Happy birthday Sachin Tendulkar – Thank you for teaching me what life is
Sometimes I wish that time was a physical entity so that I could get inside it and be where I want to be. Life, you know, can be too dark at times. You wake up in the morning and feel the weight of responsibility crouching you along with the emptiness within.
Those are the moments – that overbearing darkness – where you see the light but, alas, it is unassailable now. At times like these, I always tend to remember my childhood.
Things were so different back then. The only fear I had after waking up was whether I missed Sachin Tendulkar’s batting. Talking about Sachin was a daily routine.
I remember arguing with equally naïve friends about how he is better than every player in the world and that he was a superman. It was unbelievable. There was a phase in my life when I genuinely believed that Sachin was more than just a human and could never be dismissed by a bowler.
The only reason why he got out, I thought, was because he wanted to give the other batters a chance. A part of me still believes that till today.
The man who caused the Desert Storm
I was only six when Sachin was desecrating the holy Australian bowlers in the Desert Storm in Sharjah. The storm was weaved out of the tempest of magnificence that oozed from his bat.
Australia posted a score of 284 in 50 overs, which was revised to 276 due to storm interrupting play for 25 minutes. India then needed 237 runs against to trump New Zealand, the third team in the tournament, on the net-run-rate and reach the final of the competition and the Master Blaster smashed 143 runs to get the Indians to 242 before he departed.
Heck, India might as well have won it had Hrishikesh Kanitkar not decided to single-handedly lose the game for them with an innings of 5 runs from 14 balls at a time when the Men In Blue needed 34 from three overs.
Although, back then, it wasn’t the norm to try and go for the win when the required rate is more than 10. And the job, too, was done by the Little Master.
In the final, Australia went in as clear favourites – and why not? They hadn’t lost a single game in the tournament up until that point and posted a target of 273 for the Indians.
But Sachin had other plans. My boy, he did. Being only six years old back then, I didn’t remember much but in the midst of the shrouded mist around my mind, there are some gaps where the thickness fades to give me a clear picture of some moments.
In one such phase, I see something that I can never forget. It was the straight six over Michael Kasprowicz’s head. It was so mighty that I can still remember the ball getting stuck in the front row roof.
It was perhaps in that moment where Sachin Tendulkar became a Deity to me. It was when I began worshipping him.
Sachin was always humble
Growing up, my parents always told me to be a good person. They, however, forgot to tell me how to be one. I think they did it on purpose because they knew I was already in good hands.
They knew I was following Sachin Tendulkar – so there was no need for them to teach me how to be a good person.
You look at Sachin and you realize that it was not just about his off-drive six against Shoaib Akhtar in the World Cup of 2003 or his transcendental feet movement against Shane Warne that made the Aussie have nightmares about the Run Machine…
It was about how he was as a person.
He was never disrespectful towards anyone on the field. He was calm and collected and rarely gave way to wrath. Even if he did, it was through his bat and not his mouth.
It is easy to get angry on the field. After all, the expectations of over one billion people laid on his shoulders. One can see how animated Virat Kohli can get, but that never really happened with Sachin.
Cricketers are role models. Kids look at them and aspire to be like them. This is the responsibility that should make them curb their anger, but one simply can’t be restrained because of children watching you.
It has to come from within. It has to be the nature of the person. An apple tree will always give apples and not mangoes.
And it was in Sachin’s nature to be serene and composed.
Sachin oozed serenity
He knows that being in his own shoes means that he doesn’t belong to just himself or his family – he belongs to us all. He realizes that the pinnacle of the top echelon at which he now finds himself has us – his fans and devotees – as the pedestal.
The way he carried himself on and off the field is what makes him truly stand out from everyone else. He taught us all that even in the worst of adversity and the best of radiance, steadfastness and humility are necessary.
When a player is so good and has to bear the burden of people’s hopes and dreams, he doesn’t remain a player anymore.
He becomes a God.
At the end of the day, we all know that Sachin – like every one of us – is made of flesh and bones and yet, the discrepancy between how we see him and what he actually is never made it overbearing for him to the point where he unleashed himself in an ugly way.
Perhaps – unlike every one of us – he is not a mere human. Perhaps, on this day, 45 years ago, Rajni Tendulkar didn’t give birth to a usual human baby. Perhaps, she gave birth to God’s incarnation.
I wish I could jump in time and go back to those days when watching Sachin Tendulkar bat was my only goal in life. But the monsoon is gone and I am always worried now. My heart is always restless because you are so far, my Lord.
And all I have now are memories – and they, too, are like the light that I can’t touch. But they still give me joy.
Happy Birthday, Sachin Tendulkar. Thank you for teaching me what life is.
Picture credit: Getty Images
