IT was a winter afternoon in the prime of my childhood. The sun was already set for its plunge in the Western horizon. The soothing golden rays peeped through the thin leaves of the huge Mahogany tree cascading the effects of its majestic colours. An occasional rickshaw leisurely ploughed through the red brick road running between the burial ground and the Karnin! gardens. The massive court building overlooked the exquisitely laid gardens which was named after the District Judge, who was a revered poet as well. Blue curtains hung from the steel structure erected on either end of the tennis court. Ornamental benches were perched on the lush green lawns on the eastern side of the concrete court. Not many people had access to this revered enclosure and VIPs in a small town in those days could be counted on fingertips. In the absence of an unified dress code, much so because of social taboos, the foursome represented a mixed bag of trousers, shorts, three-quarters and a ‘dhoti’ tightly worn in different colours, of course. But dress was no deterrent for the players — old and young. Among them was a teacher named Rahmatjaan. robust, vibrant.

with his deep voice cycling everyday to the court in his three-quarters. He looked too young •to be in his forties. Two of them were assistants in the Collectorate in tight 'dhotis' lucky to be In the august company because of their skill as players. The other one. and most importantly for me, was my father dressed immaculately in white trousers and shirt, wearing a pair of white canvas shoes and white socks. The shoes normally came from a company that still sells shoes across the world but has more competition these days than before. The ball was white, then obviously manufactured by the world famous company Slazenger. The rackets were mainly made of plywood and cane. A Dunlop proved the taste but a Slazenger was always a prized possession. The racket used to be kept in a wooden frame lest it went out of shape when not in use.

Even after so many years there have been very few changes in the rules of the game except of course the 'tie-break,' that has turned out to be one of the best money-spinners. The sponsors are many, vying for their share of glory in a multibillion dollar industry. Perhaps this was the first organised tennis match of my life. The small town could boast of two 'hard' courts and a lawn al the technical school barely hundred yards from our house. The scope for children to play tennis was nil and perforce they had to take to football, mainly. By the time we joined the col-' lege most of us were either caught up in football, badminton or cricket. This was the reason for the college tennis court to be a cosy place for

munching for goats and cows.

The Wimbledon Championships have always stirred my imagination. In the absence of live telecast in those days we had to depend entirely on The Statesman of Calcutta. When the big radio adorned our living room, only then occasionally did we hear the commentary from the court. Our interest was further intensified by Ramanathan Kirshaan by his participation in the Championships. The Czech-bom Egyptian Jeroslav Drobny had always created enthusiasm. But the Australians were the real heroes. Lew Hood, Ken Rosewall and Rod Laver were undisputed kings of the court as Maureen Conolly, Margaret Smith Court, Evonne Goolagong and Althea Gibson were the queens of the time.

I could not enjoy their games but I must consider myself lucky enough to have seen all the contemporary greats in all the four Grand Slam tournaments. From the adorable Martina to the ‘queen of courts’ Steffi, from Boy' Boris Becker to the 'Patriarch' Pete Sampras I have seen them all perform on courts around the world.

1 have come a long way from Kamini gardens. Despite my pre occupation with cricket 1 had always cherished tennis at heart Though late in my career as a sports journalist I was lucky enough to have traversed a lengthy path from Melbourne to New York watching the grandeur of tennis.

The turtter is the only Bangladeshi Journalist to have covered all the Grand Slant tournaments of tennis for The Daily Star. He is also an associate member of Australian Tennis Media Association.