket field. Soon it got embarrassing for Sreesanth. “It is quite uncomfortable for me to hog the limelight with these greats around. I have seen Tom play, he is a hero back home. But I can’t help if I am getting the attention. Maybe, that’s how things are in this country,” he said after shouting Cheta to draw Tom’s attention as the latter was climbing down the stage. Ask Tom about the constant cold shoulder he receives in the country outside the volleyball pockets and he is plainly amused. “We have got used it. But come to Kerala once during a volleyball game and you will know about my popularity. Very honestly, I wouldn’t even like this kind of attention,” says the man, who contrary to the popular perception shows no bitterness towards cricket or its millions-earning stars. And soon one got to know the reason for it as Tom spoke about his recently signed contract with a Bahrain club. “I will be getting around $7,500 per month plus the bonuses. It’s a six-month contract and I have been playing in the middle east for the last six to seven years,” he added. Besides, Tom said how in Kerala he often got invited to play tournaments and the the pay pack came to around Rs 50,000. Like Sreesanth, Tom too hails from Calicut district and sport has certainly changed both their lives. Sreesanth has moved to upmarket Kochi as he became the brand ambassador of a housing project, but Tom hasn’t left his village. “I still stay at Thottilpalam. We have a house at the top of a hill. And from the money I have been getting from playing abroad, I have bought more land around on the hills of my village. I would never shift to a big city,” said the deeply-contended man. Back on the stage, Sreesanth was being pulled out from an in-camera interview by his friends as there is threat the he might miss the flight. But on the way, there are a few more sharp suits waiting for more handshakes and pictures. Tom, meanwhile, was enjoying a quiet meal with his teammates. And, maybe telling himself that obscurity isn’t all that bad.
