Tribute to Rajan Bala

Towering personality in Indian Sports journalism in general and cricket in particular and veteran scribe Rajan Bala passed away on Friday in Bangalore at the age of 63. He was highly regarded for his writing lair. He had worked for various newspapers like 'The Statesman', 'The Hindu', 'Deccan Herald', 'Indian Express', 'Afternoon Despatch and Courier' and 'The Asian Age'.I have the privilege to consider him as my senior colleague, though never work together, as he was in the Indian Express when I began my career with Jansatta (Gujarati daily) of the same group.A renowned cricket writer who used his pen with felicity, Rajan was an icon for the younger generation of writers of the willow game in the 1970s who followed his despatches from various parts of the cricket world with great interest.I first met him during the India-Sri Lanka test at Motera, Ahmedabad in February 1994. After that meeting we had some memorable occasions in the press box when I visited Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi or when he came to Ahmedabad or Vadodara. I also covered some matches with his son Sanjay Rajan.He completed his higher education in London and was a tremendous raconteur on the game and was also a voracious reader not only on cricket but on various other subjects too. But I can say he was a good listener too so far me experience is concern.Most interesting fact about Bala was that he had had terrific understanding of the technical intricacies of the game, in fact the best you will ever see. Razor sharp in grasping the nuances, he was often sought by the lesser players for technical feedback and corrections.