How Maharashtrian is Tendulkar?
Akshay Sawai in Open Magazine lists Tendulkar's habits, demeanour, personal tastes, approach to life and compares them to the characteristics of the quintessential Maharashtrian
29-Oct-2013
Sachin Tendulkar is among the most famous personalities to have emerged from the state of Maharashtra. Akshay Sawai in Open Magazine lists Tendulkar's habits, demeanour, personal tastes, approach to life and compares them to the characteristics of the quintessential Maharashtrian.
He is cosmopolitan, married to a non-Maharashtrian, Dr Anjali Mehta, and named after a Bengali music director, SD Burman. On the other hand, he is irrepressibly Maharashtrian in several other ways. He loves vada pav, for one. And also Marathi staple food. Jai Bokey, a US-based sports marketer, became friends with the cricketer when he was in India working for Professional Management Group. Once, when Tendulkar happened to be in Pune, where Bokey lived then, Bokey invited him for dinner. Tendulkar accepted it on the condition that the menu would be "varan bhaat poli bhaji".('Varan' is a mild Maharashtrian dal, 'bhaat' is rice, and 'poli bhaji' is 'roti subzi'). His son, Arjun, can eat varan-bhaat with sautéed potatoes every day. Some friends jokingly call Tendulkar not 'Master' but 'Maastoor', a rustic Marathi pronunciation of the original word.