Slam Dunk Jose

Invited to play in Australia’s Big V divisional championship for the Ringwood Hawks in 2006,Jose remembers how she broke into sobs at the airport — her snivelling,weepy self,nothing like the 6 ft 1 inch,talented Indian youngster that the scouts had spotted at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. “The Australian coach was the kindest of gentlemen,keen that I be comfortable when I stay with his family. Many mails went back and forth on what I like to have for breakfast,which showed his attention to detail,” she says.

But once her kit bag,with Size 11 shoes,a knee guard and chocolates,had checked in with the rest of the baggage,Jose froze at the thought of living in a foreign country. “In the space of 15 minutes between check-in and boarding the flight,I cried so much,” says the 25-year-old. In sheer exasperation,her agent switched off his phone. Even before the Australia tour,she had celebrated with a little jig when a contract with a New Zealand club didn’t work out. “I was very reluctant to leave my home and my mum,my state,and my country,” she says. Now,chicken roast apart,Jose’s all set to fly away,even as her former Australian teammates send her encouraging messages hoping to catch her play on ESPN. “I’m dying to go out there and play the WNBA. I’ll put in every effort to make it work this time.”

Jose’s change of heart has fortuitously coincided with the American NBA’s aggressive wooing of the Indian market. After seducing the Chinese over the last two decades,the Americans have realised that 1.2 billion is way too many to ignore. Jose admits it’s a charmed opportunity that has come her way. “The NBA and the Basketball Federation of India are currently looking for an Indian to play out there. So it’s not about Geethu Anna Jose. It could be anyone. But I want to prove I’m good,” she says.

The three seasons in Australia changed quite a few perceptions,especially about Jose’s physical frame. Ribbed as ‘Puncture’ once — she was tall but a pushover for mightier hoopsters — she was put through the most strenuous regimens. Unlike Indian practice sessions which dawdle on for 6-7 hours,the Australians did intensive training. A two-hour workout of running,gymming and lifting weights left her sweating buckets,even as the body muscled and toned up for the aggressive version of the game. A diet overhaul demanded she eat red meat thrice a week. Jose admits that every training session would leave her so hungry and spent that she would devour steaks every second day. Along the way,the soft-spoken girl also learnt to say no. “When the team would go partying,I was determined not to drink. I knew I couldn’t be pressured into it,and I simply told them my reasons were religious. They never asked me again,” she says,with a wink. Friends attest to the fact that she carries her Bible and rosary everywhere — playing hard,praying harder.

At one of Matunga’s teeming Udipi cafes,over filter coffee and a politely declined plate of pineapple kesari,Jose admits to a teenage crush: Abhishek Bachchan. “He’s tall,” she says simply,as if that ought to explain why she’d summon the courage to request a fan date. “If I ever meet him,I’ll probably have a falooda with him. Or coffee. And click a picture. He has that boy-next-door air to him.”

Jose didn’t always see her height as an advantage. “Growing up,I didn’t understand why people would get startled just looking at me. They seemed scared,” she says. A hurdler and a long jumper through school,Jose rarely excelled as a junior hoopster. “I would bunk practice. I hated running. But I was tall,and it seemed strange that it could get me into a team,without me putting in any effort,” she says.

Her time on the basketball court —mastering her pivoting duties,shoring up her defensive skills,running circles of fields or taking 1,000 shots at the basket —helped her find her feet in a game in which height was an advantage. She kept it simple,though,and never indulged in stunts that tall hoopsters seem to be drawn to. “I know I can reach the ring with a jump,but I don’t go about dunking like showmen. It’s just very tough,and the one time I tried it I cut my fingers because the rim was sharp. I don’t know how boys do it,” she says,though her mighty palms and impressive wing-span can accomplish what many players with average height dream of in slam-dunk contests.

Jose’s often to be found with her laptop,and if she’s not chatting away with her gang of buddies back home,she’s busy playing violent computer games. “I like the action,and it gives me the same thrill and goosebumps as watching NBA stars play.” She admits to being religious and superstitious: “I always wear the left sock first. And if I happen to wear the right,I keep thinking — don’t change it,don’t change it. But somehow I remove it and wear the left one first.” Days before games are spent visualising match situations,and she can play out half-a-dozen scenarios of how an opponent would react. “I want to meet Sachin Tendulkar and ask him how he prepares,” she says,“There’s no one taller than him in sport,is there?”

Home is the focal point of Jose’s life. She even likes going to the same cafeteria that she once frequented with friends in Kottayam. Whenever her teammates at Southern Railway find her missing from Chennai,they know that Jose has run away home — 12 hours away — for even a day-long weekend. “Now I run for 45 minutes,without the coach even prodding me,” she counters. “The day I got up on my own and started jogging,I knew I was ready for the big test. The WNBA dream has gotten me to run — something I hated doing. I can’t let everyone down by being lazy. It proves people can change if they want to,” she says.

A fter posing patiently in the sun for us,she asks for tissues,and is told by a bantering referee that sportsmen ought to simply splash water and move on,and not behave like models. “But I’m both now,” she says. “But this modelling is very tough. I’ve never understood how you are expected to smile without showing your teeth! Basketball’s easier,” she jokes.

She doesn’t hide that she’s nervous. At the day’s end,she goes to her Facebook page to check if the tally of well-wishers has swelled further. “There were some 158 comments. So I know that there are at least 158 people who will pray for me,even if it’s just for a second. There was Ajmer Singh,Indian basketball’s big hero from the ’70s,and Suman Sharma,the only woman hoopster to get an Arjuna award,saying they really hope I do well. It felt nice,and I don’t want to disappoint them,” she says.

Looking fitter and sharper than ever,Jose says she owes it to her genes,and quite simply to her nutrition as a child. “My dad would always insist that I eat healthy. When you grow up,what you ate as a child shows on your face,” she says,recalling her father whom she lost three years ago. The chicken roast for Easter will need to wait till she’s back mid-May.

This time,Geethu Anna Jose will take flight,and she looks headed straight for fame on a basketball court.