If cricket is a religion, Sachin is GOD.
And I would be lying if I said I didn't worship him. From the desert storm the Aussies faced in Sharjah in 1998, to the sound, resilient knock after the passing away of a loved one - albeit against Kenya in 1999 World Cup, to the blitzkrieg against Shoaib and co. at Centurion in the 2003 World Cup, each of these moments has a special place in my memory, just as it would for any Sachin fan.
The brilliance is there no doubt. But it wasn't praises all the way right from the start. An average debut in 1989 versus Pakistan at Karachi. A decent first couple of years in his Test career. Among the lot of cricketers who took the most number of matches to get his first century in ODIs. And then to the current status of more than 10000 Test runs and 50 International hundreds. Somewhere along this journey, there was a transition. This man went from being mortal to being God.
To err is human, to never err divine. The one BIG problem with being God. NO room for error. If you are proclaimed Hero/ Leader/ King / Emperor, you are still human and are permitted mistakes. It also gives your subjects an opportunity to raise their voice, revolt, plan a mutiny, or even overthrow their king for that matter. A Maharaja of Indian cricket we know would definitely second this belief. This is where I think we as fans, and the media, need to see that thin line of difference. The difference between being a Hero and being God. Heroes go down in blazes of glory, Heroes become martyrs, Heroes sometimes fail when the odds are heavily stacked against them, there is an "end" so to speak in such references. None so, when it comes to God.
Sachin was booed of Wankhede. It was almost like Lord Ganesh being unseated from Siddhivinayak, Lord Venkateshwara Balaji being unseated from Tirupati, Lord Krishna being unseated from an ISKON temple, Lord.... so on.. I hope you get the drift. Sheer blasphemy. The only reason, Sachin is GOD. This where I probably have started (please note the "probably", that is the only written indicator I can give to the tremendous conflict of belief that I am facing as I write this) questioning, whether we need to reasses how we and the media go about making Gods out of human beings. Maybe if we just let them be our heroes, their names won't be tarnished and such acts of blasphemy shall never be committed again. I for one, would not condone such acts. And such acts against Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Never.
Even as I sign off after having made what I hope is a strong attempt at striking a "practical" chord, I hear this voice from within that says, "Forgive him God, for he knows not what he is doing."It needs no telling, which God I am referring to.
2 Comments:
Dunno much bout cricket ... But can relate to the essence of what u r sayin ... Poor Sachin :(
Though i don't condone the act of booing sachin tendulkar i do think a lot has been made out of this.
As a sportsman, (irrespective of whoever you are ) you are a performer, an entertainer first and everything else next. The crowd pays hard earned money to watch a performance. They have a right to express their opinion on each one of your performances. A good performance receives an applause, a bad performance at best silence. Though the crowd should have been more considerate , considering that sachin is GOD (as you put it) they still have a write to cheer, dance and also boo...
We just have to take it with a pinch of salt and move on... more important issues face this nation and deem better attention and of course blog space..:))
(reached your blog thru tapan's)
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