Opinion

You Are Sixteen, We Are Seventeen

The insuperable singing sisters of Bollywood sustain the high notes for their favourite cricketer and fellow Mumbaikar

Advertisement

You Are Sixteen, We Are Seventeen
info_icon

Lata Mangeshkar
Playback singer

Sachin calls me Ma, and may I say I am indeed delighted he does so. He is a gem of a person and what I like about him the most is that he is soft-spoken, humble and dignified at all times. Never have I seen him raise his voice or lose his cool—and that in itself, I believe, is a great quality to have in a human being. My cric­ket-watching—I must confess I understand very little of the game—is largely guided by whether Sachin is playing or not. I often switch off the television when Sachin gets out. He is for me the embodiment of all that is good about the game of cricket and its spirit—discipline, morality and gentlemanliness.

Advertisement

Sachin has often told me he likes listening to my songs during tours and that they inspire him on occasion. I am absolutely delighted he feels that way. If my music can inspire him to achieve further greatness for India, I’d only feel privileged.

I often feel Sachin was born to play sport. He has played cricket at the very highest level with distinction for close to 24 years. I did not like it when he quit one-day cricket. I still think he should have continued, for he has lots of cricket left in him. There’s no doubt his passion for the game is undiminished and I feel he should continue to play Test cricket as long as he loves the game the way he does. In fact, even after he leaves cricket (and this is very much my personal opinion), he should continue to play sport. Perhaps he can start playing golf seriously, maybe some other sport, but I firmly believe he should play some sport as long as he lives. All his life, he hasn’t done much else than play sport with complete commitment, so he shouldn’t give up what he loves so much.

Advertisement

As an artiste, I find it greatly satisfying that I have been able to give Sachin some joy with my music. I recall this recent event at the house of Nita Ambani at which both of us were present at her invitation. We were meeting to celebrate Sachin’s  100th international century and I was asked to speak a few words on the occasion. Soon after I finished speaking, Sachin asked me to sing a couple of lines from the song ‘Tu jahan jahan chalega, mera saaya saath hoga...’, from the film Mera Saya, which he said was one of his all-time favourites. I did sing a few lines from the song for him and was happy to be able to do so.

As Sachin turns 40, all I want to tell him is that he should never lose his balance. He has a lot to offer to India and to his fans. And life has just begun for him. In fact, he is half my age! He shouldn’t think of giving up cricket for anyone and should continue to play as long as his body and mind want to. Happy birthday, Sachin!

info_icon


Charmed! Asha with Sachin at the music launch of her film. (Photograph by AP)

Asha Bhosle
Playback singer

I have been watching cricket from 1956 onwards. In fact, I vividly remember watching Subhash Gupte bowl at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta, picking up a lot of wickets against the West Indies in 1958. I also remember enjoying Vijay Manjrekar and Polly Umrigar bat for India in the 1950s and ’60s. Thereafter, I have seen and enjoyed Vivian Richards for the sheer aggression that he brought to the game. If Richards was aggression personified, our very own Sunil Gavaskar was all class and elegance. And it wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that Sachin Tendulkar is a combination of both these legends. He is equally good in attack and in holding on to his wicket—a rare quality in any batsman. He has dominated world cri­cket for more than two decades and has allowed us to speak of an Indian in the same breath as Sir Donald Bradman.

Advertisement

I first heard about Sachin Tendulkar when he was 15. Raj Singh Dungarpur mentioned him to me and suggested that here was a Bombay kid who was special. Thereafter, my son-in-law kept on raving about him and even told me about Sunil Gavaskar presenting this kid with a pair of his pads. Needless to say, I was curious to see him bat. And when I did—at the first opportunity, during his debut series in Pakistan in 1989 against the likes of Wasim Akram and Imran Khan—I realised that all that was said about him was justified. He was simply exceptional. A man who was simply too good. His batting is like Lata Mangeshkar’s melodies, timeless and immortal. You can keep on seeing the videos and yet you will want to see more. Just as you like listening to Lata Mangeshkar songs at any time of the day, you’d like to watch Sachin Tendulkar play for India wherever you are. That’s why I call him cricket’s supreme artiste.

Advertisement

I am currently 80 years and seven months old. Yet I am on my feet at least 12 hours a day. I keep myself busy with my performances, my boutique and my recordings. For me, there’s retirement only in death. We have been born to work hard and that’s what I have always done. I wish Sachin keeps on doing the same. He should continue to play for as long as he wants and then should continue to give back to the game in any way possible for the rest of his life. Cricket is his arena and there’s no way he should ever leave his arena and walk away.

Advertisement

I’d be failing in my duty if I don’t mention my personal gratitude to him. In this day and age when achievers of his stature charge a hefty appearance fee for anything they do, he has never asked me for a single penny ever. He has come to inaugurate my albums on more than one occasion and has even modelled for my boutique but never has he charged a fee for doing so. Such generosity is unheard of in today’s age. In fact, whenever I have asked what I should give him to compensate for his time and efforts, he has laughed it off and suggested that I should give him something very personal of my own. Accordingly, I have given him the paper in which I had written out the song In aankhon ki masti at the time of my recording. I had it framed and presented it to him and he tells me that he will soon put it up in his music room in his house in Mumbai.

He is a real gem of a man in every sense of the word and I take great pride in knowing him well. Here’s hoping he has a great 40th birthday.

Tags

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement