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Sachin pays poetic tribute to dad
Sachin, chief guest of Maharashtra Dharma exhibition organised by the Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), pays a compliment to his father through the poem Prajakta, reports Naresh Kamath.
Shivaji Park on Tuesday saw wizard Sachin Tendulkar recite a poem written by his late father Ramesh.
Sachin, chief guest of Maharashtra Dharma exhibition organised by the Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) paid a compliment to his father through the poem Prajakta.
Before his recital, he recalled the time when his father died during the middle of the 1999 world cup held in the UK and had to fly back to attend the last rites.
When he returned, he scored a century against Kenya in the very next match.
“Every time I score a century or half century, I raise my bat up and thank God but on that day, I could see my dad in the sky blessing me,” said Sachin. “Through this poem, I can connect to him,” he added. He had dedicated the century to his father.
The poem says: ‘I have not forgotten you though you are not with us/I still remember all the events of our life/Even though, you are not with us, I still treasure the wonderful moments, we spent together.’
Sachin’s father was a professor at Kirti College and a well known literary figure.
Sachin also released the new edition of Savitri, the book written in 1950 by well-known literary figure Babasaheb Purandare.
The first day of the exhibition which is housing a book exhibition along with photographs of forts in Maharashtra and also the weapons of Chhatrapati Shivaji saw poem recitation by an array of celebrities from different walks of life. It included array of personalities like actor Sonali Bendre and Bharat Jadhav, Film makers like Jabbar Patel and Mahesh Manjrekar, adman Bharat Dabholkar, entrepreneurs like Veena Patil of Kesari Tours.
Earlier in his speech, Raj Thackeray took potshots at the growing number of Maharashtrians who are reluctant to speak their mother tongue. “No Society can survive if the language dies. It is tragic that when two Maharashtrians meet they speak either English or Hindi. This is not right,” said Thackeray.
