It is said that some persons are born great, others made great. Viswanathan Anand would qualify under both categories. A child prodigy in the field of chess, he was spotted, nurtured and goaded to the pinnacle of the peaks of the chess kingdom by a little known but a lady who mattered most in his life - mother, Sushila Viswanathan. Silently, through her son she changed the world of chess from a monopoly of the Russian Grandmasters, gave it a pride of place in its nation of origin as well as triggered a chess revolution in India which has seen the rise of several Grand and International Masters.
The generations which have been brought up on the feats of the likes of Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan, Leander Paes, Manuel Aaron, Michael Ferreira, Mihir Sen, Milkha Singh, Usha and their likes who challenged the best in the world with their skills and finesse, the advent of Viswanathan Anand was only another such proud moment. The history, however, shall remain faulted if the tribute is not paid to the mother who nurtured this talent so well and even played the roles of the natural second to the world champion. Probably, Sushila Viswanathan was Anand's toughest competitor. Unlike many other celebrity mothers, she gave way for her son to bask in the glory. The handing over of the baton to Aruna was also such a low key but complete affair.
In a classical chess move, she has probably taken the Grandmaster by surprise and checkmated him by timing a quiet exit. She deserves the royal salute for being the mother and mentor but the question that would remain unanswered is did the women's chess world in India fail to exploit an opportunity to tap this hidden potential and explore the rare double of mother son duo. Even Time cannot answer this question as she enters the books of history.
Anand, need not regret his loss to Carlsen in the last championship as he has now more reason to annex the crown the next time over.
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