Not just another article about Sachin

According to Indian standards, I was a rather late entrant into the cricket fan club. The earliest I can remember was when I used to wonder why are all players named India, as I was unable to read the complicated names of the players (that was a time when I used to read 'national' as 'natio-nal', so my vernaculars were not that accomplished). I used to sit in front of the TV with excited elders without being able to make anything out of it.

Cut to 1996: I was in my village, still no more interested in cricket than I was a few years ago. World Cup was underway then. That was when people were talking about a certain Jayasuriya. People in our village used to say "he is pissing fire". Then one day, people flocked to the only radio (brand Santosh) in our family, shouting every time the audibly excited commentator raised his voice. Someone said, in delirium, Sachin hit a century. My uncle (he was a student then and i remember him noting down the details of every match in his diary) took the radio with him to the hand pump where he had to wash. Only after filling out one bucket, he started cursing everyone as the commentators raised their voices again. Only this time they were clearly heard, as in the stadium there was a pin-drop silence. Sachin, apparently was out on 136. And that seemed to matter a lot to everyone. From my sixty year old grandfather to the "lower caste" guy who worked on our field discussed his innings, his career in detail. The love story began with that match. When i later saw him on TV, he looked so much like us- with such a cute smile. But boy, didn't he look perfect in his helmet when he took guard!

Till this date, I don't think any batsman looks as beautiful as Sachin when he takes guard. I can't explain it in cricketing terms, but there's something about that look on his face, the way the helmet sits on his head, the way he lifts his bat that makes him all the more endearing. For all my childhood, when like all ignoramuses I too believed that test cricket is boring, Sachin's batting was the only thing i could watch even if he played really slowly.

I was raised in a family where discipline was paramount. There was a fixed time to study, fixed time to play and a fixed time to watch TV (which was really less- the first time i watched cartoon was in my college). During ODIs, you could only watch the first 15 and the last 10 overs of India'a innings. The exception was made only when Sachin crossed 50. It was as if Sachin's century was more important than my studies, dad's office and ma's cooking. Even my bed-ridden grandfather who kept asking about the score from his room, would come to the TV room if Sachin was about to reach his century. We would discuss about his innings all day in school. Surprisingly, he was everybody's favorite. I used to read every word about him and the match in the paper the next day.

Sachin reached the peak of my admiration during the 2003 World Cup. The houses of cricketers were attacked, effigies burnt, ads featuring cricketers taken off air (Sachin's TVS ad was still being aired, though) after they had a disastrous start to the tournament. Sachin addressed the nation through a TV channel. He said something on the line of this:

"...we are very proud of the support that we have got from our people back home. We want to assure them that we are trying to perform to the best of our potential. It is your support that we need the most at this moment. Please be patient and pray for our success..."

In the next match against Zimbabwe, he scored 80 odd imperious runs. And for the rest of the tournament, he carried the team on his shoulders, fulfilling the promise he had made to nation.

There will be many great players to come. Even his record may not be permanent. But no one will care about his record when decides to leave the game. People will always remember the way he has made them happy for moments in their very complicated lives. Sachin is etched in our psyche in a way that he will never fade.