In a nation of over 1.2 Billion people, millions of gods and tens of religions, one thing can be undoubtedly stated as a fact: Sachin is India's god. For the past 24 years, he has been the ultimate role model with his performances on field and his demeanor off it.
I'm sure a you'll read a ton of posts on Sachin and his impact on your lives. This post is not about that. You'll find another ton of posts on how Sachin made you laugh, cry and smile. Again this post is not about that. This post is a mere attempt to explain that even though India has suffered tectonic shifts in these past 24 years, there has been one constant. No, it's not change, its Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
During his career, we as a nation have changed. From owning Maruti 800s to driving Jaguar, watching Doordarshan to laughing at Comedy Central, eating khichdi to gorging at McDonald's, wearing Vimal to flaunting Nike and Adidas, calling from PCOs to brandishing iPhones, watching Rishi Kapoor movies to flocking at Ranbir Kapoor films, dreaming of Olympic medals to finally winning a Gold, economy nearly collapse in 1991 to become the next big growth story and hundreds of other ways through which our lives have changed. We have started flying regularly, became part of the IT boom, had huge amounts of FDI pour into India along with multitude of brands we had only seen previously in SRK-Johar movies, witnessed the fall and rise of Amitabh Bachchan. We as a nation have exploded in population, changed our tastes and preferences, grown as a soft power and scaled new heights and throughout this whole time, the one constant was seeing Sachin at number 4 in the test line-up for the Indian Cricket team.
If today BCCI is the richest sports body in the world, it has to thank Sachin. If today we are graced with cricketers like Dhoni and Kohli, we have to thank Sachin for inspiring them. If we could afford to under-appreciate the genius of Laxman and Dravid, we have to thank the sheer brilliance of this genius. If UP ka Bhaiyyas like yours truly not afraid to live in Mumbai, its because Sachin told Thackerays that he belongs to India and so does Mumbai. In fact, the only reason we can claim cricket to be our religion, its because we had Sachin to be god.
Throughout these indelible changes Sachin remained the same. Genius at cricket, aggressive in competition, dedicated to his sport and excellent in conduct, he is the ultimate role-model for the emerging India who is not afraid of punch its weight at the world. Before Sachin arrived on stage and played on after a bloody nose from Waqar Younis, thwacking bowlers all over the park, Indians were a bunch of whinies scoring 36 runs not out after opening in a 60 over match. It would be no exaggeration to say that Sachin's performances against the best, be his century at Perth or his twin century at Sharjah, Sachin taught us that we are no way inferior to the world and to this, we owe him a debt we can never repay.
I might be going on a hyperbole here but I truly believe that these past 24 years can only be defined as the Age of Sachin. When historians talk about history, they speak of the age of Ashok, the age of Akbar et al. Let them speak of the Age of Sachin. Mythology is often described as the time of Rama, time of Achilles and the time of Krishna. Let this time be extolled by bards as the time of Sachin.
It is no surprise that a bunch of my favorite memories are associated with Sachin. My first cricket matches were those twin centuries in Sharjah through the dust storm. The one time I bunked coaching classes was to see Sachin score a century against Australia. My first college festival started to the chants of Sachin when he scored 175 in a losing cause. My first day long hangout on a beach shack was graced by Sachin scoring 200 runs in Gwaliar. Of course this list cannot include the innumerable days when I would escape from this sometimes deadful world and appreciate the sheer beauty of Sachin's trademark straight drives.
Harsha Bhogle perhaps put it best when he said, Sachin, you were a great habit. Like with all addictive habits, when one is forced to stop, one suffers withdrawal symptoms. Even with Dhoni, Kohli and the next generation of cricketers to alleviate the pain, I shudder to think what India will have to go through after Sachin retires on November 18th.
I'm sure a you'll read a ton of posts on Sachin and his impact on your lives. This post is not about that. You'll find another ton of posts on how Sachin made you laugh, cry and smile. Again this post is not about that. This post is a mere attempt to explain that even though India has suffered tectonic shifts in these past 24 years, there has been one constant. No, it's not change, its Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
During his career, we as a nation have changed. From owning Maruti 800s to driving Jaguar, watching Doordarshan to laughing at Comedy Central, eating khichdi to gorging at McDonald's, wearing Vimal to flaunting Nike and Adidas, calling from PCOs to brandishing iPhones, watching Rishi Kapoor movies to flocking at Ranbir Kapoor films, dreaming of Olympic medals to finally winning a Gold, economy nearly collapse in 1991 to become the next big growth story and hundreds of other ways through which our lives have changed. We have started flying regularly, became part of the IT boom, had huge amounts of FDI pour into India along with multitude of brands we had only seen previously in SRK-Johar movies, witnessed the fall and rise of Amitabh Bachchan. We as a nation have exploded in population, changed our tastes and preferences, grown as a soft power and scaled new heights and throughout this whole time, the one constant was seeing Sachin at number 4 in the test line-up for the Indian Cricket team.
If today BCCI is the richest sports body in the world, it has to thank Sachin. If today we are graced with cricketers like Dhoni and Kohli, we have to thank Sachin for inspiring them. If we could afford to under-appreciate the genius of Laxman and Dravid, we have to thank the sheer brilliance of this genius. If UP ka Bhaiyyas like yours truly not afraid to live in Mumbai, its because Sachin told Thackerays that he belongs to India and so does Mumbai. In fact, the only reason we can claim cricket to be our religion, its because we had Sachin to be god.
Throughout these indelible changes Sachin remained the same. Genius at cricket, aggressive in competition, dedicated to his sport and excellent in conduct, he is the ultimate role-model for the emerging India who is not afraid of punch its weight at the world. Before Sachin arrived on stage and played on after a bloody nose from Waqar Younis, thwacking bowlers all over the park, Indians were a bunch of whinies scoring 36 runs not out after opening in a 60 over match. It would be no exaggeration to say that Sachin's performances against the best, be his century at Perth or his twin century at Sharjah, Sachin taught us that we are no way inferior to the world and to this, we owe him a debt we can never repay.
I might be going on a hyperbole here but I truly believe that these past 24 years can only be defined as the Age of Sachin. When historians talk about history, they speak of the age of Ashok, the age of Akbar et al. Let them speak of the Age of Sachin. Mythology is often described as the time of Rama, time of Achilles and the time of Krishna. Let this time be extolled by bards as the time of Sachin.
It is no surprise that a bunch of my favorite memories are associated with Sachin. My first cricket matches were those twin centuries in Sharjah through the dust storm. The one time I bunked coaching classes was to see Sachin score a century against Australia. My first college festival started to the chants of Sachin when he scored 175 in a losing cause. My first day long hangout on a beach shack was graced by Sachin scoring 200 runs in Gwaliar. Of course this list cannot include the innumerable days when I would escape from this sometimes deadful world and appreciate the sheer beauty of Sachin's trademark straight drives.
Harsha Bhogle perhaps put it best when he said, Sachin, you were a great habit. Like with all addictive habits, when one is forced to stop, one suffers withdrawal symptoms. Even with Dhoni, Kohli and the next generation of cricketers to alleviate the pain, I shudder to think what India will have to go through after Sachin retires on November 18th.
