Did you know that Sachin Tendulkar loves to cook fried fish or that he cannot live without his iPod? On the cricket maestro's 37th birthday, we dug out some not-so well known facts about Tendlya. 
The cricketer loves the game of Tennis. Tendulkar's idol is the American Tennis superstar-John McEnroe. During his young age, he argued and fought for McEnore with his colony friends who supported Swedish Bjorn Borg.Sachin sported a head-band, sweat-band and a tennis racquet showing his staunch loyalty towards his idol. Even today, he loves to go for Wimbledon matches as an avid spectator and lover of the game.
He is always followed by the cameras and shutterbugs but the Master Blaster prefers to be on the other side of the camera. His passion for photography comes to the fore in the moments that he spends with his family - moments that Sachin loves to capture and treasure for life!
Sachin's agility is not restrained just to cricket. He was taught swimming in some half an hour by Manoj Prabhakar on the 1990 tour to England. The ambidextrous cricketer also likes to play table-tennis and carries his own racquet on tours. He is also fond of adventure sports.
He is the cynosure of all eyes but the stardom never got to Sachin whose humility is praised by all and sundry. Despite being a senior, Sachin's camaraderie with the young members of the team speaks volumes about his down-to-earth nature.Far from being intimidated by him, the younger players even pull his leg on a lot of occasions. "If I crack jokes at someone they too have a right to crack jokes at me." says Sachin.
Sachin also admits to have learnt one of his greatest lessons off-the-pitch from his daughter Sarah. As Sachin and Anjali were preparing to celebrate Sarah's birthday, she said that she wanted to have a party at the slums of Govandi and share the goodies with the children there. The proud father decided to auction a half-day's coaching camp with the kids on behalf of an NGO. 
Sachin's greatest hobby, according to his close friends, is music. He has a vast collection of western pop and serious music and spends every available leisure hour listening to his favourite artists. Among his favourite artistes are Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar.
The swashbuckling batsman can toss in his favourite ingredients to cococt a scrumtious meal as well. Tendulkar can cook baingan bhartha but he likes cooking sea-food particularly fried fish. Sachin does not shy away from admitting the fact that he nibbles some of his home cooked delicacies while he is still preparing them! The Master Blaster sometimes makes tea for guests. 
Of course the living legend's favourite gadget is an iPod, the first thing that goes into his bags every time he leaves for a cricket tour. He also carries video camera and still camera just to be able to preserve all his living moments that would serve as beautiful memories in the long run. 
Tendulkar is passionate about cars. His love of cars began early. There was a drive-in theatre close to where Sachin lived from where he could see cars of all shapes and sizes. He absolutely loved the place as it was the only place where a young Sachin could see a movie yet not get out of the car. 
A God-fearing man, Sachin frequents the Siddhivinayak temple to pay his obeisance to the Almighty whenever he can. On every occasion in Kolkata, Tendulkar has visited Kalighat a day ahead of his match. Earlier this year, Tendulkar's wish to pray at the famous Kalighat Kali Temple remained unfulfilled as his car was mobbed by a huge crowd and was forced to turn back. 
He is hot as 'fire' on the ground and cool as 'ice' off it. He wishes to "improve" despite attaining "near-perfection". The Little Master is perhaps the "greatest" living cricketers of all times.As Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar turns 37 today, we try to unravel the enigmatic simplicity that imparts this iconic cricketer his greatest quality - Modesty!