Nostalgic Sachin Tendulkar recalls writing letters to wife Anjali

Chennai: Walking down memory lane, legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday recalled writing letters to wife Anjali in the pre-mobile era and found her handwriting "beautiful," which anyone would "watch and admire".

But writing letters to his wife needed some effort from the former batsman.

"Hitting a cricket ball came naturally to me. But, while writing letters to Anjali, I have to doubly check what I was writing," he said with a sheepish grin.

".. in those days when there were no mobiles and the only mode of communication was through landlines or writing letters, I started writing letters. I started with my parents and later wrote some letters to (wife) Anjali," Tendulkar said during a handwriting promotional event here.

Anjali and Sachin Tendulkar. File Pic

Recalling how his parents would sit next to him and taught him to hold a pen and write, he said: "Later when I was away from family, I started writing to my parents and later to my wife."

While doctors' handwriting was usually not clear as one would expect, his wife Anjali, who is a doctor by profession, was an exception, the 40-year-old said. "But my wife, I think, is an exception because she has got a beautiful handwriting, which anyone would watch and admire."

Coming from a family of writers -- father and brother were writers -- he grew up seeing his father with hundreds of pens, said the youngest Bharat Ratna awardee, dressed in pink collared tee, denims and black shoes.

To a query on who among his cricket colleagues had the best of handwriting, he said, "I think Anil (Kumble) writes quite clearly. Subroto Banerjee is quite skilful." And who had the worst, pat came the answer, "you generally tend to notice only the good things na?".

As for as his days spent since retirement from cricket, the father of two children, said, "Life is beautiful. I get enough time to spend with my children. I have not played much. Just a few occasions with my son at my house."

In Chennai to promote handwriting initiative for school children, Tendulkar also said his children -- Sarah and Arjun-- used to scribble on the wall for writing.

"When somebody asked what that was and I would say that was the making of an young artist. As they grew, the height of the graffiti in the wall became higher," he quipped.

Comparing handwriting skills with batting skills in cricket, he said: "Once you learn them, they are there forever.. to start anything in life, basics are very important."

"I can't write with right hand. I hope there is some technology that teaches us to use the right hand as well. But, I can eat with both hands," he said, adding children should practice handwriting.

Tendulkar is a right-handed batsman but uses his left for writing. It was a pleasant evening to unwind for the legendary batsman, who holds many records in world cricket.

However, Tendulkar, also a Rajya Sabha MP and Bharat Ratna awardee, declined to take questions on cricket and politics.