Sachin Tendulkar loves collecting paintings

:Sachin Tendulkar not only loves to score runs but the senior batsman also takes keen interest in collecting paintings.Sanatan Dinda, a first-class graduate of the Government College of Arts and Crafts here, has been associated with Tendulkar since 2008.Last year in November, during a Test between India and West Indies, Tendulkar visited Dinda's studio.

"He already has a huge collection including the works of the great M F Hussain... I think he’ll end up as one of the biggest collectors of art," Dinda said.It was not surprising that Dinda's painting, 'Devi' was chosen by the Cricket Association Bengal as one of the mementos when it felicitated Tendulkar for achieving the milestone of scoring 100 international centuries.Dinda said Tendulkar was 'spellbound' on seeing the painting that is about the transformation of a girl-child into a Goddess.

"He wanted to know how it's done... I told him that some eight years ago I had stopped this type of work that combined painting and sculpture but had done it for you.""I had mailed him the photo of this painting but he was keen to see it physically and was excited when he did. I've done it in seven days and haven't slept too much," he said.In front of a packed crowd at the ground, the 41-year-old also demonstrated a live painting that became the artist’s 10th present to the iconic Indian batsman.

Dinda had not decided about his theme till he began painting."It was a surprise for him. He decided on the theme just after getting there," Dinda's assistant Pratap Ghosh told PTI as the artist finished his brown colour work in sharp 45 minutes, with loud cheers of 'Sachin, Sachin' from the stands.

Dinda also presented a 'blue river' theme painting at the team hotel yesterday."He wanted something in blue and had commissioned the painting when he came to my house in November," Dinda said, pointing at the painting with little boats around the figure of a woman coming out of the wooden frame."Real boats get you across the river but these paper ones are 'dream boats' and they can take you to a different dimension. I think my vision and those of Sachin's have converged in this painting," he said.

© PTI