I got the SMS from a friend last night: "Sachin tendulkar retired... im in mourning"
My text reply: "Wow! finally... god can rest."
Sachin is a god. He has super-human powers, brings us all together, is cute and doesn't speak much... all the qualities of a good, modern deity. For me, Sachin has always been more of a phenomenon than cricket player. That may be because cricket for me has been more a phenomenon to be analyzed than a game to be played.
Yes, I have played cricket... minimally. My friends would drag me from bed and make me play. They would tell me that I throw like a girl.
How insulting! For the girls. I throw more like an inebriated granny after five pegs of Bacardi. But who's evaluating? That still didn't stop my friends from dragging me to the field at six o'clock in the morning. Sadly, that was the pitiful beginning and end to the scope of my cricket playing.
In 2010, I wrote a blog about Sachin hitting 200 runs in a One Day. Yeah, I am no sports commentator! I hardly know how to set up the wickets! So it's not really about his 200 runs, but more about... well, I'll let you read it (below)...
Cricket has found a god
At age 36 and twenty years at the international level of the game, Sachin Tendulkar still has more magic than any player from the hidden corner of New Zealand to cricket's own motherland, the UK. Homegrown in Mumbai, Tendulkar was the first player to ever score 200 runs in a One Day International cricket match. This morning, Indian newspapers splashed Tendulkar's photo with the bold heading, "God!"
As the British Empire expanded throughout the world, cricket planted itself on local fields. Only yesterday I was thinking, probably at any given time in the world, somebody somewhere is playing cricket. Be it under massive stadium lights or in the crazily narrow gulleys of Varanasi, with a $100 bat or with one of those plastic ones that hang from the windows of village shops, someone somewhere is aiming for that "six" over the rainbow.
But one question that I have is: How has something so symbolic of the British Raj become so embedded into Indian soil so as to become the universal religion of India? Elevating Sachin to be Indian god number three hundred thirty thousand and one.
The initial official matches held in Bombay have the "Europeans" against the "Parsees", and then at some point the "Hindus" became a team. As the game gained popularity among local people, it also became a unifying force: Many believe it encouraged the concept of nationhood for Indians and proved to be a turning point in India’s struggle for independence.*
So what are we saying here? Was cricket the ironic cause of the fall of the British Raj? Should Gandhi-ji have used his walking stick to hit "fours" and "sixes" instead of wielding it for ahimsa? On another note: Could Sachin Tendulkar now wield his powers for Gandhian feats? Well, according to Peter Roebuck, it's probably a no go for Tendulkar:
And for his own sake, I'm glad he finally has.
But as I also said in my SMS to my friend: "What's next? Rajneeti [politics]?"
Who knows? Gods don't rest for too long.
My text reply: "Wow! finally... god can rest."
Sachin is a god. He has super-human powers, brings us all together, is cute and doesn't speak much... all the qualities of a good, modern deity. For me, Sachin has always been more of a phenomenon than cricket player. That may be because cricket for me has been more a phenomenon to be analyzed than a game to be played.
Yes, I have played cricket... minimally. My friends would drag me from bed and make me play. They would tell me that I throw like a girl.
 |
| Yes, I'm actually playing cricket, early morning. Where's the ball, guys? |
How insulting! For the girls. I throw more like an inebriated granny after five pegs of Bacardi. But who's evaluating? That still didn't stop my friends from dragging me to the field at six o'clock in the morning. Sadly, that was the pitiful beginning and end to the scope of my cricket playing.
In 2010, I wrote a blog about Sachin hitting 200 runs in a One Day. Yeah, I am no sports commentator! I hardly know how to set up the wickets! So it's not really about his 200 runs, but more about... well, I'll let you read it (below)...
Cricket has found a god
At age 36 and twenty years at the international level of the game, Sachin Tendulkar still has more magic than any player from the hidden corner of New Zealand to cricket's own motherland, the UK. Homegrown in Mumbai, Tendulkar was the first player to ever score 200 runs in a One Day International cricket match. This morning, Indian newspapers splashed Tendulkar's photo with the bold heading, "God!"
 |
| Cricket has found a god |
As the British Empire expanded throughout the world, cricket planted itself on local fields. Only yesterday I was thinking, probably at any given time in the world, somebody somewhere is playing cricket. Be it under massive stadium lights or in the crazily narrow gulleys of Varanasi, with a $100 bat or with one of those plastic ones that hang from the windows of village shops, someone somewhere is aiming for that "six" over the rainbow.
But one question that I have is: How has something so symbolic of the British Raj become so embedded into Indian soil so as to become the universal religion of India? Elevating Sachin to be Indian god number three hundred thirty thousand and one.
The initial official matches held in Bombay have the "Europeans" against the "Parsees", and then at some point the "Hindus" became a team. As the game gained popularity among local people, it also became a unifying force: Many believe it encouraged the concept of nationhood for Indians and proved to be a turning point in India’s struggle for independence.*
So what are we saying here? Was cricket the ironic cause of the fall of the British Raj? Should Gandhi-ji have used his walking stick to hit "fours" and "sixes" instead of wielding it for ahimsa? On another note: Could Sachin Tendulkar now wield his powers for Gandhian feats? Well, according to Peter Roebuck, it's probably a no go for Tendulkar:
"The runs, the majesty, the thrills, do not capture his achievement. Reflect upon his circumstances and then marvel at his feat. Here is a man obliged to put on disguises so that he can move around the streets, a fellow able to drive his cars only in the dead of night for fear of creating a commotion, a father forced to take his family to Iceland on holiday, a person whose entire adult life has been lived in the eye of a storm."It seems like being more popular than Jesus has its down sides. Even gods have to take a break some time. [Reposted from February 25, 2010]
And for his own sake, I'm glad he finally has.
But as I also said in my SMS to my friend: "What's next? Rajneeti [politics]?"
Who knows? Gods don't rest for too long.
