Shaking hands with Neymar was the moment to cherish: Nathania

Nathania John K, who made the entire country proud by becoming the first girl Official Match Ball Carrier (OMBC) from India at the FIFA World Cup, talks about her experience in Russia, sharing the tunnel with players, and more...

It was a proud moment for India when Nathania, the 11-year-old aspiring footballer Chennai, walked down the pitch carrying the ball for the 24th match of the FIFA World Cup 2018, where Brazil and Costa Rica faced each other at Saint Petersburg, Russia. “This was something that I never even dreamt of being a part of… it was awesome… just wonderful. I mean, there are no words to describe it. It’s a dream come true for me to just be standing there, holding the ball. I was trembling… the number of people present there was like wow! And I was representing my country in the midst of them all. I was very nervous, the ball was made of a different material and it was slippery. I thought I would drop it, but I didn’t. We had two rehearsals, but still, it was just the fear,” shares Nathania.

“Actually, we weren’t allowed to talk to the players. Since there were too many children, they feared there will be a ruckus if everyone talks to them. And the players had to focus on the game, too.


But I was lucky. As soon as the players came into the tunnel, I called each one of them and shook hands with both the teams, almost all the players — I shook hands with Thiago Silva, Neymar, Marcelo Vieira, Philippe Coutinho, Paulinho, Keylor Navas. That was the moment to cherish,” she says, about sharing the tunnel with the players.

Talking about the atmosphere in the stadium, she says, “It is something so rare; especially the Brazilians, they were in a great mood; they were dancing and singing. It was a wonderful atmosphere. It feels really special to have been a part of it.”

Nathania says it was a memorable tour for her as she also got to explore Russia a bit. “On June 23, we were taken for a short tour by our chaperone and driver. We went to Peterhof Palace, it was a park of fountains and waterbodies. I played football in the garden there. We also went to Grand Market Rossiya museum, which had the whole of Russia in a 3D visual and it was amazing. There was also another temporary football museum, because it was the World Cup season. They had a small pitch to play and there was also a football in a glass case — it was the one Pele and Maradona had signed on. I also had to give a few interviews for some people from London. It was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, it is something that you don’t get easily and often, and you come back a different person,” says an excited Nathania.

Annie Jacob, Nathania’s mother, adds, “We were on top of the world, not only me (at the stadium), my husband back home, relatives, friends and everyone were glued to the television. We all became a little emotional, it’s a huge stage, when you look at it everything has happened in a very short time, in a dramatic way. None of us expected this. Since she is interested in the sport, we wanted to take her to the World Cup, but Russia was too far away, so we were planning maybe Qatar or someplace else. But now, she has earned it herself and it is really a proud moment. It has become slightly easier for us now, since she has been noticed and recognised by the entire country, her performance in future will also get recognition, hopefully. Otherwise, for a middle-class family, it would have been difficult to find the right way. For a girl in India to play football, is in itself, a huge task.”

“She was a little disappointed that she couldn’t meet Messi. We had written to the organisers, but the whole trip is pre-planned and organized till the last second, so it wasn’t possible. You have a schedule to follow and they had assigned a chaperone and driver who took care of us. It was an unbelievable experience to be there at the stadium with so many people around you — you can only realise it when you experience it. A few Indians there recognised her as OMBC and congratulated her,and even took pictures with her; it was really nice,” she says.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

Ace investors may not always judge a company's worth correctly all the time or perhaps there were other extraneous reasons that distracted or turned them off. This stands true for India's legendary investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala too! The market guru may well have missed an opportunity when it was offered on a plate to him, and now he is in the race to gain it back.

It looks like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who is among the front runners in the race to buy India’s largest standalone health insurer Star Health & Allied Insurance Company, was once offered the company at one-third of the price the Big Bull is looking at paying now along with other private equity investors. A report in Economic Times said, quoting an unnamed source, that Jhunjhunwala was offered Star Insurance at less than Rs 2000 crore a few years ago.

Earlier in June ET had reported that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala along with WestBridge Capital and Madison is likely to buy 93.99 per cent in Star Health Insurance at a whopping valuation of Rs 6,500 crore!

“The agreement will be signed in the next few days,” reported ET, quoting a source. “They will buy out 93.99 per cent, valuing the company at Rs 6,500 crore. The remaining 6.01 per cent will be with two individual shareholders of ETA Trading,” the source added.

WestBridge will likely own 51 per cent, Jhunjhunwala 33 per cent and Madison 16 per cent.

ICICI Lombard has reportedly pulled out of the race to buy Star Health due to differences over valuation.


In a recent interview with CNBC TV18, Jhunjhunwala said that he is expecting a closure on the insurance deal by the end of this month or first week of July.

On asking if he is looking at more such deals in insurance space, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala accepted that there are things on the horizon but much smaller.

"I don’t have that kind of money to put in so many other companies and I am looking at a lot of opportunities but they are much smaller," he said.

Ace investor Porinju Veliyath says that India is not having a bear market

Green shoots visible in several parts of economy, but growth not enough, needs a ‘beat’, says BofAML
Even though green shoots can be witnessed in several parts of the economy, the growth rate is still not enough and needs a ‘beat’, said Sanjay Mookim of BofAML.


Even though green shoots can be witnessed in several parts of the economy, the growth rate is still not enough and needs a ‘beat’, said Sanjay Mookim of BofAML. Similarly, the latest correction being seen in the Indian stock markets can be taken positively as such correction has historically been a great buying opportunity for investors, ET Now reported citing Sanjay Mookim. The speed of earnings revival is critical for the stock markets to head higher, he added. About making investment into banking sector, he told ET Now that the investor interest in banks will take some time revive.

The incentivisation in public sector not as market oriented as in the private sector, he added. Furthermore the market has started assigning too much premium on turnaround expectation in most PSUs, said Sanjay Mookim.

India not having bear market

Meanwhile, even as the stock markets remain volatile on the back of factors such as the political environment and global crude prices, ace investor Porinju Veliyath says that India is not having a bear market, and will not have one in the near future. “There are underpriced and overpriced stocks everyday in the market. Markets have come up every time there has been a sentiment driven fall. We are not in a bear market,” ace investor Porinju Veliyath said in an interview with ET Now.

Explaining what exactly constitutes a bear market, Porinju explained by taking Japan’s example. “In 1989, in on December 29th the Japanese Index Nikkei had gone to 39,560. Today, after three decades its at 22,500. This is called a bear market. This might have happened in the 1930’s in the United States, you would have heard in history,” he said. But will India ever have such a scenario? “Just 3% of the world’s wealth is in India. We are too small a base and we talk about bear market?

Niall Horan plans to take a break from limelight

One Direction star Niall Horan says he wants to take a break from the limelight until he has some good tunes. He plans to go on a break after his Flicker World Tour. He will finish the tour in three months, then take time off before starting work on his second solo record, reports a daily. He said, “When I’m on tour I get into a busy routine. And when you’re writing songs, I feel like that needs to be 100 per cent your focus. So, I’m going to take a couple of months off after the tour, which finishes in September. Then I’ll just write until I’ve got good tunes. I’m not coming back until I do.”

The singer says slower songs come “more naturally for me”. “I would like to create a bit more of the up-tempo stuff and try to cement my sound. That’s something to work on,” he added.

Dakota, Chris enjoy PDA in Malibu

Actress Dakota Johnson and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin were spotted making a rare public display of affection during their vacation in Malibu. Martin was seen with Johnson as they were walking the actress’ dog Zeppelin around her Malibu neighbourhood on Sunday. The Fifty Shades star reached across Martin’s back so they could hold hands during their stroll around the enclave.

Dakota was dressed down in a blue plaid top with distressed denim cuffed at the bottom. Martin wore a grey sweater with dark pants, a blue trucker hat and sporty red and black trainers.

KHLOÉ OPENS UP ABOUT DECISION TO STAY WITH TRISTAN

Khloé Kardashian spoke out for the first time publicly regarding her decision to stay with Tristan Thompson after he was caught cheating on her with multiple women during her pregnancy. “I love, adore & root for @khloekardashian but I’m so disappointed she stayed with that wasteman Tristan,” a fan named Queen Persia wrote on Twitter, adding, “She preaches about women knowing their self worth and when to walk away but when it’s time to walk the walk, she’s a hypocrite.”

Kardashian, 33, was quick to reply, tweeting, “Not exactly Queen Persia, you have no knowledge of what goes on in our household or the enormous rebuilding this takes to even coexist. I’m proud of my strength. I appreciate your opinion and I hope you hold that same opinion to everyone else who has stayed in situations.”


The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star returned to LA with Thompson earlier this month.