The master blaster and a movie genius have come together for a cause. How else does one explain Sachin Tendulkar featuring in a documentary centred on the physically challenged made by Mani Ratnam.
On the road to recovery, Tendulkar didn’t let his tennis elbow interfere with visiting a tennis stadium at Chennai to appeal for better access for the disabled. According to a PTI report, Sachin wheeled in a kid and delivered the catch line “Thanks for providing ramps for them at public places.”
Sachin’s concern for the disabled may have come to the fore now, but the cause has always been close to his heart. In a recent interview to HT City at Mumbai, the champion batsman had said as much.
“The game has given me opportunities to meet some fascinating people. If I wasn’t a cricketer I wouldn’t have perhaps come to know about the lives of disabled people,” he said.
Not many people know that Tendulkar has also persuaded the cricket associations of Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and Mumbai to allow the Shakti
Foundation to build ramps for physically challenged kids. “I wrote to the BCCI about it too. Hopefully, disabled children will now be able to watch every match we play for free,” says Tendulkar.
With Ratnam and Tendulkar making a pitch for the disabled, the policy makers, hopefully, will come out of their slumber!