When I think about the people who shaped my journey, I do not begin with a cricket ground or a coach. I begin at home. Long before anyone outside my family knew my name, my father had begun to recognise my love for cricket and, perhaps more importantly, understand what it meant to me. He never knew exactly where that journey would take me. But he gave me the freedom to pursue it. My father, Ramesh Tendulkar, was a writer, poet, and a professor, but more a mentor, a guide to many, including me. He gave me the freedom to pursue cricket while reminding me that success should never come at the cost of character. Some of the words my father said to me as a young boy have stayed with me throughout my life: failure is okay, but cheating is not. Never take shortcuts. I was simply a boy who loved playing cricket. My father saw something more. He did not try to decide what I should become. Instead, he gave me the space and support to discover it for myself. That, in many ways, is what a great teacher or mentor does. They recognise a possibility in you before you can recognise it yourself. India has no shortage of young talent. Whether a child picks up a bat, a ball, a book or discovers an ability in some other field, it makes them unique in their own way. What they often lack is not talent, but access to people who can recognise that talent and help nurture it. This belief was at the core of why Anjali and I started the Foundation. Across India, there are children with immense potential who may never get the chance to discover it because they lack access to a coach, a mentor, the right learning environment or basic healthcare. Our vision is that they get equal access to sports, healthcare and education, and a chance to prove that they belong. My father spent his life as an educator, and I think his greatest lesson to me was the importance of giving someone the confidence and opportunity to find their own potential. This Teachers’ Day, we take the opportunity to honour the first person who saw something in me and believed in what I could become. It is with immense pride, we are introducing the Professor Ramesh Tendulkar Memorial Fellowship, in partnership with our long-standing healthcare partner, Inga Health Foundation. Each year, one MD (Doctor of Medicine) will receive financial support for a year-long opportunity to specialise in cleft and craniofacial care in Srinagar. On completing the programme, the fellow will receive a certificate from the Sachin Tendulkar Foundation, recognising the excellence. This is part of our long-standing commitment to support healthcare professionals in critical care and also encourage the young doctors in their field of study. For me, this is more than a fellowship. It is a way of carrying forward something my father deeply believed in - that education creates opportunity, and that opportunity becomes truly meaningful when it is used to serve others. My father gave me the confidence to find my own path. He dedicated his life to educating and guiding others, and I hope we can create that same sense of possibility for others, giving children and young people the opportunity to discover what they can become, and the means to make something of it. The lessons of a teacher may begin with one student, but their influence can travel much further, from one life to another and from one generation to the next. Happy Teachers’ Day!