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| Edited By: Pranav Joshi |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Sep 29, 2017, 06:04 PM IST
Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna the day he retired from international cricket. The honour was officially conferred on him on February 4, 2014 by the President of India. Though the announcement of his Bharat Ratna was not without controversy, it was an event of immense joy for a lot of Indians.
What we did not know is that Sachin Tendulkar celebrated the news of the Bharat Ratna by having a really good time.
Apparently, the announcement of the Bharat Ratna came as a very pleasant surprise to Sachin Tendulkar and his wife Anjali. In his book, 'Playing It My Way', Sachin vividly describes the evening that he first came to know of the government's intention to give him the country's highest honour.
Tendulkar states that after an emotional farewell at the Wankhede, accentuated by thousands of fans outside the stadium, he and his wife finally managed to secure some private time. While they were savouring the moment with food and sipping champagne, Tendulkar received a call from the office of the then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Singh then personally spoke to Tendulkar, congratulating him on a wonderful career and revealing that he had been awarded the Bharat Ratna.
This was a moment of extraordinary joy for the Tendulkars. Sachin says that 'After I put down the phone, I asked Anjali to stop eating. We both placed our hands on the table and I told her that she was now looking at a Bharat Ratna. Anjali screamed in delight and gave me a hug. We did not say a thing to each other as the news sank in. Then we opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate and, to be honest, the champagne just flowed from then on'.
Very few people are awarded the Bharat Ratna and fewer get to celebrate it with the love of their life and bottles of champagne. One can only say that after being such a prolific batsman for so many years, fighting and making comebacks through injuries, poor form and criticism, and yet being so consistent, Tendulkar deserved this moment of incredible joy.
