He is Mortal

He was a run-making machine, an unstoppable force, every bowler's holy grail,  every captain's nightmare, every aspiring cricketer's hero, and every Indian fan's God. To me, he was always mortal, and that is why he remains a beacon of hope during desperate times. His frame on my wallpaper reminds me everyday that there are no limits to what mortals like me can achieve.

Of course, cricket matches are seldom worth watching if he is not playing, but to me, he was always more than simply someone who made a game more exciting. He stood as a symbol of excellence and perfection, a constant reminder that no excellence or perfection can be achieved without the highest level of hard-work  and perseverance no matter how talented you  are. He taught me that it may take 22 years of discipline, and passion or more to achieve a life-long dream, but giving up today will ensure that that day will never come.

Even when I saw him play and slog on his out-of- form days, I did not see an aging man, but I did see the aging man struggle..I found inspiration that as mortals, we will have our bad days, and we have no option but to struggle through them. When I saw him practice hard before a Bangladesh or Kenya match, I only learnt that greatness comes to those who know not to take anything for granted. When he metes out silence to harsh critics and humility to intense praise, I know there will be another milestone that we will see him cross. For, no one can truly be that humble unless they do not meet their own standards. Just as it does not matter how ill people think of me, it should not matter how well they do either.

It is what we think of ourselves that can truly make us better than what we are.

It is not just the cover drive and the punch on the backfoot that I will never forget, it is everything that he is that have helped me be a better person.

I am certain that this will not be the last of my posts on him, just like the ones before this...

http://flighttoinfinitywithlax.blogspot.com/2012/03/means-matter-too.html

http://flighttoinfinitywithlax.blogspot.com/2010/10/constant-in-changing-equation.html

The Means Matter Too

A symbol of poise and balance

 Prologue:
Achieving a goal is important, but I think the route one takes to get there is even more important. Hiking up a mountain allows one to enjoy a more exhilarated view from the top than simply driving up to it. On paper two people may have the same degrees from the same colleges. But it is easy to imagine that one person may have given one's heart and soul to knowledge, and in that process picked up a degree, while the other was simply picking up the degree for no greater purpose. It is also easy to concede that this difference in means reflects in the character of everything that one may do, be it in life or at work.

Why are we then so encompassed in the final outcome of an issue? Goals set the direction...if they are the reason, we can only rob ourselves out of the pure joy of the journey...

The real story:
Sachin's 100th 100 is a celebration of the journey, not the goal. For those of you who find his achievement vile, drop some materialism out of your thoughts. It is not about the pure statistics of his game, but the means he has employed to achieve this that should give one inspiration. Even on the day before the Bangladesh match, he was at the nets for a full practice session with the extras while the rest of the team took off.  That reminds that one can never take anything for granted, no matter how good you are and how unlucky you have been you need to keep trying harder, even harder, and even harder.
There has not been a season in over the last decade when mediocre performances have not evoked calls to leave the game. Even 13 years of international cricket was more than many were lucky to see. He showed us that the world may be against us, but  if there is a a breach in self confidence and efforts, one will be left with only oneself to blame. Universal approbation as a goal can be a lot worse than risking universal censure.

I am not going to enumerate all his achievements, for that could only be tedious repetition.But, even after all these years, I find it faintly amusing that he cannot go for his doctor's appointment without invoking conspiracy theories involving rifts with  Rahul Dravid. Has not anyone missed important occasions in the course of one's life due to  other circumstances? Why is that  any different? Rahul Dravid was a perfect gentleman by not offering any words of praise for a man who was not present at the meeting. If he had done one former team mate a favor, he would have been a victim of more conspiracy theories on account of not having praised other greats in his time. I am sure that Sachin was perfectly aware of sparking these controversies, but universal popularity had never been his goal. In the end, he had to do the right thing to keep his commitments for the upcoming cricket matches and be fit for that. That is what he cares about, and that is his priority.

Epilogue:
Forget cricket, if you can indeed forget his cover drives...but take a moment to understand how he leads his life and pursues his passions. Even if you  can concede his greatness grudgingly, you are on your way to being a more successful person.

The constant in a Changing Equation

I search hungrily for every single news item I can find in every newspaper I can think of. The contents are all the same, the adulations similar, and yet each one only heightens a vague sense of euphoria.

The media does after all give us little to rejoice for these days. They revel in bad news, blow up bad news to make them terrible news, splatter papers with scandals, and in the midst of all this, wafts a familiar breath of ever-fresh air.

I am not by any means undermining our CWG victories or the rare Olympic medal, but after all, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has been the one constant in a country that has undergone unstoppable transformation in 21 years, and in a game that sees constant change. I have never known cricket without him and do not want to think of it without him. The sight of this man at the crease keeps the flame of hope alive. The knowledge that while he remains standing, not all is still lost… admiration and love for the man whose game remains as fresh and youthful as it ever did, are but few reasons why he is special to very cricket lover.

He is a source of inspiration not simply because of the way he plays the game, but the reason he plays so well, and the manner in which he has lived his life.

Immeasurable success, admiration and wealth seem not to be enough to make him arrogant or indifferent. Hearing him talk, it seems this is true because none of these coveted pleasures mean as much to him as his love for the game and his ever growing desire for improvement. This level of passion is by no means easy to attain. When one has played the game every day for 35 years, has been over-worked for over 20 years, has sustained repeated injuries to the body, has borne harsh unfair criticism in-spite of having given nothing but his best, and has borne valiantly the hopes and expectations of a billion people every time he has walked to the crease…here is a true warrior, still undamaged in spirit.

A champion of the game, a champion of the people, a good hearted honest and straight forward man…how can one not respect this young man?