Just like him

I usually do not find much motivation to express thoughts about Sachin Tendulkar. So much is written, spoken, and analyzed about him, I bet there wouldn't be anything new to add. Another few hundred words from me would just add to the garbage I feel. I anyway hate to go with the masses; it irritates me no end when I hear/read people addressing him as "God". Not because I don't like Tendulkar, it's because people's mentality of idol worship for an individual freaks me out no end. And I pride myself on staying away from such craze. 

In the last few days however, the media and social network frenzy about Tendulkar has been something that you can't shun yourself off. It urged me today to make a youtube trip and watch some of his innings, mostly from the 90's. Being a die hard fan that I used to be, I remembered all of those innings. And the nostalgia of reliving some of those memories makes me express my thoughts about him. "My 2 cents" as they say.

I have a lot to complain about Tendulkar the cricketer. People called him the best batsman of our times but I would always argue against that, mostly based off his performances in test cricket.
He would pull down the shutters and get very defensive when the end of a test match session, or end of day's play, was nearing. He would also get overly defensive when nearing milestones, like during several of his centuries. This attitude of his, hurt the team. It hurt Tendulkar himself, he would lose his rhythm and get out.

At times, he would seem to overly complicate simple things against a slew of slow medium pace bowlers and ordinary spinners. He would seem to give undue respect to too many bowlers and score very slowly. One would feel frustrated about how he could face an Allan Donald with such ease and then struggle against a Hansie Cronje.

One always got the feeling that he was more than capable as a leg spin bowler. Why then could he not contribute more with the ball? Had he done more of that for the team, the team would have got a genuine all rounder and that would have helped the team immensely.

I therefore asked myself why, why is it that this guy still occupied a special place in my life! Why do I feel sad today when he is retiring?

After some thought I got my answer: In some way, at a lesser magnitude of course, I thought of myself as similar to him - I find it tough to get work done in office on Friday's or even late in the evenings. Lot of time during this time inevitably gets spent on Facebook and I invariably end up "playing for stumps", just like he pulls down the shutter when end of day is approaching. In my school days I didn't do well in quite a few exams in spite of preparing well just because the pressure got to me and I got too anxious, just like he seems to get nervous when approaching milestones. My team expects me to work on stretch goals to add more value to the team and it is tough to keep up with those expectations, just like he found it tough to contribute consistently to the team as a bowler in spite of having the talent. And my habit of over analyzing and over complicating simple things, just like his, have been a major problem in life throughout!

Long story short, I liked him not because he was "God", but because he was human. Unknowingly, I had modeled my game (read tried to model my life) just like his!

He would put his heart and soul into his work. He would work tremendously hard to get better at his skill. On a given day, he may or may not have succeeded (he succeeded more often than not), but he would give it everything, you could not doubt his effort. He would hate to lose but would never go the wrong path to win. 

May sound bombastic here, but I tried to base my own life on these very traits/principles ...... just like him. If these principles were to ever have a face, then I feel it would be Sachin Tendulkar's; for he epitomized these very traits ever since I began to understand somewhat little about this thing called life.

Then there were some of his other traits - He was a typical marathi middle class boy who earned the riches but yet never compromised on his principles, never forgot his roots, and remained ever grateful to all the people who helped him along the way. He was a foodie, loved good clothes, but deep inside he was still the same middle class boy. He was always aggressive but never brash. He was shy and awkward in public but a complete brat when with family/friends. He loved playing cheeky shots, he broke a lot of windows in his colony during "half-pitch" cricket (seriously, would kids in India today ever get to play "galli" cricket and break windows! Does a Xbox Kinect provide the same thrill!). Again, can't help but relate to some of these traits of his.

Tendulkar's next big contribution was that he spread joy in the lives of people at times when there wasn't much to look forward to. He made his debut long before there were any shopping malls, multiplexes, and international standard restaurants and coffee shops in the country. Entertainment options for the masses were few and far during those times but Tendulkar was the savior. Yes, he may have batted slow in tests  approaching milestones, he may not have been able to win as many matches on his own for India as one would have liked. But the joy he gave to everyone in the 1990s with his magical batting, the smiles he put on everyone's face, the way he brought the whole nation together when times in general were tough in India, is all unbelievable and undescribable. Dravid/Ganguly/Laxman/Sehwag's time started well after India had already started to announce itself on the global circuit. Tendulkar though was the face, the commonality, between India's transition from an almost under developed country to a fast developing nation.

Overall, I realize today that I may never be able to convince myself one way or the other whether Tendulkar was the greatest batsman of my generation. But one thing is certain. Unknowingly he has been one of the most impactful individuals in my life, and perhaps in the life of countless others in India. He has not only entertained us and given us joy, but has epitomized for us the ideologies which have formed the basis of our lives. Such has been his contribution; not just limited to cricket but he has been a super hero of a billion people nation, like no one else ever has.

Suddenly now, Gavaskar's tribute to Tendulkar yesterday doesn't sound as silly to me: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar - Thank you, thank you, thank you!