Wife says Vishy has been travelling on an Indian passport since the age of 13; world champ unnerved by issue.
Viswanathan Anand and wife Aruna will leave for Norway on Wednesday with a heavy heart. But they would not talk about it. The harshest word one could elicit from them for the Union HRD ministry’s goof-up on his nationality was “irritating.”
Simply put, the Anands took the whole fracas in their stride. “From the age of 13, he was travelling on an Indian passport. He only has Indian passport. We did not know the nationality would be an issue,” said Aruna, who is also the world champion’s manager. It surely hurt but she refused to express.
“It is a matter between HRD ministry and Hyderabad University. So, we’re nowhere in the picture,” she remarked and took pride in Anand’s non-controversial attitude. “You know Anand very well. He never is bothered about these awards.”
Anand himself strove to close the issue. “I have always played under Indian flag, held an Indian passport right from the time I took first overseas trip. I am in Hyderabad to play (chess) against mathematicians and to enjoy the International Congress of Mathematics. So let’s leave it at that,” Anand was quoted, as saying in a release.
Aruna said she was unaware of what transpired between Hyderabad University and HRD ministry. “We don’t know what transpired between them. We were asked about the passport and we’ve faxed it to them once. Later, we came to know about all this.”
Asked specifically if they are disappointed, all Aruna would say was that “it was irritating” for them.
“Every time he plays a match, the Tricolour is placed beside his table. When he won the world championship, the National Anthem was played,” she said.
Meanwhile, Anand managed to beat 39 of the 40 players he played against at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad. A 14-year-old player (T Srikar) could manage a draw against the four-time World Champion. “It took a long time to break through in all the games. The last 10 players held on tenaciously. Srikar was very good,’’ Anand said.
Anand admitted that he made a blunder. “My mind was completely busted. That was clear. I think there was one game where I made a huge blunder and it went into worse very quickly. The only way was to defend but my opponent got ambitious and tried a better game. He missed a piece. The game was very complicated. A lot of people played very well.’’
With inputs from agencies
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