Sachin Tendulkar, the legendary cricketer, shared a heartfelt note dedicated to his father. He revealed that his father was the first person to recognise the spark within him. He not only provided him with the freedom to pursue his passion but also had faith in his potential. Despite being a writer, poet and a professor, he did not push his child into academics, instead trusted his child’s talent and backed Sachin’s confidence in realizing his own potential.
Taking to X, Sachin stated, “When I think about the people who shaped my journey, I do not begin with a cricket ground or a coach. I begin at home.”
The touching message further states:
“Long before anyone outside my family knew my name, my father had begun to recognise my love for cricket and, perhaps more importantly, understand what it meant to me. He never knew exactly where that journey would take me. But he gave me the freedom to pursue it.
My father, Ramesh Tendulkar, was a writer, poet, and a professor, but more a mentor, a guide to many, including me. He gave me the freedom to pursue cricket while reminding me that success should never come at the cost of character. Some of the words my father said to me as a young boy have stayed with me throughout my life: failure is okay, but cheating is not. Never take shortcuts.
I was simply a boy who loved playing cricket. My father saw something more. He did not try to decide what I should become. Instead, he gave me the space and support to discover it for myself.
That, in many ways, is what a great teacher or mentor does. They recognise a possibility in you before you can recognise it yourself.
India has no shortage of young talent. Whether a child picks up a bat, a ball, a book or discovers an ability in some other field, it makes them unique in their own way. What they often lack is not talent, but access to people who can recognise that talent and help nurture it.
This belief was at the core of why Anjali and I started the Foundation. Across India, there are children with immense potential who may never get the chance to discover it because they lack access to a coach, a mentor, the right learning environment or basic healthcare. Our vision is that they get equal access to sports, healthcare and education, and a chance to prove that they belong.
My father spent his life as an educator, and I think his greatest lesson to me was the importance of giving someone the confidence and opportunity to find their own potential.”
Sachin Tendulkar launches Professor Ramesh Tendulkar Memorial Fellowship to support young doctors
Sachin Tendulkar shared this message on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, 5 September, as he unveiled the launch of Professor Ramesh Tendulkar Memorial Fellowship programme dedicated to his father, his first mentor. Through this initiative, he and wife aim to extend financial support and assistance to young doctors, backed by Inga Health Foundation.
Describing how this fellowship programme will help young doctors, he stated, “Each year, one MD (Doctor of Medicine) will receive financial support for a year-long opportunity to specialise in cleft and craniofacial care in Srinagar. On completing the programme, the fellow will receive a certificate from the Sachin Tendulkar Foundation, recognising the excellence. This is part of our long-standing commitment to support healthcare professionals in critical care and also encourage the young doctors in their field of study.”
Advocating the need to support talent and provide opportunity to explore that specific field, the 53-year-old Master Blaster added, “For me, this is more than a fellowship. It is a way of carrying forward something my father deeply believed in – that education creates opportunity, and that opportunity becomes truly meaningful when it is used to serve others.”