When I Met ‘Padma Bhushan’ Saina Nehwal on a Be-Ooty-Ful Trip

What’re the odds of sharing your flight with the world’s best badminton player, and what happens then? Here’s a blog.

Meeting the freshest Padma Bhushan awardee, Saina Nehwal, was an exciting moment for the writer, on an equally beautiful vacation in southern India (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

I had never been to any of the states in southern India, and the long Holi weekend was enough incentive to get my bags packed. It was an impulsive decision to make the most of the mini-vacation, and off I went to Bangalore.

From catching my flight to Bangalore at the last minute (with almost broken nerves and sweat beads on forehead) to getting no rooms in Ooty, to finding new locations en route to Coonoor, this trip was full of surprises. But the biggest of them was surely reserved for last.

I visited a few tea estates in Ooty, and tasted tea fresh out of the farms. (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

On my way back to Delhi, I was flying Vistara UK 836 scheduled from Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport. I boarded the aircraft, unwrapped the many handbags clinging to my body, and settled in a place somewhere in between. Just as I was patting myself on the back for checking-in early and blocking the best seats on the aircraft, I saw a familiar figure walking in and placing her bags just a couple of seats away. She was Saina Nehwal. My heart ached to think of the stupid seats I checked myself in. The seat next to her could’ve been mine.

Now I learn that she was flying to Delhi to receive her Padma Bhushan award.

What’re the odds of sharing your flight with the world’s best badminton player? I kept peering, jumping out of the seat and ‘serving’ careful glances. Then the captain asked us to tighten our seat belts, and then there was turbulence. It literally shook us all up, and for a while, kept me grounded in my seat.

A few people went up to her and asked for autographs and photographs, but not many seem to have noticed her. I didn’t understand, how and why couldn’t they? She had her training bag with Saina embroidered in golden white and the Indian flag adjacent to it. She was travelling with her mother, but Saina obliged everyone who came up to her. I was waiting – for my turn, and enough courage to walk up to her.

And then I did, for a quick autograph and a photo in mind. Since I had no spare paper (except the achaar-stained tissue paper), I took a book I was reading. After a quick chat, which basically involved some of my hastily-put questions and a few smiles of hers, the captain once again announced turbulence and asked us to take our seats. But I eventually did manage to get her in the same frame, and this is one of the most prized memories from my mini-vacation.

From left to right (if directions are that important here): Saina Nehwal, and yours truly. 

I have seen Saina play a few games, and nothing else has ever motivated me more to smash a few shuttlecocks. Meeting her in person has pushed me to dust off the rickety racquet I lost somewhere under my bed, and dreams.

Congratulations to Saina on receiving the Padma Bhushan award for bringing laurels to the country and inspiring a lot of minds to take badminton seriously, including yours truly.

Watch Saina Nehwal and others, including Anupam Kher, Udit Narayan, Sania Mirza, getting felicitated by President Pranab Mukherjee at the award ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan:

Do you also have a tale of randomly bumping into a celebrity? Share your stories in the comments below.