'Shakib Al Hasan, oh also for Tendulkar'

When you have living legend Sachin Tendulkar with you, smile is omnipresent. The Indian cricket great shares a light moment with Bangladesh superstar Shakib Al Hasan and Lutfur Rahman Badal, a businessman and a passionate sports organiser, whose invitation for a brief Dhaka sojourn which Sachin happily complied. PHOTO: FIROZ AHMED

A dust cloud formed as a helicopter landed on the makeshift helipad. As the dust settled, a silhouette of a living legend became visible. He finally emerged wearing an apricot polo, amid deafening applause and chants of "Welcome Sachin Tendulkar".
After planting a tree, the Indian batting icon slowly walked to the podium with his trademark shy smile, and responded to the crowd, consisting mainly of the students of Noapara Government Primary School under Tarabo Municipality in Rupganj, Narayanganj, endearing himself with some Bangla words: "kemon achho, ami bhalo achhi (How are you? I am fine)".
The event, titled 'Moments with legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar', was arranged at the birthplace of Lutfur Rahman Badal, who invited the batting maestro, to unveil the logo of his club 'Legends of Rupganj'.
Tendulkar served another purpose as he fulfilled his desire to spend some time with children as a goodwill ambassador of UNICEF in order to raise awareness about the importance of washing hands properly.
There was not much publicity regarding the arrival of the cricketing hero in the area as a middle-aged man said: "I just found out today". A huge crowd still turned up, surrounding the venue which was decorated with festoons and gates, hoping to catch a glimpse of the legend.
The children from the Maa Kindergarten and High School arrived first around 9:00 am. Since no time was set for Tendulkar's arrival, the children had to battle scorching heat, a dusty environment and a pungent smell -- courtesy of the wastes of dyeing chemicals -- for close to three hours.
Then the students, who were the main participants in the programme, entered the venue to face the same conditions. A few even fell sick due to the dire environment.
When asked, for whom they had come braving the conditions, interestingly almost everybody had the same answer: "Shakib Al Hasan, oh also for Sachin Tendulkar."
For the preschoolers the reason why they came was not clear, but ultimately they had to 'settle' for Tendulkar, as Shakib did not come.
A man, wearing a traditional lungi, pointed a finger towards a photograph of Tendulkar and tried to make his friend understand the situation by telling him, "This boy will come. He is a very famous player."
The wait was over around 11.55 am as all the students' troubles turned into joy.
The students were instructed to release their balloons after Tendulkar reached the podium, but they could not contain their excitement and they released the balloons when it was announced that Tendulkar was in the helicopter. Unfortunately it was a wrong call from the announcer, as the legendary cricketer was not in the first helicopter, but after only two minutes the precious moment arrived and even the volunteers dodged their duties to take it all in.
Tendulkar made a brief speech emphasising the importance of hygiene and demonstrated the proper process of washing one's hands, with the help of a boy and a girl from the audience to raucous cheering and finished his programme by giving autographs to a fortunate few.
His half an hour presence will probably be ingrained into the minds of many who attended the function on the outskirts of Dhaka. And why not? A man was seen taking a snap with his mobile phone from the roadside, even after Tendulkar had boarded the chopper to fly back to Dhaka, in order to relive his memories time and again.