Sachin Tendulkar's message on Teachers' Day

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar, on the occasion of Teachers Day, took to his social media account on Twitter, to wish all his teachers a Happy Teachers Day. He posted an image which read ‘Dreams begin with a teacher, who believes in you, who hugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called “truth”‘.

Tendulkar’s message forms part of the plethora of messages which have been circulating on the social media and otherwise, on the occasion of the special day meant to honour teachers.

Here is what Sachin Tendulkar tweeted.

The picture shows Sachin learning his steps from famous Mumbai coach Ramakant Achrekar. Thought by most to be the best batsman of this era, Sachin has previously stated that he is what he is mainly because of the tutelage of Achrekar.

Sachin trained under him while the latter was a student at Sharadashram Vidyamandir, Mumbai. When he was young, Tendulkar would practice for hours and hours in the nets. If he became exhausted, Achrekar would put a one-Rupee-coin on the top of the stumps, and the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar would get the coin. If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin.

Tendulkar now considers the 13 coins he won then as some of his most prized possessions.

Sachin’s moment of truth

The ‘truth’ that Sachin tweets about also has an interesting story – an incident which the batsman has said changed his life.

Once during his early years, Sachin’s coach told him to play for the ‘B’ team of his School. Instead of batting, he preferred sitting in the gallery and cheering for his schoolmates. In the evening, when he came across Achrekar, he was asked how many runs he had scored. Taken aback, Tendulkar told him that he was clapping and cheering.

Then came a slap which shattered his myth. His lunch box fell on the ground and he realized what a mistake he had committed. Achrekar told him firmly, ‘don’t just clap for others, play for yourself and concentrate on your batting’, as narrated by Tendulkar.

“That incident changed my life and whatever I am today is because of his coaching and the match practices that he encouraged,” he said.

Wishing A Happy Teachers Day pic.twitter.com/u3FZwKD8ki

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 5, 2015

Thank you, Ramakant Achrekar, for giving the cricketing world arguably the best batsman it's ever seen- @sachin_rt pic.twitter.com/zXKy6aqr21

— CricBattle (@CricBattle) September 5, 2015