I am a fan of Saraswati Vaidyanathan, who is a fan of Sachin Tendulkar!

Sachin Tendulkar and Saraswati Vaidyanathan - Who is the fan of whom, here?!

As soon as we cross 50 years of age, we tend to forget things or we think that it is normal to forget things. But when I read this article of 87 year old Saraswati Vaidyanathan, who is not only an ardent fan of our cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, but keeps a pucca record of his career records in her fingertips.

Now, to the article which came in 'The Hindu' dt. 31st March '10:

As 87-year-old Saraswathi Vaidyanathan leans back on the couch, you almost expect her to pick up a pair of needles and start knitting. Instead she reaches for the television remote and surfs channels, only to stop at one telecasting cricket. There's a smile and a prayer on her lips — Sachin Tendulkar is at the crease. A Tendulkar fan and probably the senior most member of the cricketer's fan club, she says, “I have been watching Sachin play from the time he started. He was 16 then. Twenty years later, he still does everything right.”

Saraswathi may be frail now but her memory remains as fresh as ever. She effortlessly rattles off Tendulkar's records and match figures and like a fond grandmother refers to him as chota bachcha. As I quiz her about his achievement, she says, “As of now, he has 314 runs in the IPL. Mumbai Indians have played 7 matches and won 6. In ODIs he has notched up 17,594 runs and in Test matches he has scored 13,447 runs…” “Do you remember the '93 Hero Cup match against South Africa?” she asks and adds, “In the last over, they needed 6 runs to win. The situation seemed impossible. Lekin yeh bachcha took the ball from Azharuddin's hand and bowled, resulting in a run-out and conceding only 3 runs. We won,” she claps.

Her son interrupts her reciting of Tendulkar's records and says “She is very sure some day Tendulkar will meet her. Once when she was asked if she wanted to meet her grandchildren in Australia, she said, “I don't want to meet anyone, I only want to meet Sachin Tendulkar.” Saraswathi now looks coy, blushes and says, “If I ever meet him, I'll tell him to keep playing with confidence and keep entertaining us.”

The April 1 issue of The Hindu Metro Plus broke the story of how Saraswathi, unmindful of her advancing age, had kept track of Tendulkar's glorious journey. She maintained her own statistics of the maestro, kept awake all night to follow his innings on television and prayed for him.

Sachin meets Saraswati: The air suffused with warmth, Sachin Tendulkar greeted a special admirer at a city hotel here (Chennai), on Monday (5th April, '10). The legend approached the 87 year old Saraswathi Vaidyanathan with folded hands and sought her blessings.

Her body weak, Saraswathi had difficulty walking. Yet her eyes laughed when she saw Tendulkar in flesh and blood. Not wanting the moment to fly away and turning distinctly emotional, she said, “I am lucky to meet you.” Tendulkar corrected her. “No, I am lucky to meet you,” he said.

She then gifted Tendulkar an idol of Lord Ganesh. Tendulkar touched her feet, again in all humility. Soon, he autographed her prized possession — a bat signed by several accomplished cricketers. The maestro's name had been missing from the list.

Saraswathi recalled Tendulkar's records — to the legend's great delight — and expressed her wish that he complete 100 international centuries. Tendulkar is seven short of the landmark. “I will,” replied a beaming Tendulkar.

Saraswathi's second son C.V. Venkitakrishnan said: “Whenever she has a health issue, all she needs to do is to watch Tendulkar bat. All her pain disappears. He is a tonic for her.”

After reading this article, I feel awkward to utter the words, 'marandhuttein, marandhu pochchu' (forgot, forgotten)! I thought it was natural to forget things all these days. Funny thing is, I am surrounded by younger people than me forgetting things often...this gave me one more reason to say 'I forgot'! My friend's daughter always says that 'if I analyze the reason why I forget so many things, I will know that those things are not very very important or I think that they are not important'. I feel this is correct. I have not yet started forgetting how to cook! Or prepare the sweets/savouries which we do on the festival days, which we do only once in a year, I don't seem to forget!

I really admire this lady, who is passionate about cricket, which is not a woman's normal hobby and happily enjoying the game. Maybe this is one of the reason she is so active, mentally and physically, at this age!

Photo courtesy: The Hindu