The idea of Tendulkar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. A name that inspires extreme love & worship in a nation obsessed with cricket. Why do we love him so?

He is a symbol of the aspirations of an India before all things Indian became cool. The world saluted his genius and his skill and we, the Indian awaam, felt his victories were ours. His discipline was lauded and it gave us hope that the Indian ethic of daily plugging away at a task was the way to success. Goaded by opponents, given a bloody nose in his first test, after he lost his dad- he stood, looked adversity in the eye and came back stronger. We watched and believed difficulties could be overcome. In a land obsessed with studying hard because degrees are the ticket to a better life, we forgave him the minor misdemeanor of flunking class 10. We adored his mate Kambli and cried his tears when India lost that horrific World cup semifinal against Sri Lanka on a deteriorating Eden Gardens pitch.

The reason we fell in love with Tendulkar was that he was and remains a symbol of India. He has all we pride ourselves on- the steadiness, the perseverance, the dignity and with it a talent, rare, mystic, extraordinary and a beauty that defies definition. And most of all, he has applause.

We are a nation (as recent evidence of the popularity of our economy, yoga and fashion show) that thrives on applause. Some would argue this to be the remanants of our colonial hangover. I think we needed Tendulkar to give us the belief in ourselves we lacked. And he did. Tirelessly. Seemingly effortlessly. And to our gratitude consistently.

This is my ode to the man who has made us all fall irrationally in love with him, and perhaps, just a little bit, with ourselves.