I first met Sachin
Tendulkar after the glorious win in Sharjah, in 1998. The only journalist who
wrangled an interview out of him. Taking him through those glorious 6's hit
over Shane Warne eased a faint smile from him. Since then, I have shot with him
on more than a dozen occasions, and it has always been a very polite
exchange. 
I kept hunting for
the fierce Sachin off the ground, but never found it. Until, I started on the
topic of food. It was at Zaheer Khan's restaurant in Pune, when we began
discussing food. The Little Master came alive, all animated.
Sachin spoke about
his love for seafood, his mom's famous prawn curry with coconut. Honestly, very
little registered. For the first time, I was seeing the famous Sachin smile, the
full beaming types, twinkling eyes, animated hands as he went about the recipe.
The passion for food was so clearly evident. 
Ok, I will try to
remember the recipe. The prawns were marinated in salt water for a while. In
the Kadhai, the oil was followed by green chillies, curry patta, mustard seeds,
chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. After it was well done, red chilli
powder, turmeric, salt, kokum soaked in water were added. Once the masala was
well cooked, his mom would add the prawns, cook for a while letting the water
dry out. Then lastly, the grated coconut.
When I last met
him, Sachin greeted me with a smile. He spoke to me about cooking baingan
bharta for 40 odd friends of his. Finally, the enthusiast cook met the
enthusiast cook. And the love for food created a bond that even two die hard
cricket lovers, could not. Burrp to the Maestro of gastronomical delights !!!
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