Tendulkar's Tale

"Sachinn....Sachinn...."

The crowds would chant his name in worship when he played cricket for India.

Although of small stature, Sachin Tendulkar's image is larger than life. His career as a sportsman was remarkable. He started playing for India at the tender age of 16 and batted on to his 100th international century before retiring in 2013.

As a gifted batsman, Sachin has scored more runs and made more centuries than any other player in both Tests and one-day games. He gained celebrity status early in life, however, he has always remained a very private man - hardly ever speaking about his family, fantastic scores, frustration, or failure.

His autobiography, Playing it my way, written with Boria Majumdar was published in 2014 by Hodder and Stoughton.  It provides an insight into his personal life and gives an informative account of his sporting career.
The heavy tome has several statistical records of all the matches that he played and also some interesting pictures from his personal collection.

Sachin begins telling his story by quoting his late father, the Marathi poet Ramesh Tendulkar's words:
"Son, life is like a book. It has numerous chapters...More often than not, failure and sorrow are bigger teachers than success and happiness... Do not allow success to breed arrogance in you. If you remain humble, people will give you love and respect even after you have finished with the game."

Growing up in a traditional Maharashtrian family helped to shape Sachin's character the high moral values. Being an active naughty child, he was always getting bruised and scraped and his father used to examine his body while he slept to see if any injuries required medical attention. Sachin recounts many endearing memories from his childhood.

Sachin's gifted way with the bat was recognised in its infancy by his brother Ajit and Achrekar Sir. They both played a major role in mentoring him and shaping his early career. With humility, Sachin pays respects to his parents, his mentors, and his older siblings.

It is interesting to note that one entire chapter in the book is dedicated to Anjali, his wife, with whom he has had 'the best partnership' of his life. He remembers how they met and courted. Anjali had a blossoming medical career which she gave up to take care of the family while Sachin was away playing for India. She firmly held his hand through all the ups and downs in his life. Through the book, Sachin comes across as a loving family man who is tenderly attached to his parents, siblings, wife, and children.

Success came early to this cricket legend. Along with success there was also the occasional failure. He learnt how to handle both. He excelled as a batsman but received flak from the media for his role as a captain. Sachin's tone is slightly bitter when he gives a justification for his actions as a captain. He also discusses the ' Monkeygate' that rocked the Indian and Australian teams.

Sachin highly respected other cricketers and tells some funny anecdotes about the most serious and senior players. He also relates some pranks played by the team and exposes their human side to the readers.

For any Sachin fan, this biography is a rare treat from the man who speaks with his actions.


 

Interesting interactions

Among other things, Tanya also works as a model.

Her husband good-humouredly complains: “I go to the malls, I see you. I go to the bank, I see you. I go the airport, and you are there too. I feel so watched everywhere I go.”

For a while, Tanya’s smiling pictures were splashed on some of the glass doors which opened automatically all over the city. She says seeing her own smile made her happy at moments when she was in a particularly gloomy mood.

***

Waking up in the morning, I realise that my voice is gone. A throat infection it is.

Holding my neck with both hands, I croak, “Khaanot talk.”

This was more than ten years ago. I worked as a lecturer then and talking was a part of the job. There were about three hundred young students who would be attending my lectures that day. Oh no, I couldn’t let them down. If I couldn’t speak, I had to make alternative arrangements. I decided to ask my friends Pranali, Nelson, and Subhash – they all belonged to the much envied tribe of mathematics lecturers – to substitute for my lectures.

I dialled the college phone number to inform them.

Trring! Tring! Tring! Tring!

A young, clear, feminine voice answered:

“Welcome to Vidyavardhini’s College of Engineering and Technology. Please dial the extension number or wait for assistance.”

This recorded mechanical answer never fails to astound me. Even more so on that day because I could barely speak.

It is my own voice recorded years ago for the college answering machine and it is always such a peculiar situation because I am interacting with myself.

This robotic voice reassures me that things will be normal soon and I could have a voice like that in the answering machine.

 

Re-reading Alice

There are books which seem like you are reading them for the first time every time you read them.

The book, however, is the same. It is you who have changed.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll is one such timeless book.

The first time I read it in primary school, it seemed like visiting one of the provinces in my own dreamland.
The second time, it seemed like completely out of this world, like stumbling upon a fool's tea party where nothing goes right.
Now, when I read it for the third time, so many things make perfect sense!

Dear readers, I must share some favourite quotes from this masterpiece with you.

(Pictures courtesy: Google images)

 

Party time (Part II)

When the lady in white was invited to a New Year’s Eve party, her new dress was not ready.

She regretfully wore her second best dress as there was a prize for the Best Dressed Lady. But she proudly wore her new mother-of-pearl-glazed shoes.

As she arrived at the venue that evening, the air was crisp and cool.

She noticed the mermaid sculpture in the corner, the enormous pool, the giant cake, and the pretty dresses of other ladies.

“Hello! Welcome to the party!” said a little girl who was at the entrance handing out flowers to the guests as they arrived.

The lady gently tucked the flower into her hair while thanking the girl.

“Your dress is so pretty!” the girl exclaimed “It’s almost as pretty as the peacock-blue dress of the lady over there.”

The lady looked to where the girl was pointing and noticed the amazing azure dress of the lady who sat with her friends near the poolside.

Catching the attention of the girl, the lady in white said, “I bet her shoes aren’t as good as mine.” So saying, she raised her dress and flung one foot up for the girl to see. Unfortunately, the shoe was loose and went flying in the air.

It landed on the head of an important-looking gentleman who was having an early dinner. His head sank into his dinner plate. He slowly lifted up his curry-stained face and looked around to see where the shoe came from, only to stare right at the welcoming girl. She, in turn, caught a fright and ran away, screaming.

She wasn’t looking where she was going and dashed right into the clay mermaid whose head broke away. Everybody looked up to see who was screaming so the little girl put her own face in place of the mermaid’s. The guests soon went about doing what they were doing as if nothing happened.

The girl threw the head away and it landed on the electric switch button that controlled the lights at the party. Immediately there was darkness all around and women shrieked, “EEEEeee”.

A bald butler, wearing a wig, carried a ladder and a torch to climb up to the switch button to set it right. When he did so, the “EEEeee” shrieks become a relaxed “AHHhh”.

The butler liked this effect so much that he switched the button off and on a couple of times and the women went
“EEEeee......AHHhh”
“EEEeee......AHHhh!”

The butler got so excited with the effect of the screams that he jumped off the ladder right into the big trampoline behind him. His wig bounced up and down on his head as he bounced up and down on the trampoline much to the amusement of the guests who stood around him and clapped.

Meanwhile, another butler was carefully carrying a cake with a candle outside. He bumped against the mermaid’s head and the burning candle fell on a lady’s peacock-blue dress. The lady was animatedly talking to a group of friends in lovely dresses near the pool. Her friends noticed the fire and pushed her into the pool immediately. The water that splashed out of the pool drenched the beautiful dresses of all her friends.

In the dining room, the lady in white was limping around looking for her lost shoe. There were so many people in there that she found it difficult to get around without bumping into someone. “How I wish everybody would leave this room so I can find where my shoe has gone!” she said to herself.

“FIRE!” someone outside shouted. There was a mad rush to leave the dining room.

“Now that is wishful thinking, isn’t it?” the lady in white said to herself.

Much to her relief, she found her shoe on a dinner plate on one of the tables. She wiped it on a napkin and walked out proudly to see what the fuss was all about.

It was then that they announced that it was time to crown the Best Dressed Lady.

The lady in white grandiosely walked up to the stage only to find herself among water-drenched beauties with soggy hairstyles.

Our lady in white won the competition with her unruffled hairdo, her second best dress, and of course, her mother-of-pearl shoes.

(Picture courtesy: Google Images)

(The Lady in White is Anna's creation. If you are in the mood for humour, do look up the label on top for more such stories.)

Of Kings and Babies

Have you ever wondered what heads of state talk about when they are not discussing the important matters concerning their respective nations?

Do they talk about their families, their own finances, their growing-up years, their interests and hobbies?

I always had a hunch that somewhere between those meetings and speeches, they do get time to discuss personal things.

This week, when Barrack Obama visited India, he asked Narendra Modi a question which is quite endearing. It made people want to pray for their leaders. It made them seem so human.

Obama asked Modi how much sleep he got each day. He seemed to be pleased with Modi’s answer which proved that he, Obama, slept more!

Well, kings are known to have uneasy heads because of their crowns, after all.

...

At the Diamond Museum in the heart of Amsterdam, there are exquisite crowns studded with jewels which display highly skilled craftsmanship. At the same museum, there is a gem of a quote by a famous king who says, “A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in!”

It did rain on Obama and Modi and they had to take the shelter of umbrellas in the absence of bejewelled crowns.

Oh yes, the rain rains on the poor and the rich too.  

...

In our little town of Vasai, there is a baker called Kamal who works day and night. He kneads the dough for bread late at night, bakes bread at the break of dawn, jumps on his bicycle loaded with loaves of bread, and delivers them to the sleepy homes of the villagers while announcing his presence with a loud “ Kamal Pav wala!” accompanied by the familiar bell of his bicycle.

Sometimes, during the day, when we pass by his bakery, we see him fast asleep with a whistle on his lips. Just like a child.

...

To watch your child sleeping peacefully is one of the most precious sights in the world. Without a care in this world, no thought of possessions or property or politics... only the existence of an imagination where fairies love to dwell.

Sleep, many of you would agree, is one of the things in this world that money cannot buy.

 

(Picture courtesy: Google images)

 

Party time (Part I)

"No, these are simply not the right ones" thought the Lady in White as she flung the peep-toe shoes back into the shoe rack.
"I need new shoes, if not a new dress to wear tonight" she thought.
She was disappointed to wear an old dress for the New Year's Party at the Ritz. She had worn that dress before for a movie star's wedding and although it was quite trendy, it was beneath her standards to wear it again for a party where there would be a prize for the best-dressed. The dress that she had planned to wear was still at the dressmakers shop - the embroiderer was sick and couldn't complete his work on time.
"Well, just this once, I will make an exception and wear the same dress twice" she decided "but I must get new shoes at any cost."
...
After dressing up for the party, she went to the elite mall downtown.
To get to the shoe shops, she had to pass by the extensive perfume and make-up section. It was then that she saw the following sign:
FREE MAKE-UP DEMO TODAY
It was a leading cosmetics company promoting their latest make-up products. The make-up would be done by experts in the make-up industry. The Lady in White signed up for the demo and was instantly put on the high make-up chair set on a platform in the middle of the section. The make-up artist carefully wiped away the previous make-up that the lady had applied at home. Then with deft strokes of her brush she applied the concealer and lustrous foundation. Skilfully,  she turned the lady's eyes into completely unrecognisable cat-like eyes with impossibly long eyelashes. After putting on a rosy blush, she sculpted the lady's lips into a luscious red bow.
"Well, what do you think?" she asked handing the lady a mirror.
The Lady in White looked into the mirror in disbelief and fluttered her eyelashes in Marilyn Monroe style.
"Oh la la, is that really me?"
The audience of young women who were filled with awe, gleefully clapped in appreciation.
The make-up artist took a bow and our Lady in White walked away like a fairy-tale princess.
On her way out, she came across, the nail colour counter. Its palette of testers had a particularly bright silver. The lady quickly put it on and finished off all that was left in the tester bottle.
When she was done, she spotted the most expensive perfume on the opposite shelf. Spraying herself generously with the tester perfume, she floated along into the shoe shop.
"Wow, isn't that mother of pearl?" the lady exclaimed as she felt the glaze on the shoes.
"Yes, madam" agreed the polite salesman "We just have one pair of these so they are special. For a special lady like you."
Slipping on the pair of shoes, our Lady in White was ready to rock the party.

(Watch this space for Part II to find out what happened at the party.)

(Photo courtesy: Google images)

 

(The Lady in White is Anna's creation. If you are in the mood for humour, do look up the label on top for more such stories.)

Small Talk

Sometimes people just need to be alone and allow time for reflection.

Aradhana came to Sakhi's house today.

"Hey, where have you been? Haven't met you for a long time" Aradhana asked.
"Yes, I have been playing hide and seek"  Sakhi smiled.

After talking about the recent social scene, Aradhana turned to Sakhi.

"So, how are things with you?"

"Nothing special - just the usual."

"Oh, you must have plenty of time now after resigning from your job."

"Well, I have things planned. Twenty four hours are not enough in a day."

Aradhana meant well and was eager to tell Sakhi who said what.

"You know, Rita was so critical yesterday. She said that you made a wrong decision. You shouldn't have quit your job. She also ..."

"Yes, Rita likes to talk like that. I bet she doesn't not know about all my other flaws. Or else she would blow the trumpet about all of those too" Sakhi laughed mischievously.

"Oh, come on yaar..." said Aradhana with a pat on Sakhi's back.

Then they had tea and chatted about other interesting things.

 

(Picture courtesy: Google images)