Tendulkar’s retirement - An emotional catastrophe

From time immemorial, we have had heroes; we have had legends. And they all have inevitably faded into oblivion, as father time stamped his feet down. But no retirement, or for that matter even untimely demise of national leaders, has ever caused grief and emotional out-pour of such proportions. But this man is no ordinary mortal; millions worship him as God, he is the darling of an entire nation cutting across generations. The man is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, arguably the finest sporting icon the world has known.

The cult of Tendulkar is not confined to India or even the subcontinent. He is the one and only sportsman who gets a standing ovation across continents. Poms love him, Aussie loves him, and even arch rivals Pakistanis adore him. This man is a once in a millennium phenomenon; someone who grew larger than the game itself, yet so grounded that his humility will give our saints a run for their money.

For a vast majority, cricket has lost its charm. They may still watch the game and throng the stands to root for the Men in blue, but they will never ever again find salvation in a cricket field. Emotions will be a tad hollow, for our soul can never again relish in that pristine joy which only a Tendulkar can generate. Let me be frank, I cried like a child when the news of the unthinkable broke out and I am sure that I am not alone. Only he could have made a million proud men shed tears like little children.

I must also admit, that strangely I felt a sense of relief too. It was really disgusting to see people taunting and crucifying Tendulkar, virtually castrating arguably the greatest cricketer to walk on earth. How could we be so ungrateful to a man who has been Indian sport’s crowning glory for over two decades? How could our media be so shameless to shower abuses at a man who has brought the nation glory umpteen times; unified this nation as no one before; brought us that unadulterated joy to ease the sufferings of our unrewarding lives. No need to worship him. But we could have at least respected the man who, despite being the richest and most powerful Indian celebrity by a mile, was so modest and down to earth and toiled the hardest at nets like a newbie, in spite of being the alpha male of the game.

And now that the light has finally faded, the same media and the same society are shedding tears as if a great tragedy has engulfed the nation. The plain truth is that we never deserved a Tendulkar. We are not yet ready to appreciate an icon of his stature. Tendulkar defined the nation for two decades. He defined Cricket as we know it and will go down as one of our greatest icons. And he will be the reason for future generations to be jealous of us. What more can we ask of a man? Yes, he was no God, only a mere mortal like you and me as father time proved. But the fact remains that at the zenith of his powers, he was better than the gods themselves and the nation loved him more than our million gods.