Nov 17, 2013

The Farewell, Well Deserved ** For You Sachin #3 **

The last day of the career which ran for twenty four years could not get better than yesterday. It would have appeared the same for everyone who watched Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell day after the end of his two hundredth test match. The great man did bid farewell to the game amidst his family, friends, team, and of course his long time fans. His speech in full length of emotions was the highlight of the day and probably one of the highlights of his admirable career. Good that he could maintain that composure and fully utilized the once in a life time chance to express himself and thank all the deserved!

Enough is written, shown and said about Sachin and his career milestones. I‘d here mention about my mind’s journey with this great man’s personality.

Sachin Tendulkar: The name that is very famous and perhaps the mostly repeated in the record books of cricket. Ask his fans to know the rest. A famous public figure here in India and always has been a brand ambassador of Indian sports. Be it any game or sport, more than ninety percent of the players agree to fact that he is an inspiration, a legend, a trend setter.  Less like a celebrity and more like a person next door, Sachin, although has spoken emotions very less number of times to the crowd, has been successful in winning millions and millions of hearts. People do every possible thing for him, to see him, to watch his innings and so on. It might appear as endless madness, but even if it is true, there is some magic in this madness. Being able to enjoy his gesture is a bliss, a real bliss it feels.

Writing about him has been special to me. There have been numerous occasions on when I’ve written about him and cricket here in this blog. As I’ve always said, sports bring out the best writer in me, as per me. Every time I wrote about cricket, I got connected to the game and the players a bit more. Among the many players about whom I have written here, Sachin has been special and will remain to be so. When I started knowing him or liking him, I was just into the first year of my teenage. Probably that’s one of the main reasons why I used to go crazy about him. Later it turned out to be liking, which felt very pure from inside. And even today it does appear the same. I feel so lucky and blessed to be able to enjoy it all these years and even today. It feels as if I’m happy for some portion of me. As if I’ve achieved something too!

I must confess. It was not the same good boat throughout. There were plenty of occasions when I got angry on him and used bad words. That was out of sheer disappointment which fortunately never lasted for more than a minute every time. The sportive spirit and the connectivity to the sports men I’ve developed over the years have always come into the show and bring me back to the normally thinking position. I must apologise to him for all such minutes! May be, he deserved some of them for the way he played but never for the intention with which he played. Sorry Sachin.

Thank you is not enough for all that he has been doing. It’s not that every day you get to see players like him getting retired. On this occasion, a heartfelt thank you makes great sense. But I’m worried what all I shall mention why I’m thankful to him. Thank you Sachin, for the happiness, for the memories, for the inspiration, and for the way you have carried yourself. Learnt a lot from you!

I’m one of those who believe that records are meant to be broken. Also, I’m one of those selfish persons, who want to see another Indian rewriting the record of this great man. Well, country name would not matter much although the selfishness might get hurt some way, if there comes a player who surpasses this batting maestro, it would be another great era to be part of. Tendulkar’s era is gone beautifully.

One wish I’ve, in fact I’ve been having, is to read a biography or an autobiography of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, a frankly written one well like the one on Steve Jobs; as bigger as that and as frankly written as that. Sachin must show interest in writing and publishing this. He must write it for his family, friends, fans and of course for the generations to come. For the family to know how were his unexpressed emotions like. For friends to convey the beauty of friendship. For the fans to tell them how it like hearing Sachinnn..Sachin while coming to bat in a big match. And for the next generations to make them believe that there lived a man called Sachin Tendulkar and so that they will be sure of his existence and he was not really that 'god', he was a pure human.

This is it for now ** For You Sachin**. I’m sure I will keep getting opportunities to write about him. For him and against him; in any case I will enjoy writing about him.

Good bye Sachin and Thank You!

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