It was mid-day on April 24, 2019. As the car turned into the bylane leading to 19A, Perry Cross Road, Sachin’s home in Mumbai, I was slightly taken aback to see a fairly big crowd that time of day. My initial thought was there must have been an accident of some sort and as a result there was a pile up of cars stretching back to the main road.
Accordingly, I decided to get out of the car and walk to his house to be on time for my meeting with the birthday boy. That’s when I realised that the few hundreds people who were crowding there were all Sachin devotees who had assembled to offer flowers and hand over other gifts to their hero, ‘god’ to many or rather most of them, on his birthday.
It was a pleasant surprise. It was many years since Sachin had retired and yet the kind of adulation he receives on a daily basis is quite unrivalled in the annals of Indian sport. To give the readers a rather interesting example, which was narrated to me by Sachin himself: In February 2015, India were playing against Pakistan in Australia in the World Cup and Sachin, retired for two years, was watching the match on television in Mumbai. All of a sudden, he heard people screaming ‘Sachinnn, Sachinnn’ outside his house. “I was surprised to hear there were close to 500 people outside the house screaming ‘Sachinn, Sachinn’ and eventually Anjali had to send them tea and biscuits for they were there for the entire duration of the match,” he recounted.
As a result, it was no surprise when on reaching the gate of his house and just when I was about to make my way in amidst all the frenzy, a young girl came running to me. She had travelled overnight by train all alone to wish her icon and knew me as Sachin’s biographer. “All I want is to wish him once,” she said. “If you do see him, ask him to come and meet us for a second,” she pleaded.
I must confess I was uncomfortable because here I was walking into what these men and women considered their temple while all of them waited outside for a glimpse of their god.
For the record, Sachin did come out and greet all of them and the young girl did have her date with history.
Coming back to my own date with the man of the moment, once inside I asked the security at the gate to inform Sachin that I had reached. This has been my practice for years now before making my way to the ground floor drawing room, my favourite in the house. Tastefully done up, the drawing room is testimony to the most glorious career in Indian sport and in adjacent walls are placed the Padmashree, Padmabhushan and of course the Bharat Ratna.
A series to celebrate the Master, building up to his b’day on 24th April!
In association with @AgeasFederal, we look into the values that echo with @sachin_rt.
In this 1st episode, we talk about ‘Share’. Listen to #SachinTendulkar, as he narrates his… pic.twitter.com/F8XZ1uO5wm
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) April 16, 2025
As Sachin came down to see me and I wished him a very happy birthday, it was apparent to me that he has not lost any of the popularity that he enjoyed as a player. For the entire time we were together, his phone kept ringing. Either it was a message or a call and all Sachin did was keep answering the wishes from time to time. “I feel blessed, you know,” he said. “People from all walks of life wish you well. They have so much affection for you and it makes me feel really fortunate,” he added.
He was right, for I had seen glimpses of this the previous day as we left his house to go to the Taj Lands End to launch my book. Just as his car was getting onto the road from the garage did a young man of 17 just sprint across without seeing what was coming from either side. There could well have been an accident.
Both Sachin and I were shocked to see him do this and when he was close to the car, Sachin opened the drivers’ window to tell him to be a little careful. That’s when he said that all he wanted was to have a picture with his hero on the eve of his birthday. Sachin, somewhat taken aback, asked him to come to the car and posed for a selfie making his day. Just as he was about to leave and was all smiles did Sachin make him promise that he wouldn’t ever cross the road in such a huff.
All of the above is proof of what Sachin means to his fans. He is still revered and loved and worshipped by many. That’s why when we were asked by Ageas Federal Life Insurance, a brand that is now synonymous with him, to do something special for his birthday, we readily agreed. But then what should we do was the question? What will be different and special? After much ideation we decided to identify words that define Sachin. His principles and values. And connect each with a story narrated by Sachin himself.
It was a lot of hard work. And now we are ready with our 10-part series which will be aired at 10 am everyday for the next 10 days. We have loved putting the series together and are delighted that Ageas Federal Life Insurance pushed us to do this. Let’s hope the legion of Sachin fans love to hear it from their idol as they get ready to celebrate his 52nd birthday.
Everyday 10 am, between April 16 and April 25, and the full documentary Sachin@52 will air on April 24 at 6 pm.