As you enter V.V.S. Laxman’s home in Hyderabad, you are greeted with several trophies that he won during his elaborate and successful career as a cricketer. In a chat with Laxman and his wife Sailaja, the former cricketer opens up about their Foundation, his quest to give back to society, the Sunrisers Hyderabad and of course, family.
The couple’s VVS Foundation, which supports the education of underprivileged kids, has been around for the past two years, albeit with a very low profile. “The Foundation supports 90 children apart from 4 IIT students, and we want to raise that number. We also support three schools in Hyderabad and one in Bengaluru. But the selection process is very stringent, as we want to give an opportunity to only those who deserve it,” says Sailaja, while Laxman adds, “Sailaja was always very philanthropic in nature, supporting underprivileged kids. After my retirement, I became an ambassador for a couple of NGOs and also happened to visit various charity run schools. That’s when I planned to start a foundation and we thought of doing this in a structured and systematic manner.”
He continues, “Our scholarship in education is known as the Sathyaram scholarship — named after my parents, Satyabhama and Shantaram while our sports scholarship is named Baba Krishnamohan scholarship, after my maternal uncle, who spotted my talent and mentored me.”
Laxman reveals, “We also want to set up a sports school, which will focus on both sports and academics while giving an all round development to students.” Sailaja, who is personally involved with the Foundation, says, “We have a quarterly audit, where we directly get in touch with the parents and the students.”
“We organise various health camps. In between, we meet students and check their academic progress as well,” says Sailaja.V.V.S. adds, “We also counsel the parents and children to motivate and inspire them. We arrange meetings with their role models and take them on field trips. We want them to be confident and ready to face challenges, without compromising on academics. I’m taking help from Azim Premji’s Foundation because they have already invested a lot of money, time and knowledge in helping people from similar background.”
Sailaja and V.V.S. Laxman with his parents Shantaram and Satyabhama and their children Sarvajit and Achintya.
Sailaja admits that Sathya Sai Baba was a great motivation. “My kids were named by Sathya Sai Baba,” says Sailaja adding, “We want the kids that we support to enjoy the same kind of facilities like our kids, Sarvajit and Achintya. My kids should also understand that they are equal to other children.”
On Sunrisers Hyderabad
A mentor to Sunrisers Hyderabad, Laxman says that they tried to plug a few loopholes this time around. “I’m happy with whoever we got during the auction. We got a spinner in Rashid, spinning all-rounder in Mohammad Nabi, and a fast bowler in Chris Jordan. These new recruits will give us flexibility in playing different combinations in the matches,” says Laxman.
Talking about Rashid, the star cricketer in this season, Laxman says, “Picking Rashid was a collective decision of Tom (Moody), Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) and myself. Over the last two years, our spinners weren’t doing too well. Rashid is a wicket taking bowler. He is very confident and can bat well too. He is an impact player.”
On donning many hats
Post-retirement, Laxman has taken on various roles — he is a cricket commentator, on the advisory committee of the BCCI, a mentor to SRH, batting consultant to Bengal’s senior team and a columnist, apart from running a cricket academy and school, with his wife.
Sailaja admits that Laxman has got “even busier after his retirement”. But Laxman says that this is his way of giving back to the society. “I have learnt so much during my career as a cricketer, I wanted to share the knowledge,” he says.
A Family Man
In spite of having a lot of work commitments, Laxman makes sure that he has enough time for his family. “The other day he landed late at night, and came home by early morning. But even then, he played for a while with Sarvajit before he left to school. He makes sure that he makes enough time for family,” says Sailaja while V.V.S. adds, “This could not have been possible if Sailaja wasn’t there. She took over my responsibilities and brought them up almost as a single parent. Even my kids support me a lot and don’t complain.” Whenever there is an opportunity, like during the IPL matches, Laxman makes sure that his kids accompany him. “During the opening ceremony, Sourav (Ganguly) said that Laxman is doing a commendable job and that I should expect him to be busy for at least four more years,” concludes Sailaja.
