Life can offer abrupt twists and turns and Nem Singh Jurel has seen enough of it to be swayed by success and failure. But the retired Havaldar in him hasn’t yet got used to the instant stardom son Dhruv has brought to his family.
Life has changed a bit in the last fortnight since Dhruv made his Test debut in Rajkot. His phone barely stops ringing, he’s being inundated with requests for TV shows and any post on social media by his son is drawing huge attention within seconds.
A Kargil war veteran, Nem Singh is relishing the adulation and spotlight at often being recognised as “Dhruv Jurel’s father”.
But fame is gradually catching up with him. He seemed a little guarded in revealing Dhruv’s whereabouts when he visited their home at Noida during the break between the Ranchi and Dharamsala Tests to keep a check on the stream of visitors and acquaintances.
He missed Dhruv’s debut but is hoping to make it to the final
The message from Dhruv came a bit late and I couldn’t arrange flight tickets at such short notice. But I hope to reach Dharamsala to be present at the ground for at least a couple of days… However, I haven’t decided when to go… Could be Thursday,” Nem Singh told The Telegraph on Tuesday.
Dhruv, 23, has already ushered dreams to the extent that Sunil Gavaskar has compared his “presence of mind” to former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The way he gathered a wayward throw and ran out Ben Duckett in Ranchi and rightly assessed DRS calls have already started to give the “Dhoni feels”