"Sport teaches you to respect opponents, to be graceful.…"
That was Shah Rukh Khan, smiling as only he does, when this reporter congratulated him for being so gracious (which included his putting on the Kings XI Punjab shirt) after success No. 2 in the IPL.
It was then around 3.15 am, at the ITC Gardenia, and Shah Rukh had just got there after "dropping off" his children at the airport.
Shah Rukh seemed calmer than in 2012, but that could be because he's now used to winning. Outside the box office, too, that is.
That first final for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), in Chennai, had probably been more draining emotionally.
Shah Rukh's the principal owner and the charismatic face of KKR, a franchise which recovered phenomenally, recording nine wins in a row, to take IPL VII.
Hours after the final, the "action" had shifted to the Highland Nectar Bar at the property.
Not a minute went by when somebody or the other, with access to the privileged area, didn't congratulate Shah Rukh.
In particular, they kept interrupting Shah Rukh's conversation with KKR's batting coach, Woorkeri Raman, a former India opener.
Shah Rukh greeted everybody, often gently pointing to his heart, to convey a heartfelt thank you.
As a gesture of reciprocity, it was touching.
(Later, Raman said the one-on-one with Shah Rukh had been "general in nature, not specific to the pulsating final".
Raman did ask Shah Rukh if he'd been "nervous", to which the Badshah of filmdom replied "no".
What about Raman himself?
"Well, no matter how seasoned you are, the heart does tend to beat faster," was Raman's admission.)
Asked if the enormity of KKR's achievement had sunk in, Shah Rukh suggested that bit was a work in progress.
Elaborating on having been gracious — towards the Kings XI, lovely co-owner Preity Zinta and centurion Wriddhiman Saha — Shah Rukh said: "She's a lady... Preity's like my girl.… Saha has been my boy.…"
Saha, it may be recalled, was with KKR in the first three seasons of the IPL. He was then bought by the Chennai Super Kings where, living in Mahendra Singh Dhoni's shadow, he wasted the last three seasons.
The Kings XI saw Saha blossom.
Besides what Shah Rukh stated publicly, The Telegraph saw him applaud Saha both when he got his 50 and when he reached the 100.
It wasn't for the benefit of the cameras.
Shah Rukh was seated when the second milestone (first hundred in an IPL final) was posted, but he stood up to join the thousands in hailing Saha's effort.
Well done, Shah Rukh.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140603/jsp/frontpage/story_18473589.jsp#.U42OE5SSy1I
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