स्वतंत्रता / लेओनीद मर्तीनोव/ वरयाम सिंह

मैंने यह बात स्‍पष्‍ट कर दी है -
क्‍या होता है स्‍वतंत्र होना।
इस जटिल और अति व्‍यक्तिगत अनुभव को
मैंने प्रयास किया है गहराई से समझने का।

आपको मालूम है -
क्‍या होता है स्‍वतंत्र होना?
स्‍वतंत्र होने का मतलब है
उत्‍तरदायी होना संसार की हर चीज के प्रति
हर आह, हर आँसू और हर तरह के नुकसान के प्रति
आस्‍था, अंधविश्‍वास और अनास्‍था के प्रति।
अन्‍य कोई हो न हो पर मैं उत्‍तरदायी हूँ
बँधा नहीं हूँ मैं किसी चीज से
इसीलिए प्रतिबद्ध हूँ -
हर चीज और व्‍यक्ति की स्‍वतंत्रता के प्रति।

स्‍वतंत्र होना
इतना आसान है क्‍या?
उस व्‍यक्ति की बात क्‍या करें
जिसे सहायता और सहारे की जरूरत है
ताकि वह उठाकर रख दे हर तरह के पहाड़ों को,
बाँध दे भविष्‍य की नदियों को,
मनुष्‍य तो मनुष्‍य है
उसकी बात क्‍या करें
स्‍वयं पहाड़ अक्‍सर कहते हैं -

आर्तनाद कर रही हैं उनकी निर्जन घाटियाँ
स्‍वयं नदियाँ चा‍हती हैं कि उनके ऊपर पुल हों
रोती है कि यानविहीन है उनका जल
आहिस्‍ता से कहते हैं रेगिस्‍तान-हमारे भीतर समुद्र हैं
जरूरत है बस भीतर तक खुदाई करने की,
यह इतना आसान है क्‍या
कि रेत और सिर्फ रेत में
नहाते रहना पड़े सहारा के रेगिस्‍तान को?
बहुत हो लिया अब मुक्‍त हो लें इस नरक से!
और ठीक इसी वक़्त
बहुत पास कहीं हलचल मचा रहा है अतलांतिक।
बता रहे हैं द्वीप -
किसी दूसरे महासागर के क्रोध के बारे में
जो समूल उखाड़ देना चाहता है उन्‍हें।

क्रुद्ध क्‍या केवल महासागर हैं?
दिखाई दे रहा है धुआँ, राख और धूल,
खून-पसीना थके शरीर पर।
मैं उपयोग कर रहा हूँ अपनी स्‍वतंत्रता का
कि हवा में उड़ न जाये द्वीप -
निगल न डाले पानी जमीन को
निर्जन न पड़ जायें लोगों की दुनियाएँ।
मैं लडूँगा
हर जीवित चीज के लिए
टकराऊँगा हर तरह की बाधा से
यही कामना है मेरी -
हरेक को प्राप्‍त हो सच्‍ची स्‍वतंत्रता।

साभार- http://www.hindisamay.com

Outtakes: Steven Spielberg / SRIKANTH SRINIVASAN

WHO is he?

Extremely popular Hollywood film director, screenwriter and producer of enormously successful movies who has directed close to 30 films since the early 1960s. Spielberg took to cinema at a very young age, making 8-mm shorts at home. He co-founded the major production house Dreamworks Studios in 1994. He has won the Academy Award for Best Direction twice for Schindler’s List(1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).

WHAT are his films about?

Themes

Spielberg’s films are characterised by their childlike wonder for the new and the extraordinary. Aliens, dinosaurs, robots, adventurers — his films abound with the imaginative power of pre-adolescence. It has been widely noted that his films are full of father figures — which certainly owes something to John Ford’s influence — with whom the various children stand-ins have a strained relationship. Spielberg has also regularly brought to screen various events from world history, presenting narratives in which the struggles of one central character, often a white male, become the driving force that changes the course of History.

Style

Groundbreaking special effects, tracking shots, strong directional lights, expressionist silhouettes and a manipulative musical score are some of the features that comprise Spielberg’s style. One prominent cinematic device in these films is a tracking shot towards the characters looking with awe at an off-screen object, as if they are staring at something out of this world. Frequent collaborators include composer John Williams, editor Michael Kahn, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and producer Kathleen Kennedy.

WHY is he of interest?

Few directors could have been as highly praised and as harshly panned as Spielberg. Champions of his cinema rightly recognise his genuinely creative, highly cinematic, game-changing vision, while his critics, perhaps as justifiably, reprimand him for the dumbing down of American cinema and his manhandling of history. One fact that they can’t help but agree upon, however, is the immense impact his work has made across the world both in the way movies are made and received.

WHERE to discover him?

Far from being the quintessential Spielberg movie, and refreshingly so, his debut work Duel (1971), made for TV, centres on a Plymouth-driving salesman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) who is ceaselessly threatened by a rusty old truck. Through the course of this thrilling, minimalist portrait of the crisis of masculinity, the aptly named Mann’s psychological security and self-assuredness collapses to reveal a bed of neuroses and insecurities.

Courtesy- http://www.thehindu.com

Outtakes: Wong Kar-Wai /Srikanth Srinivasan

 

WHO is he?

Hong Kong film director, producer and scenarist who has made over 20 feature and short films since his debut in the late eighties. Wong is notorious for his long shooting schedules and improvised scripts, which has often posed problems for his actors and producers. He won the Best Director prize at Cannes Film Festival for Happy Together (1997).

WHAT are his films about?

Themes

The majority of Wong’s films are set in Hong Kong and, directly or indirectly, deal with the impossibility and transitory nature of love in this vast, impersonal space. The protagonists in these films are chronic loners, inured to their isolation and solitude, and attempt to cotton onto any modicum of warmth they get in this commercial Mecca. Like Nicholas Ray’s films, Wong’s movies are obsessed with youth and present it with all its vitality, foolishness and quirkiness.

Style

Wong’s cinema could be described by what the French called the Cinema of Look — a pop-culture influenced, ornately stylised, primarily ‘visual’ style of filmmaking. The principal characteristic of Wong’s style of filmmaking is the intuitive, impressionistic cinematography — often helmed by Christopher Doyle — that attempts to represent the most fleeting impressions and emotions using wide-angle, handheld, slow-motion, low-frame rate shots. Other features include the use of a mixture of music from around the world, jump cuts, location shooting, accentuated primary colours, improvised scenes and voiceovers.

WHY is he of interest?

Wong’s is among the most visually distinctive body of work in contemporary cinema and his extremely stylised brand of filmmaking has enjoyed a widespread popularity, even in India. A true scion of the French New Wave, Wong’s cinema retains the free spiritedness and flamboyance of the movement while refracting them through the director’s eccentric yet truthful vision of life in contemporary Hong Kong, which might well stand for any automated metropolis in the world.

 

WHERE to discover him?

At once the most restrained Wong Kar-Wai film and his most profound, In The Mood For Love (2000) is set in a conservative 1960s Hong Kong milieu and revolves around a man and woman who discover that their spouses are cheating on them. Admittedly influenced by Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958), Wong’s sumptuously shot and scored film posits the centrality of performance and playacting in any relationship and captures the fragility and ephemerality of love. 

Courtesy- http://www.thehindu.com        

 

Outtakes: Ingmar Bergman / Srikanth Srinivasan

WHO is he?

Widely celebrated Swedish film and theatre director, scenarist and producer who made over 60 feature and television movies in a 60-year career spanning the 1940s and the 2000s. Three of his films — The Virgin Spring (1960), Through A Glass Darkly (1961) and Fanny and Alexander (1983) — won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film while Wild Strawberries (1957) took away the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival.

WHAT are his films about?

Themes

Bergman hailed from a conservative Protestant background and, consequently, religious Faith, Doubt and godlessness are key elements of his oeuvre. Protagonists of his films seek the solace of God’s presence, cope with His silence or downright see Him as a force of hatred. Despite this strong Christian influence, Bergman’s cinema remains deeply existential and probes the condition of man in a godless universe. They also deal with sexuality as a means of coping with life’s voids.

Style

It would not be far from the truth to say that Bergman’s cinema is a cinema of human faces. Like Carl Dreyer or G. Aravindan, Bergman, along with master cinematographer Sven Nykvist, studied the texture of the human face, its contours, its geography and the play of light on it. Numerous extreme close-ups, a predominantly indoor setting, a small set of ace stock actors, lack of conventional musical soundtrack, a distinct lack of humour and a relentlessly bleak tone are some of the major characteristics of his films.

Why is he of interest?

Among the most revered and groundbreaking of film directors in the history of the medium, Bergman is cited to be a vital influence by a plethora of current-day filmmakers. His cinematic chamber dramas — stories that unfold within confined spaces with a handful of actors — can be seen as a direct inspiration for the Berlin School filmmakers. For better or worse, Bergman’s intense body of work has been endlessly cited, adapted, imitated and parodied the world over.

WHERE to discover him?

Despite not being among the canonical Bergman films, Winter Light (1963) is perhaps the director’s greatest achievement and the most coherent articulation of all his religious and existential preoccupations. Through the character of the doubtful priest Tomas (Gunnar Björnstrand), the film explores the impossibility and the necessity of Faith in an increasingly strange, hostile world.

Courtesy- http://www.thehindu.com

अनुराग वत्स की कवितायें ....

निगाह की पहनाई क्या सिर्फ़ तुम्हें आती है

तो तुम सिगरेट इसलिए पीते रहे?
हाँ, बिलकुल ।
हद है !, तब पूरे पागल थे क्या?
फ़र्क कर लो ।
और तुम्हें क्या लगा कि मैं तुम्हें मना ही करुँगी । क्या होता गर मैं भी पीती ?
कुछ नहीं । मैं छोड़ देता ।
उफ्फ़ । एक बात बताओ, मेरे इतने डिटेल्स कैसे याद रख सके, जबकि कितना कम देखना होता था हमारा ।
आसान रहा यह मेरे लिए ।
कैसे ?
मैं तुम्हारी निगाह पहन लेता था ।
हाहाहा...लोग टोकते नहीं थे ?
हाँ, पर उनकी परवाह कौन करे । तुम अपनी फेवरेट ख़ुद को बताती रही करीना की तरह, तो मुझे लगा, अपनी निगाह से तुम्हें देखना कम देखना होगा ।

तुम्हें पता है, मुझे यह फ्लर्ट कितनी अच्छी लगती थी ।
ओहो! पता होता तो कम करता ।
एक लड़की के लिए जो यह बहुत नहीं सोच पाती कि उसे कोई देखने लायक भी मानता है, तुम क्या-क्या नहीं कहते रहे। यह मेरे लिए सबसे कम फ़िल्मी था क्योंकि तुम्हारी आवाज़ किसी परदे से नहीं निकलती थी । उसे मैं अपने रोओं पर रेंगता हुआ महसूस कर सकती थी ।
तुम आज मुकाबले में हो ।
मैंने भी पहली दफ़ा तब अपने लिबास से ज़्यादा तुम्हारी निगाह पहनना ज़रूरी समझा ।
अच्छा, फिर तुम्हारे साथ तो बड़ी छेड़-छाड़ हुई होगी ?
नाह, तुम क्या समझे, निगाह की पहनाई सिर्फ़ तुम्हें आती है ?
अरे नहीं ।
मेरा कभी न कहना मानने वाले बालों को मैंने अपने कन्धों पर 'हलके खुले बाल' की तरह उससे पहले कभी नहीं देखा था ।

एक बात बताओ, क्या तुम इस तरह शुरू हुई ?
शायद इससे पहले ।
कब से ?
जब से तुम्हारी आवाज़ के लिए जगह बनाना शुरू किया तब से ।
तुम्हें पहला वाक्य याद है ?
हाँ, वह तुम्हारा दनदनाता हुआ-सा मेल जिसका सब्जेक्ट रोमन में लिखा 'तुम' था और टेक्स्ट : मुझे एक भूली हुई भाषा की तरह मिली जिसे खोना नहीं चाहता \
अजब है, तुम इसे सुन सकी ?
हाँ, मेरे कान तुम्हारी आवाज़ चख चुके थे । इसलिए तुमने जो लिखा उसे बाद के दिनों में पढ़ा कम, सुना ज़्यादा।

कोई खिड़की नहीं
  
(उर्फ़ कैब में प्‍यार)

उसके आने से वह जगह घर बन जाती

घर बनना शिकायत से शुरू होता और हँसी पर ख़त्म
शिकायत यह कि 'बाहर की तेज़ हवाओं से मेरे बाल बिखर जाते हैं'
और हँसी इस बात पर कि 'इतना भी नहीं समझते'

हँसी की ओट में लड़के को शिकायत समझ में आती
और यह भी कि लड़की की तरफ़ से यह दुनिया से की गई
सबसे जेनुइन शिकायत क्यों है

फिर शिकायत के दो तरफ़ शीशे की दीवार उठ जाती
और हालाँकि दीवार में तो एक खिड़की का रहना बताया जाता है,
१२ किलोमीटर के असंभव फैलाव और अकल्पनीय विन्यास में
उसके आ जाने भर से रोज़-रोज़ आबाद
घर की दीवार में कोई खिड़की नहीं रहती

बाहर रात, सड़क, आसमाँ और चाँद-तारे रहे होंगे,
भीड़, जाम, लाल या हरी बत्तियाँ भी,
इस घर में तो लड़के का अजब ढंग होना और
लड़की की आँखों में शरीफ़ काजल ही रहा ।

बाहर का होना
घर टूटने के बाद याद आया :
दोनों को
अलबत्ता बहुत अलग-अलग ।


गिनती

अब जब कहीं कुछ नहीं की साखी है तो तुम्हारा
जानबूझकर मेरे पास भूल गया क्लचर है ।
मैं उससे आदतन खेलता हूँ, मगर एहतिहात से
कि कहीं तुम्हारी आवाज़ बरज ना दे ।
और टूट गया तो तुम्हारी तरह वैसा ही मिलना नामुमकिन ।

हुमायूँ'ज टॉम्ब, शाकुंतलम थियेटर और पराँठे वाली गली
तुम साथ ले गई । अब वे मेरी याद के नक़्शे में हैं, शहर दिल्ली में कहीं नहीं ।

यूथ भी ।
उसे अकेले पढ़ना असंभव होगा मेरे लिए ।

मेरा हरा कुर्ता हैंगर का होकर रह गया है ।
मानो उसे तुम्हारे हाथों ने दुलारा ही नहीं ।

आसमानी अदालत में मुझे मुज़रिम करार दिया गया है ।
सज़ा बरसात की सुनाई गई है...हद है !
...आगे कोई अपील नहीं...

सच पूछो तो तुम्हारा एसारके मुझे चिढ़ाता है ।
हालाँकि मैं रोमन हॉलीडे चाव से देख सकता हूँ ।

फिर भी मैं आजिजी में नहीं, बहुत इत्मिनान में फ्लोरेंतिनो अरिज़ा के
५३ साल, ७ महीने और ११ दिन-रात को अपना मुकम्मल ठिकाना बना रहा हूँ ।
पर इतनी उम्र मिलेगी फरमीना ?


डिठौना

एक तिल है बाईं आँख की सरहद पर तुम्हारी
जो मेरी निगाह से रार ठाने रहता है ।
उसे समझाओ न...!... या थोड़ा काजल बढ़ा कर छिपा ही दो ।
डिठौना करीब २८ में ठीक नहीं ।
इसे हमारे बच्चों के लिए रख छोड़ो ।


गुदगुदी

तुम्हारी हँसी की अलगनी पर मेरी नींद सूख रही है ।
तुम उसे दिन ढले ले आओगी कमरे में, तहा कर रखोगी सपने में ।
मैं उसे पहन कर कल काम पर जाऊँगा और मुझे दिन भर होगी गुदगुदी ।


कोई भाषा नहीं

तुम्हारे होठों पर सर्जरी के बाद छूट गई खरोंच का तर्ज़ुमा मैं 'दाग़ अच्छे हैं'

करता था जैसे बहुत ख़ुश को तुम 'कुछ मीठा हो जाए' कहा करती थी ।

विज्ञापनी भाषा की सारी चातुरी की ऐसी-तैसी कर हम वस्तुओं की जगह

ख़ुद को कितनी आसानी से नत्थी कर लेते थे और हमारी ख़ुशी ने उस बेहोश वक़्त में

'प्रेम न हाट बिकाय' कभी हम पर ज़ाहिर नहीं होने दिया ।

जबकि तुम जिन वज़हों से सुन्दर और क़रीबतर थीं उन वजहों की कोई भाषा नहीं ।

एक यह भी सही

देख कर तुम्हें कभी यह नहीं लगा कि तुम्हारी उजली हँसी पर प्रेम की वह छाया भी पड़ती है जो तुम्हें चुप और उदास बनाती है और मुझे उन सब अभिनेय भूमिकाओं के लिए धीरे से तैयार, जो अक्सर त्रिकोण उभरने पर कुछ कम हीरो के हिस्से बदी होती है । एक तो अभिनय के इस अच्छेपन में मेरा यकीन नहीं दूसरे मैं इस नियति को बहुत शक्की निगाह से देखता हूँ । देखने के इस सयाने, बचकाने या बेढंग ने 'जो पसंद है सो पसंद है' की दलील पर मेरा ऐतबार ही बढ़ाया और इससे कुछ हो न हो कहानी के दो एकांत नहीं रह गए । तीसरा एकांत मेरे मन का अहाता है जिसकी चौहद्दी पर तुम्हारा यह अफ़सोस फ़िलहाल ठिठक गया है कि 'हम अक्सर उसे क्यों चाहने लगते हैं जो पहले से किसी और के प्यार में मुब्तिला रहता है'. मैं इसमें प्रेजेंट इम्परफेक्ट टेंस का एक वाक्य घटित होने से ज़्यादा कुछ देख नहीं पाता और इसी कमनज़री से अपने कोने में आबाद हूँ । जैसे त्रिकोण में कहीं तुम हो. जैसे दुनिया में हर शै है । वह भैया होगा जिसके साथ तुम भाग जाना चाहती हो । अब इतना कुछ अजीबोगरीब ढंग से पैबस्त है जीवन में तो एक यह भी सही ।

कवि अनुराग यहाँ मिलेंगे

Courtesy- कविता कोश

Chittagong (film)

The film Chittagong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittagong_%28film%29)

was screened at MIT recently. The screening was followed by a Q&A session

with the director, Bedabrata Pain. Hats off to ex-NASA scientist, Pain, on

his directorial debut.

Chittagong is about the Chittagong (Chottogram) revolutionaries Surya Sen

(Master da), Nirmal Sen, Pritilata Waddedar, Kalpana Dutt, Gautam Ghosh,

Loknath Bal, Anant Singh and the 50+ students (aged 14-20) who left school

to take up arms in the uprising. We see much of the film through the lens

of 14 yr. old Jhunku (Subodh Roy). We get to see the real Subodh Roy in a

clip from a 2006 interview (in his hospital deathbed; he died 2 weeks after

the interview).

The film is very different from your typical Bollywood one, and is shot

with a washed-out look, the diffused lighting giving Jhunku the wondrous

look of an impressionable boy. In Bedo’s words, he used a “shallow depth of

field to get Jhunku’s eyes to face you directly.” The film was not shot in

Chittagong (now in Bangladesh) but in a place called Latagudi in the N. W.

Bengal countryside. The photography, sound (no dubbing) and music (Bolo Na

based on Raag Bageshri by Shankar Mahadevan) are all well done.

I liked that the film takes no liberty with historical facts (it is a

feature film and not a documentary). This is an uprising many of us in the

audience knew little about.  Bedo opined that it was an event that must be

told to future generations (“there must be a re-telling of South Asian

history”), and correctly, not as the Easter Rebellion it came to be known

as because of a British Raj coinage stemming from an internal memo (the

uprising was ‘home grown’, with little influence from the events in

Ireland).  Pritilata Waddedar, Kalpana Dutta grew up strongly influenced by

the likes of Rani of Jhansi. Women in traditional roles - housewives –

participated by donating their jewellery for the cause and sewed uniforms

for the boys and men.

Someone in the audience asked why he had not shown any Muslims in the

group. Bedo said that this was a primarily educated middle-class Hindu

group. However, the villages where Master da was in hiding for 3 years, had

a Muslim demographic, and without their protection, he would not have

lasted that long (I read somewhere that it was his own uncle who betrayed

him to the British for Rs. 10,000). In fact, sending Ahsanullah as CID in

charge was a calculated divisive move by the British; he is shown in the

film to spread anti-Hindu sentiments to the poor Muslims in the surrounding

villages).

 There was also a discussion on the ethics of recruiting 14 and 15 yr.

olds, all of whom were academically very good and with promising futures)

for the cause.

If there is one criticism of the film, it is that almost no mention is made

of events going on in the other parts of the country. There is a brief

scene at the outset where the students have joined the protestors on the

streets in 1929 over Jatin Das’ death whilst in captivity in Lahore jail,

one where Jhunku has secretly acquired the banned book “Pother Dabi”

(Sharat Chandra Chatterjee), a fleeting mention of the Gaddar Party

activists who are also sent to the Penal Colony in the Andamans the same

time Jhunku is.

The film has an uplifting ending, showing a shift from a small movement to

the mass Tebhaga movement with the stirring song “Ishan” playing in the

background.

-- Jaya

Courtesy- docuwallahs2

Click here for Chittagong (film)

Farewell Sachin

The following is the full text of Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell address at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday.

“All my friends, settle down, let me talk. I will get more and more emotional. My life, between 22 yards for 24 years, it is hard to believe that the wonderful journey has come to an end, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank people who have played an important role in my life. Also, for the first time in my life I am carrying this list, to remember all the names in case I forget someone. I hope you understand. It’s getting a little bit difficult to talk but I will manage.

Tribute to parents

“The most important person in my life, and I have missed him a lot since 1999 when he passed away, my father. Without his guidance, I don’t think I would have been standing here in front of you. He gave me freedom at the age of 11, and told me that [I should] chase my dreams, but make sure you do not find short cuts. The path might be difficult, but don’t give up, and I have simply followed his instructions. Above all, he told me to be a nice human being, which I will continue to do and try my best. Every time I have done something special [and] showed my bat, it was [for] my father.

“My mother, I don’t know how she dealt with such a naughty child like me. I was not easy to manage. She must be extremely patient. For a mother, the most important thing is that her child remains safe and healthy and fit. That was what she was most bothered and worried about. She took care of me for the last 24 years that I have played for India, but even before that she started praying for me the day I started playing cricket. She just prayed and prayed and I think her prayers and blessings have given me the strength to go out and perform, so a big Thank You to my mother for all the sacrifices.

“In my school days, for four years, I stayed with my uncle and aunt because my school was quite far from my home, and they treated me like their son. My aunt, after having had a hard day’s play, I would be half asleep and she would be feeding me food so I could go again and play next day. I can’t forget these moments. I am like their son and I am glad it has continued to be the same way.

“My eldest brother, Nitin, and his family, have always encouraged me. My eldest brother doesn’t like to talk much, but the one thing he always told me is that ‘whatever you do, I know you will always give it 100 per cent, and that I have full faith and confidence in you’. His encouragement meant a lot to me. My sister, Savita, and her family, was no different. The first cricket bat of my life was presented to me by my sister. It was a Kashmir willow bat. But that is where the journey began. She is one of those many who still continue to fast when I bat, so thank you very much.

Brother’s role

“Ajit, my brother, now what do I talk about him? I don’t know. We have lived this dream together. He was the one who sacrificed his career for my cricket. He spotted the spark in me. And it all started from the age of 11 when he took me to Achrekar sir, my coach, and from there on my life changed. You will find this hard to believe but even last night he called me to discuss my dismissal, knowing that there was a remote chance of batting again, but just the habit we have developed, the rapport we have developed, since my birth, has continued and it will continue. Maybe when I’m not playing cricket we will still be discussing technique.

“Various things we agreed upon, my technique, and so many technical things which I didn’t agree with him, we have had arguments and disagreements. If that hadn’t happened, I would have been a lesser cricketer.

“The most beautiful thing happened to me was in 1990 when I met my wife, Anjali. Those were special years and it has continued and will always continue that way. I know Anjali, being a doctor; had a wonderful career in front of her. When we decided to have a family, Anjali took the initiative to step back and say that you continue with your cricket and I will take the responsibility of the family.

“Without that, I don’t think I would have been able to play cricket freely and without stress. Thanks for bearing with all my fuss and all my frustrations, and all sorts of rubbish that I have spoken. Thanks for bearing with me and always staying by my side through all the ups and downs. You are the best partnership I’ve had in my life.

“Then, the two precious diamonds of my life, Sara and Arjun. They have already grown up. My daughter is 16, my son is 14. Time has flown by. I wanted to spend so much time with them on special occasions like their birthdays, their annual days, their sports day, going on holidays, whatever. I have missed out on all those things. Thanks for your understanding. Both of you have been so, so special to me you cannot imagine. For 14-16 years I have not spent enough time with both of you, but I promise you [that] the next 16 years or even beyond that, everything is for you.

“My in-laws, Anand Mehta and Annabelle, both have been so, so supportive [and] loving and caring. I have discussed on various things in life, generally with them, and have taken their advice. You know, it’s so important to have a strong family who is always with you and who are guiding you. Before you start clapping, the most important thing they did was allowing me to marry Anjali, so thank you very much.

“In the last 24 years that I have played for India I have made new friends, and before that I have had friends from my childhood. They have all had a terrific contribution. As and when I have called them to come and bowl to me at the nets, they have left their work aside to come and help me. Be it joining me on holidays and having discussions with me on cricket, or how I was a little stressed and wanting to find a solution so I can perform better. All those moments my friends were with me. Even when I was injured, I would wake up in the morning because I couldn’t sleep and thought that my career was over because of injuries. That is when my friends who have woken up at 3 o’clock in the morning would come to drive with me and make me believe that my career was not over. Life would be incomplete without all those friends. Thanks for being there for me.

Coach’s contribution

“My cricket career started when I was 11. The turning point of my career was when my brother [Ajit] took me to Achrekar sir. I was extremely delighted to see him up in the stands. Normally he sits in front of the television and watches all the games that I play. When I was 11 or 12, those were the days when I used to hop back on his scooter and play a couple of practice matches a day. The first half the innings I would be batting at Shivaji Park, the second half, at some other match in Azad Maidan. He would take me all over Mumbai to make sure I got match practice.

“On a lighter note, in the last 29 years, sir has never ever said well played to me because he thought I would get complacent and I would stop working hard. Maybe he can push his luck and wish me now, well done on my career, because there is no more matches, sir, in my life. I will be witnessing cricket, and cricket will always stay in my heart, but you have had an immense contribution in my life, so thank you very much.

“My cricket for Mumbai started right here on this ground, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), which is so dear to me. I remember landing from New Zealand at four o’clock in the morning, and turning up for a game here at eight o’clock just because I wanted to be a part of Mumbai cricket, and not that somebody forced me. That was for the love of Mumbai cricket, and thank you very much. The president is here so thank you very much, along with your team, for taking care of me and looking after my cricket.

“The dream was obviously to play for India, and that is where my association with BCCI started. BCCI was fantastic, right from my debut they believed in my ability and selecting me into the squad at the age of 16 was a big step, so thanks to all the selectors for having faith in me and the BCCI for giving me the freedom to express myself out in the middle. Things would have been different if you had not been behind me, and I really appreciate your support. Especially when I was injured, you were right with me and making sure that all the treatments were taken care of, and that I got fit and fine and playing [right] back for India.

“The journey has been special, the last 24 years, I have played with many senior cricketers, and even before that there were many senior cricketers whom I watched on television. They inspired me to play cricket, and to play in the right way. Thanks to all those senior cricketers, and unfortunately I have not been able to play with them, but I have high regards for all their achievements and all their contributions.

“We see it on the mega-screen, Rahul, Laxman, Sourav, and Anil, who is not here, and my team-mates right here in front me. You are like my family away from home. I have had some wonderful times with you. It is going to be difficult to not be part of the dressing room, sharing those special moments. All the coaches for their guidance, it has been special for me. I know when M.S. Dhoni presented me the 200th Test match cap on day one morning. I had a brief message for the team. I would like to repeat that. I just feel that all of us are so, so fortunate and proud to be part of the Indian cricket team and serving the nation.

“Knowing all of you guys, I know you will continue to serve the nation in the right spirit and right values. I believe we have been the lucky ones to be chosen by the Almighty to serve this sport. Each generation gets this opportunity to take care of this sport and serve it to the best of our ability. I have full faith in you to continue to serve the nation in the right spirit and to the best of your ability, to bring all the laurels to the country. All the very best.

Support staff

“I would be failing in my duties if I did not thank all the doctors, the physios, the trainers, who have put this difficult body together to go back on the field and be able to play. The amount of injuries that I have had in my career, I don’t know how you managed to keep me fit, but without your special efforts, it would never have happened. The doctors have met me at weird hours. I mean I have called them from Mumbai to Chennai, Mumbai to Delhi, I mean wherever. They have just taken the next flight and left their work and families to be with me, which has allowed me to play. So a big Thank You to all three of you for keeping me in good shape. My dear friend, late Mark Mascarenhas, my first manager. We unfortunately lost him in a car accident in 2001, but he was such a well-wisher of cricket, my cricket, and especially Indian cricket. He was so passionate. He understood what it takes to represent a nation and gave me all the space to go out and express myself, and never pressurised me to do this ad or promotion or whatever the sponsors demanded. He took care of that and today I miss him, so thank you Mark for all your contribution.

“My current management team, WSG, for repeating what Mark has done, because when I signed the contract I exactly told them what I want from them, and what it requires to represent me. They have done that and respected that. Someone who has worked closely with me for 14 years is my manager, Vinod Nayudu. He is more like my family and all the sacrifices, spending time away from his family for my work, has been special, so big Thank You to his family as well for giving so much time for my work with Vinod. In my school days, when I performed well, the media backed me a lot. They continue to do that till this morning. Thank you so much to the media for supporting and appreciating my performances. It surely had a positive effect on me. Thank you so much to all the photographers as well for those wonderful captured moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life, so a big Thank You to all the photographers.

“I know my speech is getting a bit too long [crowd roars], but this is the last thing I want to say. I want to thank all the people here who have flown in from various parts of the world, and have supported me endlessly, whether I scored a 0 or a 100-plus. Your support was so dear to me and meant a lot to me. Whatever you have done for me.

“I know I have met so many guys who have fasted for me, prayed for me, done so much for me. Without that life wouldn’t have been like this for me. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, and also say that time has flown by rather quickly, but the memories you have left with me will always be with me forever and ever, especially ‘Sachin, Sachin’ which will reverberate in my ears till I stop breathing.

“Thank you very much. If I have missed out on saying something, I hope you understand. Goodbye.” 

Courtesy- http://www.thehindu.com