I first met Ramesh Tendulkar in November 1968, when, after being professor in a Goa college for five years, I joined as head of economics department in Kirti College. He was fair, with a wide forehead, unkempt hair; and he was slightly obese. With his smile and pleasing countenance, he impressed everyone. With those who had just come to know him, he was quiet. But with friends around, he would really open up and chat for hours, emptying any number of tea-cups. In this respect, he belonged to the tribe of Krishna Menon!

Tendulkar had three children from his first wife: Nitin, Ajit and Savita. After his wife died, the boys were looked after by their maternal aunt, Rajni. Later, Tendulkar married Rajni, and Sachin was born in 1974.

Ramesh, who took a keen interest in films, theatre and music, wasn't too enamoured of cricket. He didn't understand the game's nuances. AfterTendulkar left his small house in Dadar and came to live in the sprawling flat at Sahitya Sahwas, little Sachin's batting flowered in the society's abundant open spaces. The five-year-old Sachin, with loads of curly hair, looked verily like Satya Sai Baba. His strokes, even at that age, were such that Sahitya Sahwas residents were left with no doubt about what the boy would do in his life. The little kid's flamboyance in weilding the bat knocked off quite a few glass windows in the colony, forcing the father to compensate for residents' loss!

In the Tendulkar family, Ajit was the only person after Sachin who was interested in cricket. He even switched colleges from Ruia in Matunga to Jhunjhunwala in Ghatkopar in the hope of becoming captain of the college cricket team. Spotting talent in his younger brother Sachin, Ajit persuaded their father to shift Sachin from Bandra's New English School to Shardashram in Dadar, which had a big reputation to nurture wizards of the willow with the legendary RamakantAcharekar as the coach. However, Dadar seemed too far. The family worked around this seeming hurdle. They decided to send Sachin to stay with Ramesh's brother who stayed near Shivaji Park.

At Shardashram Sachin met Vinod Kambli. The rest is history.

Sachin's exploits developed in Ramesh's heart a liking for cricket, and he followed with great earnestness his son's rise on the world criketing horizon. The youngsters of Sahitya Sahwas went wild when Sachin smothered Abdul Qadir for four sixes in an over. He was just fifteen then. When he went on his first tour to England, the entire colony gave him a farewell, for which Sunil Gavaskar was chief guest. In that function, Gavaskar turned to Ramesh and said: ``Let him (Sachin) continue playing. But also see to it that he completes his graduation.'' Ramesh took this very seriously and sent Sachin to Kirti College. But due to incessant touring, it was near-impossible for Sachin to attend classes. How would he reach Standard XII if he didn't give his exams? TheBoard's rule was to promote a player if he was performing at the inter-varsity or Ranji Trophy level. Sachin was then playing Test cricket! There was no inclusion of `Tests' in the Board's rules! Finally the college principal and Ramesh convinced the education director, and `Test cricket' was included in the Board's rules! Even as the Std XII exams approached, Sachin didn't get time to open his text books. Professors of Kirti College then chalked out a plan to bring out audio cassettes containing important questions only for Sachin, so that he could listen to them! But Sachin's cricket demolished their plans!

Ramesh watched Sachin's phenomenal progress with great satisfaction. As Sachin's fame spread across the world, the Tendulkar family flourished financially. Ramesh was very fond of driving, but due to monetary constraints had never been able to buy a car. Sachin fulfilled his desire by gifting him a lovely car.

It was not in Ramesh's nature to praise his son to the skies. He would merely smilewhenever anyone lauded Sachin. Interestingly, he -- and even Ajit -- would never watch a match on television if Sachin were playing!

Ramesh has departed at a time when Sachin is at the height of his glory, but he has left behind all his good qualities -- no exceptions here -- in his illustrious son.