Hail the Little Master

Zig Ziglar, an American author and a motivational speaker, had once asked, “Will you look back on life and say ‘I wish I had‘ or ‘I am glad I did‘?” Well, not many among us can truly eliminate the ‘I wish I had‘ clause when we contemplate on our past deeds. And the selected few who claim they can, will probably be embarrassed when asked if, in the course of their successful lives and many accomplishments, they hadn’t for once indulged in the misuse of power. Power that comes from wealth, social class or a position of authority in an organization. Because power, they say, corrupts! As British historian and moralist Lord Acton said in 1887 – “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men”.

And yet, in this big bad world full of deceit, corruption and fraudulence, we do still find exceptions. Exceptions exemplified by people who have achieved greatness and fame in abundance, and yet are surprisingly honest, unassuming and reluctant to wield their influence to get things done. People who give us joy and happiness aplenty, are role models for the next generation to emulate and are revered by all. It, therefore, was no surprise that amidst all the scams and shams, and with the Rajas and the Kalmadis dominating the headlines thanks to their alleged misdemeanors, India and its populace still forgot everything for a moment last week and rose to salute one such great man, the little master – Sachin Tendulkar.

Ever since he started playing cricket in school, he was hailed as a prodigy. After smashing records in school cricket and after just one full domestic season he was selected for the national side. When he made his debut, I was in primary school and had not yet been smitten by the obsession for cricket, but still have vivid memories of my parents and cousins going gaga about this frail, curly-haired teenager sparring bowlers double his age (and size!). That was just the beginning. The adulation followed wherever he went, and continues unabated to this day. And along the way came success, more acclaim, the weight of expectations of a billion people, endorsements and prosperity. Facets that could, with other ordinary mortals, be considered distractions. There have been multiple examples of new found fame and opulence getting too-hot-to-handle for an individual eventually leading to one’s downfall, none more relevant than Sachin’s own schoolmate Vinod Kambli. Not with a Sachin Tendulkar though. Nothing could lure him away from his single-minded dedication towards his profession and his primary objective, which was to help his team do well.

It probably is his strictly middle-class and traditional upbringing that helps him keep his feet on the ground. His family, be it his parents or his brothers, and even his first cricket coach Mr. Achrekar gave him a sense of grounding during his early years. A lesson that he has never disregarded, not even at the pinnacle of his career. There definitely have been several visible changes. The curly hair and the baby fat from the time of his international debut are gone. He now dresses up in impeccable designer attire and drives around in a Ferrari. What has not changed, however, is the man’s heart. At his core, Sachin is still a chaste teenager with an eagerness to perform and a character of high morality. Virtues that help him refuse mega liquor endorsement offers as easily as he sends a Shoaib Akhtar delivery out of the ground.

When a career starts as early as Sachin’s did, there is always a threat of wearing out earlier than usual. But again, such rules may apply to inferior mortals, not to the Little Master. It is awe-inspiring to hear Gary Kirsten say that Sachin still faces more balls in the nets than anyone else! This, after a two decade long career in which he has achieved almost everything humanly possible. It is this undying passion for the game and his insatiable hunger for runs that wins him the admiration of cricketers, both past legends like Sir Don and modern greats like Lara and Warne, and helps him prove his detractors (which includes two brothers from the South Australian city of Adelaide) wrong. No wonder then, at 37 years now and with most of his contemporaries having quit long back, he is enjoying one of the most prolific seasons of his career!

Another trait that Sachin is widely revered for among his colleagues is his integrity. A man of irrefutable moral and ethical values, his career has been enviably free of controversies. Considering he lives in a country where the media, to a large extent, thrives on controversies and where everything from the names of movies to the attires donned by television anchors creates an uproar, it is astounding that he has managed to stay away from it all. And it was his deposition in the infamous Monkeygate issue that played a major role in getting Harbhajan acquitted of any wrongdoing. The only glitch, though, came in the form of a certain Mike Denness handing Sachin a ban on account of ball tampering charges. A ban that led to widespread protests, and was promptly revoked by the international governing body.

In the course of this short essay I chose to discuss Sachin Tendulkar the person as against the nuances of his much talked about shot-making, something that has always fascinated cricket lovers across the globe. Because eventually, it is Tendulkar the man that makes the cricketer in him so special. His cricket, be it his surreal batting, his mixed bag variety of bowling or his efforts in the field, is only but a reflection of the man’s honesty, hard work and unmatched devotion towards the game. Attributes that will be with him every time he goes out to bat for his team, regardless of how many centuries he scores. So on the occasion of a half-century of test tons, let us revel in the greatness of the man and rejoice that the best cricketer to have walked this earth, at least in our times, is Indian. And Bharat Ratna or no Bharat Ratna, his name has already been etched in permanent ink in the hearts of a billion Indians. Sachin Tendulkar – The Nation Salutes Thee!