Another time, Another place

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     At the end of tomorrow’s day, a lot may change around me. India may no longer be a part of this World cup (the last and the only time they won it, I wasn’t around to see it). Not that it would break my heart. Or prompt me to give up on the Men in Blue. For me, it means a lot more. It depicts the end of an era.
    The 1990s was a time of awakening for the Indian economy. It was a time of VCRs, Walkmans and Maruti-800s. It was an age when still cameras needed roll film, there was only one Bachchan, Air India was still making money and the gift-toting NRI uncle was treated as a VIP. An age, where I grew up learning about cricket through a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
     As a kid, I’d watch him come out to bat and my heart would go thup-thup-thup. I’d cross my fingers and hold it behind my back, and it would stay affixed till he made the long trudge back to the pavilion. Once his contribution to the game was done, I’d move away from the screen and get on with my work. It wasn’t always about winning, rather the element of beauty that died away with his exit.
     He might go on to play for another couple of years, score another ten centuries and amass a mountain of runs before he gives way to the younger brigade. But the sport would lose its biggest ambassador, the greatest player of my time and perhaps the only one who acknowledges the prayers and beliefs of a billion Indians.
    In a country where the jurisdiction allows criminals to be free until proven guilty, Tendulkar’s the embodiment of the lady with the scales. The dismissal against the Windies was the perfect rendition of the long-forgotten gentleman’s game that has been lying in the swamp of match fixers and sledging personnel. That one moment took the breath of a billion and replaced it with a proud warmth in our hearts. With the little cricket that I’ve played, I can assure one thing. Walking when you’re out isn’t the easiest decision at the best of times, lest alone in a crucial tie in the World cup.
     If India go on to win the cup, this piece of prose might join the scrap bin (if that option exists) and will be long forgotten. The result of tomorrow might be trivial. But when Sachin steps out to renew the battle ties with his favoured opponent, I would be watching. Watching with bated breath and fingers crossed.

"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else."
- Albert Einstein

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