He walks amongst us

He walks amongst us. Funny how the word ‘God’ has become synonymous with one man, and every mind unequivocally thinks of just one picture. Sachin Tendulkar. But this isn’t another chapter dedicated to the greatness of the man or how he is and always will be Mr. Cricket. Rather it’s a simple thought about how a ‘common’ man captivated the imagination of a nation for over two decades. Legends are born, legends will continue to be born, but______, I’d leave it up-to you to fill these blanks, The answer is one and inevitable.

A brother, a father figure, a guide, a mentor, a cricketing textbook, an idol. For each and every Indian that breaths on this planet, the Man is family. Our family. When the Indian team carried him on its shoulders, running rounds of celebration in Wankhede, our eyes betrayed an obvious emotion, tears of relief. Relieved that this true son of the soil had finally got what he deserved. It wasn't another personal milestone in the illustrious list of milestones for the man. On that night of 2nd April, 2011, it was someone from our own family, our own flesh and blood who had achieved something that was always his and had overshadowed anything ever achieved in the history of the game. He had earned it by the sheer sweat of his brow, by the agonizing pain he had gone through, both physical and emotional, day-in-day out, throughout these 20 odd years.

There is a steely desire to the man, 5 feet and a few inches, this tiny dynamo is someone we’ve been privileged to witness in our lifetime, a legend to be carried forward to the next thousand generations. We wouldn't remember our first kiss, our first crush or even our first bike ride, but what is etched in our memories is how the Superman from India blew away the Desert Storm and what’s more, even our rickshaw-walas know what a tennis elbow is! All of us saw him wince in pain on the field, holding his back and trying to drag a country past the finish line against a formidable Pakistan attack and fall ridiculously short of the target in that ill-fated test match. We felt sad for him, with him and experienced a maddening anger at the whole team, not just then, but every single time He emptied his heart on the field, only to find out that the other ten didn’t have one. He was a lion who roared among the chicken-hearts.

We take pride in the fact that no-one, absolutely no-one can hit a straight drive like Sachin can, that only he could give nightmares to the unconquerable Shane Warne, that even the Pakistanis pay to watch him bat, that anyone who even thought of staring back at the maestro, let alone sledge against him would be torn to pieces in our minds. “Tu bahar to mil saale!” We’d die for him, only for him, over and over again. You know why? Because when He smiles, We Smile. We writhe in pain every time a nasty delivery hits his gloves. We conquer whenever he hits a ton. 

Only one man can ever generate such extreme of emotions in a billion people worldwide. He is ours, my brother, every Indian mother’s son, the Man of the Nation, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.