'Sachin' - Is he God for me?

Is he God for me? If by God you mean a wizard who creates thing which others consider miracle but he himself considers them a simple creation then yes he is a God for me. If by God you mean an entity which makes me believe that I need not be worried, he’ll make sure that the boat sails to the other shore then yes he is a God for me. If by God you mean an entity to who I would pray and always ask for blessings, for victory then yes he is a God for me.

I am like any other Indian cricket fan. But a distinction that I hold very proudly is that I belong to a generation which grew up watching Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar play. The only thing that I knew about Cricket when I held the cricket bat for the first time was Sachin. Maybe because whenever anyone played a good shot the senior boys in our gully would say “shabash re mere Sachin”. I didn’t know who this person was or what stature he holds in the game of cricket, but i knew for sure that being Sachin means being great. I was like any other boy of my generation who kept Sachin’s photos in his compass-box, stuck posters in his room, cupboard and bought chewing-gums because they had Sachin tattoos on offer.

There are so called “rationalists” who criticise us for being so naive as to consider a player God of a game. They give us examples of other players, who were supposedly better than Sachin in terms of technique, certain records, match winning percentage, captaincy etc. I agree that there are many more stalwarts in the game who have created wonders. But it’s funny how people try to prove their greatness by ultimately comparing them to Sachin. There is no harm in comparison. Rather it’s a good thing for any player because it pushes you to take more efforts. When you compare other players to Sachin you forget one thing that in a way Sachin becomes a yardstick to measure excellence. I do not insist that you love Sachin or worship him because we do. But I can’t help but laugh at you when you bring ten different players and compare ten different aspects of Sachin’s game with each player and try to prove that he wasn’t so great after all.

It’s also amazing that how we Sachin fans were always ready to counter such criticism while our God was simply disinterested in heeding to such things. He was always busy in trying to perfect himself, though he never claimed that he is perfect-another characteristic of Gods! We attributed so many things to him, we called him God but we criticised him when he failed. We cut cakes on his birthdays but we hated him when we lost a game. We fasted for his centuries but we also went on to say that it’s time that he retires because he wasn’t at his best anymore (despite knowing that we will cry our eyes out when he retires). He tolerated everything. And when he finally did bid adieu, he did not complain about any of these. He thanked everyone; he bowed down and touched the 22 yards which defined the 24 years of his life and signed off. A legend so humble and so divine in itself.

If by God you mean someone who shall not grant all my prayers always, disappoint me, rather frustrate me at times, make me long for the bright day, build my patience and then deliver the best someday, then yes he is a God for me and millions like me and he’ll always be.