The death of Muhammad Ali, brought back a double glove-full or memories of my own Boxing Days. When at Montfort School, Yercaud, TamilNadu, India, I was tweeny-weeny guy – one that a tiny gust of wind could easily blow-off of to the edge of the World: I decided to box myself out of my bony frame and enrolled for Boxing Coaching under our then School Instructor Tiger ‘Nat’ Terry (TNT was his Boxing Ring Name in the Madras Presidency /State days) who looked very much like  Ali himself. TNT ‘had a history’ – he had come to India, from Indonesia, for Boxing-Ring Fights and during an Organised Fight challenging the then Madras State Champion (I think, a Mr. Arunachalam) he gave such a powerful & deadly uppercut that it missed his opponent’s chin and knocked-off (pulled-out, literally) his nose, leading to the Madras State Champion’s death. You know the Tamil Nadu crowd: they went berserk and hounded TNT, who took refuge in Yercaud…and ended up teaching boxing in Montfort. He boasted he could beat Muhammad Ali – if given a chance, and in fact he could hit the spring-ball with equal speed, during practice. Believe me, I had seen him do it!

Most of us kids at School landed our first punches on his ‘ample tummy’ – which he encouraged – to show of his grit in taking it all!

Under his coaching, I earned my first Ring-Fight, in the ‘Mosquito-Weight category’ in Class 10, I think, with a classmate – Ravi Gandhi – It was a 3 round fight, each lasting about a minute and the Winner was declared on points earned basis (Ali kind of Knock -outs were rare). Well, I fought damn well – but lost, and the surprise was, I was declared ‘BEST NOVICE LOSER’ and got a Cup bigger than the guy who beat me – I still have it (with a Nose very much intact!). I’ve been a ‘Fighter’ ever since… won some…lost some! (Life’s vicissitudes!)

The Butterfly and Bee became famous, only because of Ali’s famous line, “I float like a Butterfly and sting like a Bee“. Who can forget that famous Muhammad Ali based song by Jonny Wakelin, ‘The Black Superman’ (catch me if you can…) – one of my all time favourites. Muhammad Ali’s tongue competed with his famous EVERLAST gloves in throwing punches – one could hardly tell the difference. Never mind, he brought Boxing on to the World Stage like never before and like none before him. He fought four equal & fair rights for his kind and that ‘sparkle in his eyes’ was a signature tune. Only Parkinson’s Disease could knock him off, after Joe Frazer and George Foreman. RIP Muhammad Ali!

When Little Red Riding Hood ventured into the Forest to see her sick Grandmother, living on the edge, on the other end, her Mother sends her off with the Words, ‘Don’t talk to strangers’. She did just that, and the rest is a ‘grim’ fairy tale!

My car was due for service, and a female voice at TVS Sundaram Honda, Salem, kept pounding my phone for a date. I finally relented and said 30^th May was all right – book a sexy slot at the 8.30am Calendar Table – so that ‘delivery’ can happen by 12 Noon. We had a deal!

So there I am sitting in the Customer Lounge – after handing over the car keys, true to date and having signed on the Job Card – reading the morning Newspaper; in walks a white (clad in a clean white short sleeve shirt and matching well-ironed white pant), surely 75+, old man and settles down next to me. After a few tense moments of come-hither, look-yonder looks, our eyes met and we started a wonderful conversation. It appears that he thought 9am was an early-bird time and with that kind of an appearance he could get back his Car before lunch-time. Sorry, I told him, I arrived at 8.30am and there were already 10 cars ahead of me, and I willed a time of 12 Noon. We both joked about how we could have queued up with our neem-tooth brushes, folded lungi and mug of water – early birds get the worm! We then talked about education – why kids are becoming dumber at Schools and how wider travel would open-up minds, why the environment at home is so important to grow confident kids, how working in Mumbai makes men out of children; the inevitable Jayalalithaa (strong & courageous – he said); of course, Karunanithi (brilliant, clever – he said); Modi Sarkar, and how good governance is what we need – not table fans, cows & goats but roads and infrastructure to go on and buy them of your choice; Ramayana – why following rules is awfully important and how a King decides when & how much of a punishment is enough; Mahabharata – why we need to get over the Arjuna-effect in our lives; Running Power Plants; Building Airports…etc., ending with me demonstrating Modi’s Digital India initiative – asking for his car (actually his Daughter’s) number and by instant return SMS finding the Owner. In between, I quickly slid to the nearby KFC, grabbed a Snacker by the throat – ate it, and returned to continue the conversation. When we finally unlocked our eyes it was 12 noon, and my car was ready. I hurriedly said goodbye and left quickly – dragged by the Service Advisor to ‘pay’ for the ‘date service’ and clear the area. It was all over in a flash. No names, no nothing. I had been talking to a complete stranger… and immensely enjoyed it – felt younger (minus 70 ) Ha!