Sachin Tendulkar awarded Bharat Ratna, calls it greatest honour of his life

Sachin Tendulkar receiving Bharat Ratna from President Pranab Mukherjee

A career that started in 1984 when a young kid was sent to a cricket camp by his elder brother to curb the kid’s mischievous and bullying tendencies reached its zenith on Tuesday at the ‘Durbar Hall’ of Rashtrapati Bahavan.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was honored with the Bharat Ratna by President Pranab Mukherjee, making him the first sportsperson to be bestowed with India’s highest civilian award. At only 40 years old, Tendulkar also became the youngest ever recipient of the Bharat Ratna.

Dressed in a black bandhgala with those curls back in place, Sachin was accompanied by his wife Anjali and daughter Sara to the ceremony.

A formal announcement to honour Sachin was made after formalities involving the Prime Minister and President were completed on November 16th, the day when Tendulkar’s cricketing career came to an emotional end in front of a packed Wankhede crowd.

On November 17, Tendulkar, after being made aware of the development, said at a press conference in Mumbai: “There are millions and millions of mothers in India who sacrifice many things for their children. I would like to share my award with them.”

On Tuesday, after receiving the award, Tendulkar reiterated his desire to continue bringing laurels to the country. To the reporters’ queries later, he responded, “What can I say? It is the greatest honour of my life. I am proud to have been born in this country. I would like to say thank you to everyone for their support and I will continue to bat for India.”

He also congratulated fellow recipient Prof CNR Rao who was honoured with the award for his contributions to the field of Science.

“I would like to congratulate Prof CNR Rao for getting the Bharat Ratna. It is an honour to get the award with him, his contribution to the field of science is immense. It’s only that cricket is played in front of thousands of people and is a popular field,” he said.

The Bharat Ratna, conferred “for performance of highest order in any field of human endeavour,” is in the form of a peepal leaf, about 5.8 cm in length, 4.7 cm in width and 3.1 mm in thickness. It is of toned bronze. The obverse is embossed with a replica of the sun, 1.6 cm in diameter, below which the words Bharat Ratna are embossed in Devanagari script.

On its reverse are the State emblem and the motto, also in Devanagari. The emblem, the sun and the rim are of platinum. The inscriptions are in burnished bronze. There is no monetary grant or pre- or post-nominal titles or letters that come with the award.