Sachin Tendulkar gave up studies to pursue cricket. So did Adam Gilchrist. School and college dropouts proliferate all sports.
Against this run of play, Viren Wilfred Rasquinha, who was India’s hockey captain, gave up the game six months ago to join the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. Incidentally, he first went to the ISB campus when he stayed there for the Afro-Asian Games in 2003.
Rasquinha, who turned 28 on September 13, played for India in 180 international games.
Far from the circuit now, he is enjoying his time at ISB, India’s only B-School in the global Top 20, and calls it “a great learning experience”, though hockey remains a passion.
"Sports are my passion and, eventually, I want to do something related to sports management, marketing, or media, or a combination of all three.”
He knows how poorly sports are managed in India. “There is very little organisation, and there needs to be a change in administration, and hopefully I would be able to work in that direction.”
Rasquinha does not think he will change the face of Indian sports when he graduates in 2009, but does intend to make an effort.
Was it difficult getting back to books? “In the beginning, I felt, ‘man! this is really tough!’, but managed to cope,” he says with a laugh.
He went through the usual rigmarole of preparing for GMAT and scored 710 out of 800.
Campus life interests him, especially the diverse backgrounds of his fellow students. There is a National Defence Academy topper with five gold medals, a Carnatic vocalist who has done more than 100 concerts, an Indian Police Service officer, and a doctor — Shankha Brata Bagchi — who has also served as a Superintendent of Police.
“It’s not an easy life here,” he says. The ISB curriculum, with all its assignments, can keep a student fully occupied. “But it’s a fantastic experience to be surrounded by people who come from such different walks of life.”
Rasquinha says he learnt a lot as a hockey player from playing with people who came from various parts of the country. But this is something else. “I am sure being here will definitely make me a more knowledgeable person and I don’t mean that in terms of academics alone.”
So, does he miss hockey? Yes, but Rasquinha feels that he quit at the right time, even though he was among the most talented on the circuit. “I enjoyed my career thoroughly, but I always wanted to quit at the peak.”
Among his special hockey moments, he counts representing the country at the Athens Olympics and captaining India for the first time against traditional arch-rival Pakistan.
Is he also glad that he quit because Indian hockey has plunged new depths of late? “As a fan, I want to see the revival of Indian hockey, and it does pain me to see my former teammates going through such a phase.” The phase, he is confident, will pass.
Does he entertain thoughts of wielding the stick again at the highest level? Not really, he says, though he owes everything to the game. “People recognise me because I was a hockey player.”
Has he flunked any test at ISB? “I have come close, but, thankfully, have managed to clear them all.”
