ONE
MAN -
MILLIONS
OF FOLLOWERS,
BILLIONS
OF BUFFS and
A
MYRIAD OCEANIC MEMORIES
He's
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Part - 2
Some
people leave their presence forever; for a sempiternal period of
time.
I'm
not able to find a good passage to start this, thus, I decided to
start with a beautiful proverb of Vivekanand - “Take up one idea.
Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream on it, live on
that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body,
be full of that idea, and just leave every idea alone. This is only a
way to success.”
His
retirement from the ODI on Dec'12 had been already the matter of much
speculation and the people were beginning to think about the day when
the “God of this game” will say a heavy and bittersweet goodbye
from an International career spanning more than two decades; leading,
carrying the burden of billions of hopes and inspiring a nation in
his own way; inside and outside the dressing room. It doesn't matter,
it was a child, was a young, was an old, even the time lames to watch
a genius anticipation of the most complete batsman of an era. The
excellence of a purest beauty. To ticker
the most prolific significance of cricket. Alas,
all good things must come to have an
end, fortunately it'd going to be a memorable one.
Today,
maybe that's been around a month when SRT announced his retirement
from the longest format of cricket, in the month of Oct'13. And on
the same day I picked up my laptop, opened a word page and began to
write about him, but perhaps all the words are all of a sudden
vanished from my mind and on the spur of that moment my senses unable
to recall a place where the words have been stored, I felt like I had
lost powerfulness over my own mind, unfortunately that occurred on a
particular day when I thought to put out a few words on pages of an
epic book. I've been trying and thinking about that for a long time
to penned down a single word, but every-time I think to confined some
word, I entangle in myself, from where I've to begin and where to end
up. That was the first time when I was determinant by such kind of an
effect of a legendary person and everyone can sense the reason behind
this immature jumble feeling.
A
curly hair and diminutive Mumbaikar who had nothing done since from
the age of eleven and been for almost a quarter of century, and
completed a journey from an unknown face of universe to been known as
the “God of cricket.” Beneath the helmet, under that curly hair,
inside the brain-pan, there was a aspect; something special;
something different we don't know, something beyond a knowledge
domain; something that allow him to soar up, to roam a complete
territory, something that allow us to forget everything; who are
gifted just to play with bat and ball and when he goes out to bat,
people switched on their television sets and switch off their lives
for a span of time. The genius who fashioned and formed his own
method to play the most vivacious bowling attack, at any ground in
all the itineraries.
We
all know that he was the reason behind bunk of many classes, he was
the reason behind all the untruths to parents, he was the reason of
galore low grade marks, he was the reason behind all the
prevarications to place of business even when your own superior
watching his maneuver, he was the reason behind many centuries, he
was the reason behind the most test appearances, he was the reason
behind shaping a new definition of cricket, he was the reason behind
to make a chronicle of as many records, no one has ever done, he was
the reason behind committing a passion, sheer dedication and to
delineate himself [not proudly] what he achieved in life but with
what he respects in life that too with a ground reality.
I
was not a cricket enthusiast, since the world cup'96 but after that
it becomes an addiction to watch every match. I yet myself remember
one of his innings on the year 1997, the very first time when I
thought for whole one day “How to bunk the next day class?” even
when I had an exam in next week, after too much deliberation when I
found no defense, I decided to have a talk with my colony-school
buddy to spare the first two hour time on an abandoned railway
station [that was used as storehouse and was on the way to school]
and latter decided to bunked the whole day. Ah! What a beautiful time
was that! I still remember and there's a smile on my face. :-)
It seems he never feel tires of batting, the ground is only place
where he desired to spend most of his time. Throughout he intervening
twenty-four long years, has been always a source of adoration in the
cricketing world. He has been an inspiration for generation. He's not
just lived a life, he lived a generation. It is not only that the
game will never be the same with out him. It is being his habitat.
The innings of Sharjha, those conflicts with Shane Warne, when he
kept hitting blameless leg-breaks over the rope again and again and
forced Shane to recognize him as a “bad nightmare” and “most
awkward opponent”. Those memory of breaking a forty year barrier to
creating a history being the first man on planet to achieve hallmark
of first-ever double century. The brilliance of his form during a
decade. A genuine performer!
14Th
Nov'13, was the day no different from others, but its different in
term of start of an end of a beginning. A day before yesterday, in a
newspaper, I had read that a website was crashed due to twenty
million simultaneous hit to get a single ticket of those some twenty
thousand fortunate seating area, which 'll kickoff to watch a last
International inning of little Maestro. I can conceive of the fact
that on this planet only Google is capable to handle such an immense
touch. For now, let leave this topic and I'd love to start a memoir
of this day.
The
day was 14th
Nov'13, It was Nehru's Birthday. It was the first day of end of
one-of-a-kind brilliance opus of universe “The Little Master”,
who has almost created god-like stats, has been met with nationwide
nostalgia for his sporting feats. Twenty-four years later, it is
actually here, in Wankhede, Mumbai. I'd certainly can say that
everyone thought it was going to happen some day but honestly I'm
saying, I don't think everyone wanted it to happen, but that moment
is here – the final inning.
The
echos and chants of Sachinnn... Sachinn were already heard from the
conch-shell of myriad voices who had inside stadium and who was
outside stadium. When MSD (Indian Captain) won the toss, everyone who
present in WCA, will feel that he now decided to opt for batting,
while he has some other mind to decide for bowling. With a good grip
of opening start from WI, it was seemed they're going to play some
fine inning against the opponent, but it didn't happened just after
lunch and the WI batting line-up was demolished by Indian spinner in
a brutal way sending one by one to the WI dressing room, as Ojha
picked up his sixth five wicket haul and Ashwin ends with three
clearing a way to see the most awaited face with his bat on the
ground of WCA. What a moment! What a legend! What a mortal of
stunning excellence! The ground himself calling him. No one cares
about the performance of bowlers. No on cares about other part of
ground, there's only one word “SACHIN”.
It
was I and many other like me, who consider on rumors that, maybe the
little maestro will start the inning. But he has been somehow managed
a determined mind over his own place to come for batting at no. 4. No
matters the top-order is doing good or bad, no injury of any batsman
effects his order, even all the batting order can change but the
fourth one is reserved for him. Wankhede was already erupted to watch
the fire of his endmost inning.
The
time was around 3:30 PM, when Shillingford claimed the wicket of
Dhawan and Vijay on two continuous delivery, when Vijay gets out, no
one cares, all the eyes were began to look towards the Indian
dressing room and patiently waiting for solar day hero to come and
celebrate his farewell, where people are tightening their
consciousness to welcome the most celebrated personality of day in
the foremost accomplish-able way. Hallucinating crowds at the
Wankhede stadium in his home town of Mumbai started to greet him as
he walked out to bat in his last Test match and the gathering break
out as he headed for the crease, walking through a guard of honor
created by his West Indian opponents, an emotional farewell game for
a national hero whose twenty-four year career has made him a
cricketing fable. He bends, probably his last bow, which begins on
home turf, will be extremely special to him for many another reason.
It will be the first time his mother has come to watch him play,
twenty five years after he started cricket. Ajit, his mentor and best
companion [ who carry him on his shoulders for practice matches ]
too, would not nous to buck the habit of a lifetime and come to the
venue to watch his little brother play. His wife, a woman who
sacrificed her career was their to spectacle the live match; His
pedagogue, paralyzed on a wheel chair was their to watch his last
inning. But, today there maybe a heartbreak too.
Today,
he has a different new bat, gripped with a trio-color [casually his
was gripped with a black], same as of Indian national flag, the
Adidas bat was carved and shaped in a wholly new design having a
sightly touch of same as of his grip.
The
people was standing their for around ten minute, no sitting. With the
start of his first run, each run was greeted with raucous applause
and cheering. He finished the day unbeaten on 38, having hit six
boundaries off 73 balls, setting the scene for further excitement on
Friday.
For
fans of Sachin cricket is not just a game of bat and ball, for them
cricket is Sachin and Sachin is cricket. I am too small a person to
talk about the Batting Legend. There are too many best quotes on the
maestro that were uttered from the legends and that describe him more
amendly. It's not going to be very easy to accept that the man who
made every moment a symbol of symbolized happiness for nearly a
quarter of century, who made every Indian's chest puff with pride, a
symbol of perfection and a role model of excellence, will not be seen
doing what he has done quite from last twenty-four years.
He
spender a career such long, that it is almost impossible to capture
his generosity and completeness in just few lines. He is just not a
name to an individual rather he is a passion of a generation who grew
with him. Everything he did in cricket, outside cricket is not just a
mere symbol of purity; it became a culture. When we go out to search
a champion, we'll surly find that one, when search for a legend, we
again find that one but we never find a Sachin again, he is just born
to play “CRICKET”.
“If
in my senses, for this era, I wished to be born as an artist so that
I could club and encapsulate all the feelings and wonderment in a
book or in a painting.”
Hats
off for all the moments that you shared with us. An institute of
cricket – He's Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
And
I believe this is called a “SUCCESS”. Long live. Long live little
champ.
Cheers!
Dhitendra
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