Cricket ... Seven letter word which unites people across age , gender , caste, religion , regionalism and all other divisive factors .. It is a religion which has devout followers . As it is with every religion , this too has a "God". When he is on field a billion souls pray for him. Mumbai streets are empty. Even at times of distress he can bring a smile on your face .. Some confessed their nightmares .. Some said " I have seen God , he bats at no.4 for India in Tests" . A banner once in Sharjah said " I will see God when I die , but till then I see Him " . Another in Sydney " Commit all your crimes when He is batting . They go unnoticed because even the Lord is watching " . I can go on and on .. For the limited edition species who are still unable to make out , He is Sachin. My memories of cricket dates back to 1992 and I have been a pious devotee for 18 years and counting . In my 11th or 12th class , which my pea sized brain can't properly remember , after our night study hours , a discussion started between ten or twelve of us about him. I couldn't understand the reason why Indians take pride in criticizing their heroes. Discussions usually turn into a debate with people taking sides. Amazingly in every such situation , I end up in minority group. It was three of us who were in support of him and we were easily outnumbered. The discussion / debate / fight , had more of a noise than information. It was passionate sprayed with tiny pieces of logic in between . Time flies during these times , and even before we noticed we had spent almost 4 hours . As I am used to now a days , meetings or discussions rarely have conclusions. It was never going to be different and our debate didn't deviate the script. Everyone went to bed , tired , with a feel of satisfaction and belief that they had the upper hand in debate.
Time Magazine's quote on Sachin:
"When Sachin Tendulkar travelled to Pakistan to face one of the finest bowling attacks ever assembled in cricket, Michael Schumacher was yet to race a F1 car, Lance Armstrong had never been to the Tour de France, Diego Maradona was still the captain of a world champion Argentina team, Pete Sampras had never won a Grand Slam. When Tendulkar embarked on a glorious career taming Imran and company, Roger Federer was a name unheard of; Lionel Messi was in his nappies, Usain Bolt was an unknown kid in the Jamaican backwaters. The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to "open" the Nehruvian economy. It seems while Time was having his toll on every individual on the face of this planet, he excused one man. Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar. We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will."
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