PUNE: "The visit to Pu La (PL) Deshpande's residence evoked same feelings that I had when I celebrated Sir Don Bradman's 90th birthday in Australia last year," said cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
The birth centenary celebrations of writer and humourist PL Deshpande including Pulotsav will begin from November 17. On the eve of Pulotsav, Sachin visited his residence off Bhandarkar Road and spoke about the bond between Tendulkar and Deshpande families for years.
Tendulkar also inaugurated the initiative 'I Love PL', which has been planned to promote the exemplary work and life of Pu La amongst the college going youngsters.
"Pu La had a great connection with the common man, which reflected in all his work. It's God's gift to have this kind of connection and make people laugh and make them happy. Our generation was fortunate to enjoy this immense pleasure through his writings. The new generation also should not miss this treasure, as with technology, now it is even easier to get access to Deshpande's works within a few seconds. I urge the youngsters to watch and read as much of Pu La as they can," Sachin said.
Recalling his first encounter with Pu La, he said, "I was around five or six years old when Pu La had visited Sahitya Sahawas Society in Mumbai where I lived. Though I did not understand much then, everyone in my family, even the other writers who lived in the society, were very excited about his visit. I remember standing in the queue, waiting to take Pu La's autograph."
Deshpande's family gifted a photograph of Pu La when he met him again in 1996. "When I was 23, I was fortunate enough to meet this legend for a dinner in 1996. And I want to proudly share that Pu La and I have a similarity. We both have a great taste and love for seafood," he said.
The cricketer also said that he was speechless to visit the house of this great personality, who he was in awe of since he had always heard about him from his father who shared friendship with Deshpande.
Deshpande's family members Jyoti Thakur, Dinesh Thakur, writer Aruna Dhere, Aashay Film Club's Virendra Chitrav, renowned photographer Sateesh Paknikar and organiser of Pulotsav Satish Jakatdar were also present.
Pulotsav, the annual literary festival, is organised in the memory of PL Deshpande for past 14 years. It has now gone global this year and will be held from November 17 to 25 at Balgandharva Rangamandir.
