The God of our Times

Shouldering the burden of over a billion expectations for over two decades and still exuding that enviable confidence and maintaining that unruffled composure is something that you won’t expect a mere mortal to deliver and that’s why he is seen as this unearthly creature, this DEMI GOD, who belongs  to a different realm altogether. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is not a mere household name in India, he is something way bigger than that, a figure of worship, a perennial source of inspiration and perhaps that single greatest adhesive force which brings this diverse nation together and gives it this magnanimous  joy of celebrating Cricket as a fiesta.  This larger than life figure ensured that cricket didn’t remain a sport for us, it turned into a mania.

And that’s why I refer to him as the “GOD of our times”.

Ever since he started playing, lots of things have changed; we’ve seen a new format of the game evolve (and probably the one which will eventually deliver the knockout punch to its more revered ascendant), new set of rules, new technology, new set of teams joining the elite pool of cricketing nations and a new breed of cricketers coming through but he still remains that envious figure, his records still the ones to be chased. The only thing that has definitely changed is the multitude of expectations he carries every time he walks out to bat in Indian colors. His trademark look up to the sky, an elementary gesture to the Gods in the heaven can very well be a plea to the almighty to take some of that extra burden which is unleashed on him with the onus to perform for those billions watching him play. Even with so much at the back of his mind he doesn’t give us many opportunities to complain, he is been that lone warrior for India on most occasions when the others  gassed out.

Keeping in mind all this, It is not a tough job to see through the hype and expectations circling that still elusive 100th international century of his, it is a safe bet to assume that if he would have been a citizen of another cricketing nation then this milestone would have come earlier than this eight months hiatus. The castles that have been built around just a number and the number of endless discussions that we have had on it showcases to the world how characteristically jobless we are and it’s a direct insult to the person who has been the singular source of maximum joy to us in the last two decades.



He’s had a few tentative innings in the recent past, may be the big milestone is playing somewhere at the back of his mind, but a genius is not the one who never falls but the one who rises every time he falls, who pushes back even harder when he is being pushed to the corner and that’s Tendulkar for you.

A man who has spent his entire life playing cricket need not be told what he has to do or what he has to play, if we can somehow keep our cool and suppress all this hullabaloo surrounding this inching landmark then that would be our biggest contribution in his bid to become the first cricketer to score a century of centuries. I hope that the man who began his career in Mumbai gives his home fans the joy of being audience to one of the historic moments the game will ever be witness to. 

 Wish you luck TENDLYA!!! 

P.S. And I am sure the Mumbaikars won’t miss the opportunity to greet him with #KolaveriDi once he gets there. (no marathi connection just goes with the feel and the voice of the nation )