Sachin's larger than life image! (11 March 2011)

I was one of the thousands of cricket fans who had jam-packed the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in 2011. The occasion: an IPL match between RCB and MI. The occasion was marred by a string of low-intensity bombs that blasted minutes after I – and my gang of friends – had comfortably found our seats inside the picturesque stadium, colored partly in blue and in red. Oh – the beautiful game of cricket; did not matter if it was an international encounter or a club match. I was awe-struck!

Drums were beating, ‘imported’ cheer-girls dancing, jumbo-screens flashing cricketers up-close-and-personal, Vijay Mallya and his dashing son along with his ‘special’ friend Deepika Padukone were waving at the page 3-hungry cameras. In short, the stage was ready to be set ablaze!

There were legends (Kumble and Dravid) and biggies (Harbhajan, Zaheer and Pollard) taking positions in the field. And then there was the genius whom his parents had named ‘Sachin’, 37 years back. That was to be my first close ‘encounter’ with the Little Master. He opened the innings for MI, but… much before he could start, and immediately after he stepped into the ground through the gates, the entire stadium lit up in roar, in joyous screams, and in frantic support. For a moment, I closed my eyes and wanted to feel it for the man himself. I failed to even imagine how it would feel to be truly deeply madly loved and cheered for.

The ‘local’ heroes Kumble and Dravid – when I dared to compare with Sachin’s welcome – could generate only a lukewarm response in the crowd. That did not surprise me though! It’s not Anil’s or Rahul’s fault to have been treated on a lesser scale; it’s just that nobody could possibly be bigger than Sachin. Not even the game of cricket itself. This madness defies mathematics, doesn’t care for logic, and denies obeying any rule or law. I guess that’s what love is.

That’s not Sachin’s fault either that he’s so tremendously admired. One wonders what this man could have done to achieve this unachievable status! Nothing much I’d say, except that he played seamlessly for 20 years, like a soldier wrapped in the tricolor.

Here’s to one of the few gentlemen of the game. I salute you Sachin Tendulkar. You being larger than life makes life worth living; you being bigger than the game makes it worth following!!