Millions of pages, photographs and terabytes of info have
been made on him. This ‘Little Master’ has almost all the records of the game
of Cricket in his name. Actually the nickname originally belonged to his favorite
and revered elder, Sunil (Sunny) Gavaskar and Sunny must be ruing to have lost
the exclusive title. One feels that the title ‘little master’ should have
stayed with Gavaskar and he could have been appropriately called as Master Blaster.
Sachin is his first name. Sachin comes from Sachchai and
Truth is the English of Sachchai. Yes, there is a lot of truth in his batting
and he had been truthful mostly (barring the intrigue of ‘monkey gate’, of course). Independent India’s
motto is ‘Satyameva Jayate’ (truth alone prevails) and in Sachin, the entire
nation of 1.2 billion people (a little more than one sixth of the Planets’ population)
wants to see only the truth. And, truth
is God. Whichever way you look at it, Sachin is God.
In the terabytes of folklore written about him, all his records
are highlighted and one sees no point in reiterating it. Actually everyone
knows his records. So what is that one could write about him? May be things
that ‘aam’ people do not know about him?…….
Sachin is a Maharashtrian Brahmin. In India’s cast hierarchy,
Brahmins do represent the God. Many of his illustrious predecessors are Brahmins.
Gavsakar, Solkar, Wadekar, Vengsrakar are some names that immediately come to
mind. In a deeply caste infested country of India, it is the Brahmins who were
the upper most and in cricket too, the brahminical supremacy continued, only to
be changed by the backward class boys who are now entering into it from the interior
cities such as Ranchi, Saurashtra, Meerut etc. The winds of change is
happening, indeed!
Not sure how many people know that Sachin is ambidextrous. Both
hands of Sachin are equally powerful. And that shows in his master piece shots
and his ability to carry a heavier cricket bat with élan.
Sachin’s wife Anjali Tendulkar, nee Mehta is a full 6 years
senior to him. And that’s interesting. A country that predominantly goes by
arranged marriages, it is almost always that the bridegroom would be senior to
the bride by an average of 5 to 6 years. Here it is revers! While Anjali may
find it difficult to catch up with him as the couple moves into the plus side
of life, one should remember that God is
eternal, for his age could be as old as the age of the universe. Surely Sachin
carries wisdom much higher than his actual
age and she carries a persona that looks much younger to her actual age. Good
for them!
Sachin isn’t a great leader but he is a great motivator. His
leadership skills as captain did not result in any major wins for India. Had he
continued the captaincy, cricket would have lost Sachin much earlier. Wisdom
prevailed with the selectors and they preserved him by taking away his
additional stressful responsibility. Mind you, with players coming from as
diverse a background of unrelated languages, cultures and values systems, it is
never easy to lead Team India.
Had he been a transformational leader, with his popularity
and his new found position as the Member of India Parliament, he could have
easily cleaned up the dirty stables of BCCI, when the opportunity came up recently. He never tried, actually he just
didn’t bother. One truly wonders, why didn’t you Sachin?........
Sachin is a thoughtful, peaceful guy who respects the power.
He is orthodox in his thoughts of Cricket being a Gentlemen’s game. He wouldn’t
like its decorum to be lost but at the same time, he accepts the variations
that time brings to the game (Test to ODI to 20/20). He brings peace wherever he
goes. He always spoke with a language of respect and you wouldn’t find a humble
cricketer like Sachin, comparing his tall achievements.
Such is the popularity of the game in India, almost all of the
Indian cricketers openly or discreetly had experienced the Casanova phase. Though
one had heard some, no one would believe any negative stories about him. He is
Sachin and Sachin is Truth and Character. He can’t do any wrong. Let it stay
that way. Good for all……
In the modern game of Cricket, it is simply not possible to
have a player stay on to play 200 test matches in his lifetime (you add the
ODIs and other form of matches into it see how staggering could it be). It isn’t
that easy to break his records and also the record of his longevity in the game.
Players like Ricky Ponting tried, but to no success. So it looks that the
records on his name are going to stay, most probably forever. Though there are talks
in hush of pretenders like Virat Kohli, one must admit the impossibility of
anyone coming near. Look at it, a long standing player like Chanderpaul of
Windies, at the age of 39, is playing only his 150th test match!
Mumbai is the most happening place of India. One of the most
populous cities in the world! The financial capital of the country.
Surprisingly Mumbai is where dreams are made too. The Bollywood, the single largest
move-making town in the world, in which the Kumars, the Kapurs, The Bachchans,
The khans and the hordes of dream girls and Villains and vamps and what not; live it out in pomp and
show. And in this city was born a brahmin boy, four decades back. He had the
talent, the discipline, the hard work, the focus, the character and above all,
the morale. And probably that’s why he never got called as SRT, but SIMPLY
SACHIN!
Adios, Sachin! May you live in interesting times!
