Humble Sachin helps telethon raise Rs.7 crore for schools

​Mumbai: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was humility personified as a daylong telethon here helped raise Rs.7 crore - Rs.2 crore more than the target - for the creation of basic facilities, particularly toilets for girl students, in 140 government schools across the country.

He devoted all of nine hours to the 12-hour Coca-Cola-NDTV Support My School telethon Sunday, patiently answering questions from schoolchildren ranging from improving their game to balancing their studies with sports.

"We've seen Sachin the batsman, we've seen Sachin the sportsperson, but today, we are seeing Sachin the human being," remarked NDTV chief Pranoy Roy as he wound down the show, immediately after which Tendulkar announced he would donate Rs.500,000 each in the names of his children Arjun and Sara to benefit two schools.

The telethon saw Sachin, other celebrities and schoolchildren come together in a TV studio, a show broadcast live, during which the batting maestro appealed for donations from viewers.

Image: Indian cricket player Sachin Tendulkar, right and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt look on during the promotion of an educational campaign "Support My School" in Mumbai, India, Sunday ,Sept. 18, 2011.

Text: IANS

Images: AP/IANS/PTI