Sachin Tendulkar’s new innings light up rural lives

BARABANKI

: “Ek chhota sa chirag tha jo bas raat mein jalaate the, aur ab suraj aa gaya hai ghar pe (A flickering lamp was burnt in the night and now we have the sun at home),” said

Zuleqa Bano

with a smile as she demonstrated how the three solar powered LED lights at her home functioned at the press of a button. And this, to none other than master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who was at Zuleqa’s small abode at Barabanki’s Badagaon village on Wednesday afternoon.

Years after he retired from the cricket field, Tendulakar’s new innings have lit up the lives of thousands of rural people. The Bharat Ratna awardee has collaborated with Schneider Electric India for ‘Spreading Happiness In Diya Foundation (SHIF)’ campaign with solar home lighting systems. On Wednesday, Tendulkar was in the village, around 45 kilometres from Lucknow, to meet the beneficiaries of the campaign. Around 350 households are said to have been fitted with LED solar power lights and a mobile charging system in the village alone, mostly inhabited by embroiders of aari and zardozi.

Only a month ago, as the sun set, darkness took over Jabir Ali’s house of 17 people. All activities, from embroidery to children wanting to study, would come to a halt. “Now that we have solar lights, embroidery can be done for at least two more hours after sunset. Being able to put in more hours and do more work has increased our income too,” he said. In another house, Mohammad Jilani was happy that the women of his house could see what they were cooking at night and look at their children’s faces while feeding them. “If we earned Rs 10 earlier with the embroidery work, the light has started to bring in Rs 15 now,” added Jilani.

The day was a big one for villagers who awaited the arrival of Tendulakar since early morning and when the cricketer did come, loud chants of his name echoed in the air and flower petals were showered on him. “I have come to Lucknow after several years and it has rekindled all my memories of the city. Years ago, in 1994, I had come to play against Sri Lanka for the India team and the love I got from Lucknow back then is the same even now,” said Tendulkar when he addressed media at the sprawling mansion,

Kidwai Kothi

, in Badagaon. Tendulkar had scored a century in the said test match and India had won against Sri Lanka by an inning.

“In Uttar Pradesh, we have provided solar power to around 16,000 households and our aim is to reach to 25,000 households by 2020. I had adopted a village in Andhra Pradesh and I remember it had no electricity previously either. When it did get power, it brought immense change in people’s lives, just as I was told by families here too,” added Tendulkar. Country president and managing director of Schneider Electric India, Anil Chaudhry, said, “The project at Badagaon was started in 2015. We are also training youth at vocational training centre in Lucknow as technicians.”