Pan Singh: Most of the time he is busy with his matches. And whenever he comes here he is called to Jamshedpur or some other places. Mostly he is not available. He comes at midnight to the house and runs away in the morning at 6 am. When he comes there will be crowds of people. Everyone will come. He comes one day and the next day he has to go.

His friends come and he goes away. And he has his elder sister and he spends one or two days with her. She is four years older. He is the youngest. The eldest takes care of the property in the village in Almora.

He cannot come that often. And then he always comes one day later than other cricketers because there is no direct flight. He has to leave one day earlier. The other day he came at 4 pm and the next day he had to go. He has very little time.

Jayanti: He has a car with tinted glass so (he can move around without being recognised). I have to be after him to make time. He does not get time to spend with us. I start shouting at him. I tell him I need time to talk to him about many things. I need time from you and it is only your friends who get time. And the media people. He loves to go to the places he used to go in school days with his friends. Like whenever he comes he makes sure to go and have lunch at some dhaba at Madhuvan far off from Ranchi. I suppose it is Dal Takda and something in chicken.

Photograph: The colony quarters (centre) where Dhoni grew up, about a kilometre away from the cottage he now calls home.

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