Sunil Gavaskar’s family life and childhood

Sunil Gavaskar’s family life  and Childhood :

         Sunil Gavaskar was born in a cricketing family in the year 1949. His father was a cricketer and so was his maternal uncle, Madhav Mantri. The Little Master, as he was known, was always encouraged by his mother, Meenal Gavaskar from childhood and the environment around moulded the cricketer in him.

   "What qualities do he have, it's mostly from his mother!"  Meenal Gavaskar ,She always saying that "Sunil is very 'guni' (talented). He has taken her face features." She added, "Isn't it as the saying goes,'Matrumukhi sada sukhi' ( i.e.If you have a face like your mother's, you will be forever happy)." That is the genesis of the legend's sunny disposition which got him the title of 'Sunny' from his first skipper Vasu Paranjpe. The mother added,"As a mom she did what every mother does... bring him up with the right sanskar (values). But the credit goes to him alone."

                   

                        Sunil Gavaskar with his family

   Manohar his father said the genesis of Sunil's cricketing prowess lay in the family which was full of cricketers."His grandparents from mother's and father's side were school chums and played together in the early part of the last century in Shirode near Goa. His elder brother Baban was a left-arm spinner in the class of Bapu Nadkarni and He played club cricket. Sunil's uncle Madhav Mantri played for India. What more do you need." The dad said Sunil never made any demands on them because of his powers of observation. "He saw what austere life they had to live once there bread earner, his uncle, passed away prematurely. That meant him surrendering Rs 95 of the Rs 100 salary to his aunt, the balance Rs 5 to his wife for her personal expenses." The only tough demand Sunil made was when he wanted to watch, as a 16-year-old, the opening day of a Mumbai Test match right from the outset, including how the teams trained and how they came to the field.

    Sunil married Marshneil, which was a love based arranged marriage in 1973  and who hailed from a leather industrialist family. And Sunil blessed with a son named Rohan, who is also a Indian cricketer .

    Sunil was also a prolific writer. He has authored the books 

1. Sunny Days which is his autobiography, 
2. One-Day Wonders, 
3. Runs and Ruins. 

      These books have been translated into Marathi. 
    He has also authored Idols, a collection of his dissertations on a few     cricketers. He is a regular column writer in newspapers. He has also sung a couple of songs written by Shantaram Nandagaonkar and also enacted a small role in the movie Savali Premachi.    
    Gavaskar was the recipient of several awards during his career  which   includes

1. Chhatrapati Shivaji Award given by the Government of Maharashtra    in 1972, 
2.  Arjuna Award by the Government of India in 1977, 
3.  Rajadhyaksha Award for excellent fielding, 
4.  Maharashtra Bhushan – the State’s highest civilian award and 
5.  The honorary DLitt degree from D. Y. Patil University in 2008.