Udayan waves goodbye

For the inmates of Udayan, the home for children of leprosy patients at Barrackpore near Kolkata, today was a sad day. And the main reason was not that their famous benefactor played his last Test match, but that they couldn’t watch their Steve-da (Waugh) live because the only TV set at the home doesn’t have a satellite connection.

‘‘We feel sad that Steve-da today played his last Test match. We also couldn’t watch his last innings. Of course, we heard the commentary on radio and what a match he played!’’ Krishna Mandal and Mithun Singh, himself hopeful of playing big cricket one day, told The Indian Express. One the eve of Steve Day at Sydney, the Udayan authorities e-mailed a goodwill message to Steve. A special message also went across from Lakshmi Kumari, the disabled girl Waugh sponsors. ‘‘I also requested him to visits us more often,’’ Lakshmi said. The home patronised by French author Dominique Lapierre was set up in 1978. Waugh’s annual visits, often with wife Lynette, are easily the happiest days in the lives of these underprivileged children.