Sachin Tendulkar Honours Late Father, Announces New Initiative On Teachers' Day

By Suresh

**A Lesson in Character: Tendulkar's Tribute on Teachers' Day** On this quiet Teachers' Day, Sachin Tendulkar turned away from the cricket field to honour the man who shaped him first—not as a batter, but as a son. Remembering his late father, Prof. Ramesh Tendulkar, he announced the **Professor Ramesh Tendulkar Memorial Fellowship**, an initiative to support young doctors in Srinagar specialising in cleft & craniofacial care. One MD each year will receive a yearlong programme, plus a certificate from the Sachin Tendulkar Foundation. **The Guru at Home** Tendulkar spoke of his father not as a coach, but as a mentor—a man who offered freedom rather than direction. *"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."* Perhaps the most resonant lesson: *"Failure is okay, but cheating is not. Never take shortcuts."* These are the notes of character that echo longer than any scorecard. **Why This Fellowship** For Tendulkar, this is more than a scholarship—it's carrying forward a legacy. His father believed education creates opportunity, and that opportunity becomes meaningful when used to serve others. Talent may be widespread, he notes, but access to mentors, coaches, and healthcare often is not. Ramesh Tendulkar, a writer, poet, and professor, passed away in a heart attack at his Mumbai home in 1999, aged 68. **A Composer's Reflection** As one who has spent a life in the guru-shishya tradition, I find deep resonance here. A teacher's influence, like a raga's *alap*, begins softly—but its resonance travels from one life to another, one generation to the next. That is the true measure of any mentor. *The melody of a father's guidance, it seems, never truly ends.* Source: NDTV Sports