Madikeri: The news of celebrity visit to the district was totally kept a secret. The details are now slowly trickling out.
Tennis star Sania Mirza chose to celebrate the arrival of the New Year in the quiet, lush green surroundings in Madapur in the northern part of the district, on the way to Somwarpet. Another tennis celebrity, Rohan Bopanna, played host to a group of players, including Somdev Kishore Devvarman, who arrived with her quietly on Dec 29, in his family estate in Madapur.
Rohan’s family sources said that Sania was to have attended his wedding that was held at a resort on the outskirts in late November 2012. While Somdev had attended his wedding with Supriya Annaiah, Sania could not be present on account of preoccupations. She made it up – after over two years though – by staying as a guest with others in Bopanna family’s mansion for three days. Until they departed from here, not many people came to know of her visit.
She had seen only tea plantations until then and she was thrilled to see the coffee plants and cherry-red ripe coffee beans on them. She was not even aware whether coffee grew on shrubs or trees. Rohan’s father Bopanna said that she plucked quite a few beans and gathered a lot of information about the curing and processing. She is said to have carried with her some samples for keeps, said Bopanna.
In leisure time, she is said to have had practice games with Somdev and Bopanna in the hard court here. At the turn of the year, she danced to glory at a party held in North Coorg Club here.
At the end of it all, her departure too was as quiet as her arrival. Mediapersons and paparazzi were kept in the dark until she left the district.
Making up for what was missed!
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Madikeri: Partner for Life – Tennis Star Rohan Bopanna to Wed on Nov 25