Friday, November 15, 2013

NOBODY CALLS HIM SRT, HE IS SIMPLY SACHIN!


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!