Master blaster's retirement anniv: Sachin adopts village kicking off his 2nd innings

It was not watching the Master Blaster’s brilliant shots from the stands of a packed stadium or on a TV screen that left residents of this Nellore village awestruck, it was the rare opportunity to rub shoulders with Sachin Tendulkar. The villagers of Puttam Raju Kandriga of Gundur mandal in Nellore district of Southern Andhra Pradesh were an ecstatic lot after meeting the cricketing icon. The fact that they are going to have long association with him made them feel even more special. Sachin has adopted this village following a directive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. He laid foundation stones for development schemes like building of a community centre, beautification of village tank, laying of roads and building some toilets, at an estimated cost of Rs 2.79 crore from his MP Local Area Development Scheme funds (MPLADS). [caption id=“attachment_1805289” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sachin Tendulkar. Reuters[/caption] Sachin interacted with the villagers twice, made them take an oath for the development of the village with the inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi. He released some fish in the village pond as part of ‘Meenotsavam’. He visited a couple of households and promised that he would bear the expenses of education for the children of villager named Kokolu Sivaiah. He went round a photo exhibition in a school and offered prayers to a cow. Before embarking on all these activities, Sachin unveiled a pylon marking the laying of foundation stone for the development schemes. Addressing them in English, the ace cricketer explained the idea behind adopting of a village. “While discussing the mission to light up as many villages, which don’t have electricity, as possible, elsewhere the idea of adopting villages by every MP was floated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We are inspired by that.” “We are taking up projects to provide access to clean drinking water, building a community centre, building of a toilets and beautification of a pond in your village. The idea of a community centre is to encourage all the men, who were addicted to smoking and drinking, to eschew the habits and instead get addicted to spending with their families every evening after their work. This is a model village. We should set an example for all villages in the country. You all promise me that you will accomplish this task.” Sachin won the hearts of all women by demonstrating his respect for them at every opportunity. He urged the villagers to accord equal importance to girls. “Educate both your son and daughter,” he told them. Why has he chosen this village? “Many people asked me why did he adopt Puttamraju Kandriga? I said I have played for India and I am an Indian,” so as long as whatever opportunity came to render his way of serving India, he would grab the opportunity. He thanked Joint Collector Rekha Rani for taking the initiative and expediting the process. “In cricketing parlance, we played the first innings by providing various facilities. To bring maximum result out of this, you promise me to play the second innings by maintaining these facilities. Addressing women belonging to self-help groups, the Rajya Sabha member said: “A woman sacrifices the most in a family for husband, children, parents, etc. I thank the god for giving women to us. I dedicated the Bharat Ratna given to me by the government to my mother and all the mothers in the country. This applies to all mothers sitting here.” Exhorting the importance of cleanliness, the Star Cricketer said: “We speak about Swacch Bharat. Most diseases are spread because we don’t wash our hands properly. We sometimes feed our children with those unwashed hands. We don’t teach our children on washing hands properly thinking that nothing would happen to my child. But that is when a major issue happens in the family.” Once again striking a sentimental cord with women, he said a woman is the backbone of the family and therefore, of the nation as well. “I feel you will do your responsibility and rear your children to become bright stars.” Sachin, who visited Krishnapatnam port closer by to PR Kandriga on Saturday evening, scored a few ‘boundaries’ and won the hearts of the villagers, clearly standing out as the ‘Man of the Match’ on Sunday, as outstanding as he has always been.