Ramalinga Raju follows in Saina Nehwal’s footsteps

Hyderabad : “No one can beat me at the net.” These were the first words uttered by Ramalinga Raju, the moment he stepped out of Hyderabad’s Chanchalguda Prison, after he was granted bail by the Supreme court. When puzzled reporters asked me if he was referring to the Satyam scandal case, Raju guffawed and replied, “No my friends, I am talking about badminton.”

Enquiries with the Jail Superintendent revealed that Raju spent close to six hours on the badminton court everyday, the same as a Saina Nehwal, and is determined to play for India in the Veterans Badminton championship.

“No work and all play made me a smart boy. My deception skills on the badminton court are second to none. Please tell Pullela Gopichand that I challenge him to a duel with me,” said a beaming Raju.

Raju also revealed that he was in the running for best undertrial award. “I will surely come to receive the award on January 26. I want to show the world that even though they snatched away my corporate governance awards, this is one award, no one would want to take away from me,” he said.

The mask was off Raju’s face only when he wrote a five-page confession letter in January 2009. “I never said I am guility. I only said I am golti,” Raju clarified, referring to the common term used to describe people from Andhra. “One typo error and they threw me in jail. And since I wrote that I found it difficult to get off the tiger I was riding, they assumed I was endangering India’s national animal.”

(Pic courtesy : snapsindia)