I was bowled over by a shuttlecock: Dona Ganguly

Krittivas Mukherjee

She says she was shuttled down not bowled over.

It was badminton, not cricket that first attracted a teenage Dona to her neighbour, now husband and India cricket captain, Sourav Ganguly.

Peeping over the low boundary wall that separated Dona's family, the Roys, from the Gangulys, the young lady eagerly waited for Ganguly hitting a wayward shot and the shuttlecock landing on her lawn.

"Whenever the shuttlecock fell on our compound, I got my chance to return it," said Dona.

Therein lies a love story. In all the picking and fetching, eyes met and the couple fell in love.

Tales of love at first sight are among the many tidbits Indian cricket's "First Lady" wants to share in a book she and other members of his family propose to write about him.

"There are so many other small things that I can recall about my early acquaintance with Sourav. Maybe, I'll put all that in the book," said Dona, with a twinkle in her eye.

The book is the latest buzz at 2/6 Biren Roy Road, the mansion in Calcutta's southern Behala neighbourhood, which is the Ganguly family home.

Ganguly's parents, uncles, aunts and cousins -- who all live under the same roof -- are scrambling for topics to write about the 'Maharaja', Ganguly's nickname. And the wife says she's keen to pen her insights about the Indian skipper as 'Sourav - the husband'.

Their marriage, for instance, stumbled upon quite a few boulders. Both families had objections to the match but the couple threw caution to the wind and tied the knot anyway.

Long before Dona became "Sourav Ganguly's wife", she had become famous herself. Born in a well-known Bengali family, Dona was an Odissi danseuse, performing the classical Indian dance across the country and abroad.

A disciple of famous Odissi guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Dona continues her love affair with the dance and recently set up a dance school.

"I had always wanted to set up a dance school some day, where youngsters will receive high quality training. I am happy I have one such place today," she beamed.

Called Deepa, the school boasts of faculty like veteran Bengali film actress Madhabi Mukherjee. But dance began as an appetizer for Dona.

"When it came to food, I was pretty reluctant and my mother thought that dance would do wonders to my appetite." She was sent for classes under Amala Shankar, wife of legendary dancer Uday Shankar.

She began with 'Kathak' under the tutelage of Birju Maharaj's disciple Rajen Basu, but after he fell ill, she started Odissi lessons under Giridhari Nayak. Her love for Odissi caught the eye of Nayak's guru Mohapatra, who took Dona under his wings.

It is fan mail that reminds her of the star value. "You know, I receive a lot of mail. But, of course, they are mostly for Sourav.

"The letters are from teenage girls, all keen on a reply from Sourav and their idea is if they drop a few lines to me, the chances of their wish being fulfilled are much more."

Indo-Asian News Service