It feels nice to be loved, says Sachin on the eve of his 50th birthday

Did you find birthdays exciting in your youthNot really There were no big celebrations Normal cake cutting would happen no big parties only limited friends were called And when I started playing cricket hardly anything happened actually I didnrsquot miss it because it never happened I donrsquot remember having a proper party in my school daysYour birthday comes in the year when school is shut for the summer So we guess you had no chance to mingle with friends hellipYes I didnrsquot get to do that I did not have that privilegeWhat about celebrations at the cricket netsJust a vada pav and a soft drink or burger if someone wanted to have itWhatrsquos the one snack you couldnrsquot resist even as a fit playerI would eat snacks My theory was that you can have whatever you want but not whenever you want So if I felt I was not in good shape then I couldnrsquot eat whatever I wanted Simple Irsquoll give you an example Before the 2011 World Cup we were in South Africa We had completed the Test series and before the ODI series we had a meeting in the dressing room This was to be the last series before we got into the big tournament So how did we plan to start preparing ourselves We cannot wake up on February 10 and start We have to start now What is it that we are prepared to do I gave a brief lecture and said that we had to sacrifice something I said I know we are in good shape and we are training but can we get fitter Can we lose three kgs We have about six weeks so can we train hard The idea was to switch on our subconscious minds to something that had to be doneBut then I damaged my hamstring The first thing the doctors told me was you cannot run you have to just take it easy and do certain exercises to activate muscles around the hamstring and then slowly build it strength up The next three weeks were going to be challenging I had given this big lecture to the team so I came back and for four weeks my diet included boiled food nothing else Whether it was steamed fish or boiled chicken I would put a little chilly sauce and have it Lettuce was my chapati I was able to lose 38 kilos So when it was needed I could stay away from any foodSachin Tendulkar with late friend and agent Mark Mascarenhas in 1998The most special birthday would be the 1998 one where you scored a hundred against Australia in SharjahI think that was the only time I celebrated my birthday I didnrsquot organise it CBFS Cricketers Benefit Fund Series did and yes Mark Mascarenhas late agent and friend was there doing the broadcasting So they had arranged it one day before my birthday All three teams from the triseries India Australia and New Zealand were present because coincidentally there was an event That evening April 23 they brought in my birthday and I cut a cakeYou are a family man now so do your childrenrsquos birthdays take precedence over yoursYes But now they are at an age where they have their friends to celebrate with That takes precedence over anything else My daughter Sara was in England for sixseven years Arjun also has started travelling But if at all they are here we find a reason to get togetherSachin with his family at Mumbai airport in 2004 PicAshish RajeHas social media changed the concept of birthdaysYes Earlier it was limited to publications and television channels Now every person every fan has a platform to wish me directly It feels nice to be lovedAny birthday gifts you have treasured over the yearsThis was not a birthday gift but my sister Savita had gone to Kashmir and brought back a Kashmir willow bat for me That was the first proper bat I had It was one of the important gifts I received in my life The second one was a cycle Quite a few friends in my colony had one I said to my parents Irsquom not going down to play unless I get one It was shocking for them because I was just six or seven and wouldnrsquot stay put at home My father said hersquod organise one but I didnrsquot go down to play for a few days till I got it laughsSachin Tendulkar with his mother Rajni during his farewell Test match against the West Indies at Wankhede Stadium in 2013 PicPrakash ParsekarPerhaps you didnrsquot realise back then how difficult it was for them to get you a cyclehellipOne hundred per cent There wasnrsquot a single thing that I asked for and my father turned down I didnrsquot understand then the challenges that my parents had to face and that their pockets were not deepMy father always found ways to make it happen I was really really lucky Only when you grow up do you realise it Again this the cycle was not a birthday giftSachin Tendulkar with his late father Ramesh at a book release functionWhat have you inherited from your fatherHis nature He was always calm solutionoriented Distant relatives and his cousin brothers who lived in Pune would call him for any advice Certain matters required personal attention and he would catch an Asiad bus from Dadar to Pune spend time with them and returnHe would get involved in another individualrsquos challenges and hersquod treat them as if they were his own I was little and didnrsquot understand much but I did see him running around here and there When I speak with my mother I learn all these stories His helping nature was unbelievable whether it was with a gardener in our Sahitya Sahawas colony or a cleaner I remember the postmen coming to deliver letters We stayed on the fourth floor and there was no lift My father would always call the postman in make him sit in our drawing room put the fan on serve him water and ask if hersquod have tea or coffee Ours wasnrsquot the only building he was covering was my fatherrsquos logic We continue to discuss his way of doing things If we could emulate 50 per cent of what he did we would be extraordinary human beingsAnd from your motherGrit My mother is mentally very very strong and hardworking She worked for LIC Life Insurance Corporation in Santacruz One evening while she was returning from work a man stole her purse and jumped into a bus thinking that my mother wouldnrsquot chase him But she followed him all the way and got her purse back There was a writeup published in a newspaper on this incidentmdashbrave lady catches thiefShe has faced a lot of physical challengesmdashback knee problems and found solutions She has found her own lifestyle she never sulks There is always a smile on her faceA number of things that I sometimes say including rehne dete hain isko let this be she would say no we never did this So itrsquos also a reminder to me the kids and everyone at home that this is how it should be to act on thingsMother TeresaWhat about people from the nonsporting arena Who did you look up toMother Teresa I always thought that in the second innings of my life this charity is what I should be doing If I could contribute even a fraction a miniscule of what she has been able to I would have done a great job I wonder how she did all that It requires a person to think differently to achieve thatDid you prepare a road map for your second inningsOur foundation Sachin Tendulkar Foundation works with children We focus on three verticals mdash education sports and health We work all over the country The goal is to be able to contribute more As of now I donrsquot have any partners In time to come wersquoll see how we can grow and impact more lives Itrsquos satisfyingThen India captain Sourav Ganguly with Sachin Tendulkar at the 200304 Irani Cup in Chennai PicAshish RajeWas Nelson Mandela one of the people you admiredOh yeahhellip 100 per cent But why I mentioned Mother Teresa was because even while I was playing cricket as a kid we kept seeing something or the other about her on the television that really inspired me A lady who didnrsquot belong to this country came and changed so many lives How many people do thatAnd it helps to have a doctor at home Anjali wife agrees Itrsquos all about impacting lives If God has been kind to us then this is something that we should do We have a very good and committed team We take a lot of pride in making sure that certain things happen Itrsquos not that you give money and forget about it We keep track of progressIs humour something that you promote at home and workYeah I donrsquot like being serious If I know someone well then Irsquom always up to something When you need to work you work But otherwise you enjoy life I believe in that I do take some time to open up to people I donrsquot know I canrsquot just start making friends But I like enjoying myself I cannot be serious all the timeAnd you liked that in the dressing room tooYes We were constantly cracking jokes and were up to mischief That is how it should be But we knew where to draw the line Everyone was clear about that line That is the kind of relationship I shared with all my teammates Being the seniormost in the squad I was like the elder brother They would pull my leg too It was perfect because it kind of made me feel youngerSachin Tendulkar at a promotional event with actor Amitabh Bachchan in 2003 right Sachin with actor Shah Rukh Khan during a benefit match at the Wankhede Stadium the same yearAnd how was it when you were part of the younger lotIn the group on my first tour Pakistan 1989 it was Salil Ankola who was my roommate Sanjay Manjrekar was there too I canrsquot say they were in my age group but they were the closest whom I could feel comfortable with Krishnamachari Srikkanth made me feel comfortable In New Zealand my second tour I spent a lot of time with Sanjay and Dilip Vengsarkar He had quite a few friends in NZ so we would go out with him There were also team dinners which Bishan paaji cricket manager Bedi would organise So even when I was the youngest member of the squad I would still have a good time Venkatapathy Raju Narendra Hirwani and Pravin Amre were players who I also enjoyed myself with and then Vinod Kambli got into the team Ajay Jadeja and Navjot Singh Sidhu spent a lot of time with us tooAnd what about pranksRight from my under15 days when we started touring Irsquod be up to something That made our tours exciting Evenings were a lot of fun There are good moments and disappointing moments on the field How do you overcome those challenges If you are in the right space then you are prepared to go out the next morningWhatrsquos the best prank you played on someoneOn Souravhellip but which one do you knowThe Indore one where you and Vinod Kambli filled his room with water on which his gear was floatinghellipThere was another one The whole team were involved We were in Kerala and had finished our practice session We asked the support staff to leave the dressing room John Wright was our coach We said we only needed players to be present and told the support staff that there was some serious matter which the team had to discuss We sat together and started this conversation ldquoDada tumne kya bola hai newspaper mein jaake What have you gone and said to a newspaper A few journalists we have spoken to say that yoursquove rubbished us Itrsquos not fair Yoursquore a captain and you are the only one whorsquos allowed to speak to the media but that doesnrsquot mean that you go and say what you like We got a couple of newspapers This is the front page headlinendashDada rubbishes colleaguesrsquo Dada said ldquoMai bhagwaan ki kasam khaata hoon maine kuch nahin kiya hairsquo I swear to God Irsquove not said anything We then reminded him it was April 1Getting some dummy newspapers printed was amazing laughsAnd the best prank played on youWhen we won the 2009 ODI series in New Zealand There was a hot tub outside Harbhajan Singhrsquos room One side of the hotel was an open deck balcony anyone could go and sit in that tub They all got in the tub but I didnrsquot want to I said mera mood nahin hai Irsquom not in the mood for this But the rest of the team were determined I had a club sandwich in my hand and the next thing I know they had pulled me in and sandwich was floating They took me by surprise Zaheer Khan Yuvi Yuvraj Singh Harbhajan and Ashish Nehra made up that combinationWe know you love traveling and we remember you telling us that the first Christmas after you retired you went to London because you wanted to see a white Christmas something that you had not done Were there any other places on your bucket listWe also went to Iceland They kept talking about the volcano Ash erupting anytime The whole of Europe was shut for threefour days and it happened the very next yearDo you still enjoy driving around MumbaiYeah I love driving If there is parking available I drive Irsquom driving 90 per cent of the timeWhich is your favourite city to drive in India and abroadI drive to Tadoba tiger reserve at Nagpur I drive a bit in London Irsquom not comfortable with the lefthand drive You need full focus one mistake can be catastrophic I donrsquot take the chanceWhatrsquos the kind of influence Bollywood has had on youI watch movies Not just Bollywood When Irsquom relaxing at home I am watching some web series or the otherWhen growing up were movies a part of your lifeI didnrsquot watch much when I was playing There was hardly any time The only time I saw movies was before my serious cricket career started at age 12 Achrekar Sir did not give me any time to breathe I would be on the ground at school or sleeping I used to be so tired I had no energy to do anything elseBut I remember watching a few during the under15 India camp at Indore where I met Sourav Ganguly There was a common dining room and they had a TV set Also when I went to Pune with Abdul Ismail coachmanagermdashmy first Mumbai under15 trip I did catch a few filmsYou have a favourite Amitabh Bachchan movieIt has to be Sholay Those oneliners are too goodA favourite Shah Rukh Khan movieShah Rukhrsquos career and mine started at the same time more or less So a new movie in which he had acted was out Irsquod watch it I would listen to the songs of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge on the way to Anjalirsquos house and Wankhede Stadium My family is a big fan of this movie as wellYour first bestloved music groupFive singersmdashLata Mangeshkar Asha Bhosle Kishore Kumar Mohammad Rafi and Mukesh This was thanks to my family There was music on at home all the time and discussions on various songs I grew up listening to old rsquo70s songs Then I graduated to Michael Jackson Eagles Gypsy Kings Bob Marley U2 Dire Straits Pink Floyd And then in the last couple of decades Coldplay Going to music concerts is something that Anjali and I do every summer Last summer we caught Elton John and the Eagles live at Hyde ParkDo you listen to music that your kids likeI listen to a few songs of their choice Luckily they have decent taste laughs They listen to my music as well Whenever we are driving together music has to be on unless Irsquom having some serious conversationWersquove seen some videos of you in the kitchen What the best thing you cookI can do barbecues I make prawns baingan bhartha fish curry I can tell instantly if the fish is not fresh A lot of times it has happened in the dressing room toohellip Irsquod smell the fish and say mat khaoYour favourite cuisineI would say homemade food is very special but I like Japanese too