This image was posted on Facebook by Mamata Banerjee
New Delhi:
It was truly a kodak moment as music maestro A R Rahman, Brazilian football legend Pele and former Test captain Saurav Ganguly posed for photographs during a glittering ceremony at Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium. (Also Read: A R Rahman to Receive Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award)
As Academy Award winning music composer AR Rahaman sang the 'Happy birthday' jingle, and former Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly clapped in reverence, a visibly emotional Pele was quoted by news agency IANS as saying, "I thank God for this day".
An elated Mr Rahman wrote on Twitter:
Felicitated by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata banerjee, Pele cut the birthday cake -- in the shape of the Jules Rimet trophy that Brazil permanently won by triumphing in the 1970 World Cup with thousands of fans of all ages chanting the legend's name.
AR Rahman, who has composed the music for the upcoming biopic on Pele, also sang a line of his Jai Ho song.
Pele will complete 75 on October 23. At the surprise birthday celebration, the first slice of the dessert was handed over Ms by Banerjee to Pele.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shared pictures of the meeting on Facebook:
An elated Pele expressed his delight at being in India in a series of tweets:
The Brazilian football legend, who arrived in the city on Sunday, also participated in a chat show with Saurav Ganguly.
Pele will attend the Indian Super League (ISL) defending champions Atletico de Kolkata's home game against Kerala Blasters on Tuesday, where he will be the guest of honour.
With inputs from IANS
As Academy Award winning music composer AR Rahaman sang the 'Happy birthday' jingle, and former Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly clapped in reverence, a visibly emotional Pele was quoted by news agency IANS as saying, "I thank God for this day".
An elated Mr Rahman wrote on Twitter:
With the CM of West Bengal, The Prince of Kolkata & The King of Soccer pic.twitter.com/5OxIWilx2P
— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) October 12, 2015With the awesome @Pele in Calcutta...! pic.twitter.com/vNJ3fLSxxr
— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) October 12, 2015Felicitated by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata banerjee, Pele cut the birthday cake -- in the shape of the Jules Rimet trophy that Brazil permanently won by triumphing in the 1970 World Cup with thousands of fans of all ages chanting the legend's name.
AR Rahman, who has composed the music for the upcoming biopic on Pele, also sang a line of his Jai Ho song.
Pele will complete 75 on October 23. At the surprise birthday celebration, the first slice of the dessert was handed over Ms by Banerjee to Pele.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shared pictures of the meeting on Facebook:
The legend Pele is in Kolkata after 38 long years.We are indeed very happy to have him with us on the eve of Durga...
Posted by Mamata Banerjee on Monday, 12 October 2015
An elated Pele expressed his delight at being in India in a series of tweets:
The love that I have received has been beautiful, just like I remember from 38 years ago during my last trip here.
— Pelé (@Pele) October 13, 2015Greetings from India! pic.twitter.com/x9lRG1ONod
— Pelé (@Pele) October 13, 2015I am here in Kolkata - the City of Joy - to mark the arrival of the Durga Puja festival, reuniting with old friends and making new ones.
— Pelé (@Pele) October 13, 2015I want to thank god for giving me the opportunity to travel this distance, for only the second trip of my life to India.
— Pelé (@Pele) October 13, 2015The Brazilian football legend, who arrived in the city on Sunday, also participated in a chat show with Saurav Ganguly.
Pele will attend the Indian Super League (ISL) defending champions Atletico de Kolkata's home game against Kerala Blasters on Tuesday, where he will be the guest of honour.
With inputs from IANS
