Justin Langer said after visiting the 1 room residence of Lucknow Super Giants masseur

Perth: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) head coach Justin Langer has revealed that he was deeply disappointed after visiting his team physiotherapist Rajesh Chandrasekhar’s one-room accommodation in Mumbai’s Dharavi slums during this year’s IPL where he witnessed the “complete opposite” philosophy of “extremism”. “After living a life of what I would now define as extreme luxury, I was humbled more than I have ever been to see how other human beings live their daily lives,” Langer said about his experience in a post for ‘The Nightly’. It all started with Chandrasekhar’s insistence on giving Langer a haircut. “At first, I didn’t think anything of the invitation, but as days turned into weeks, RC kept asking me if I needed a haircut,” he recalled. “Finally, I took up his offer and within minutes he was knocking on my door with clippers, scissors and a spray bottle filled with water,” he recalled.

Langer said their conversation delved deeper into Chandrasekhar’s life and “his story surprised me.” “RC told me he lived in the slums of Mumbai and had landed a lucky break as a masseur for the local football (soccer) team. From there, one thing led to another and that’s how our paths crossed,” she said. “…I asked him what it was like to live in the ‘slums.'”

Langer said Chandrasekhar told him that his house was the size of the bathroom of the hotel they were staying in. He lived there with his mother, father, brother, sister and brother-in-law. Chandrasekhar’s father works as a handyman and his brother is a hairdresser at a local salon. “The bathroom in the luxury hotel we were staying in was nice, but when I looked around, it was the same size as my laundry in Perth,” Langer said. “So it was beyond comprehension what he was describing to me.” Langer said that a day before his last day in India (May 24), he asked Chandrasekhar to introduce him to his family at home. “‘You want to come to my house?’ he asked with a look of surprise on his face,” the former batsman said. “My brother was in India to watch the last two matches of the IPL. He was as excited as I was to see a world that is so far from our reality that we have to see it to believe it.” Langer and his brother went to Chandrasekhar’s house the next day.

“We were led through tiny alleys, like a labyrinth of narrow passages between concrete houses. And like most mazes, it was immediately clear that it would be very easy to get lost in this hidden community.”Each alley was narrow, just wide enough for two people to pass through. The alleys were dark because right above us were the roofs of the buildings and tangled power lines, Langer recalled. “When we reached the door of RC’s house, we took off our shoes and walked into the most humble abode imaginable.”He described the view inside the house as measuring “four by five meters” in diameter. “…the first thing I saw was a mattress on legs, not unlike a makeshift massage table. In one corner was a tiny kitchen with a stove and small fridge. Onions and garlic cloves were kept in bags under the miniature kitchen bench. “The six family members had a shelf each for their clothes,” he said. “What surprised me about our visit to RC’s home was that though they had nothing, they had everything they needed to be really happy.”