Recreation

It’s been 20 years now!!Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has been an important cog in the lives of every cricket fan for 20 years!! At a time when the whole world is showering praise and affection on the little master (http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/site) it’s only just that I pay my tribute too. Here is my bit to my hero, the man with whom I could relate to some of the most memorable moments in the past 16 years.

I was 3 when Sachin made his debut. So I am one of those unlucky people not to have followed Sachin for initial 4 years of his career as I didn’t understand cricket then, but from the times I started understanding cricket there has been only one hero, only one person who has answered most of my prayers cricket wise – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Fanaticism Stage 1:

With Sachin anything that he did both on the cricket field and off it was instant success. The first innings that I remember with good clarity was the hundred against Kenya in the 1996 world cup. From then on Sachin has always been there just like every other friend just that I could see this friend only on TV. I used to cut his pictures from magazines, paste it in a note book and look after the note book like it was a prized possession. Any class mate who criticized the way Sachin played would be dealt with a barrage of arguments some of which even Sachin might not have found sensible. I still remember writing “Cricket is my religion; Sachin Tendulkar is my God “on the first page of every note book in my seventh standard. Every new pen bought should only write Sachin’s name first.

Fanaticism Stage 2:

As I got a little older I got a little sensible, very little though. I collected articles on Sachin and bound it into books. When I took cricket seriously it was all about being Sachin. Copying his drive, his stance, his bowling action, his mannerisms like the grin while he bats which almost looks like as if he is laughing at the bowler with utter disdain. I am not sure if I really liked the game of cricket as much as I liked Sachin. India winning or losing didn’t matter; it was only what Sachin did that mattered.And I am pretty sure that this is not just me. There must be millions of people In India who have been following Sachin with the same levels of fanaticism. No wonder his career is being celebrated as it is today.

In fact it’s not just the common man, test cricketers are no different. On a day when Sachin had reached yet another milestone , Krishnamachari Srikkanth (under whose captaincy Sachin made his debut) was on CNN IBN analyzing the game when the reporter remarked that every test cricketer would love to be in Sachin’s shoes. Srikkanth replied that he would love to carry Sachin’s shoes, forget being in his shoes!!!

So what’s so special about Sachin? Why should people be so fanatic about him? Perhaps it is his devotion to the country starting off with small things like requesting BCCI to allow him to sport the Indian flag on his helmet to big things like the 136 innings against Pakistan that he had to complete in lot of pain. May be it was the image of a man crying in agony when he met the family of Jawans killed in Mumbai attacks or maybe it was the image of the boy smiling after saving the game for India against England with his maiden century. I am not sure. To me it’s the complete package. On the cricket field he is a Genius. If there is one thing that he can’t do it is just that he can never look awkward with the bat. He was born to bat as Peter Roebuck has written in his article on Sachin .On the field he is one of the safest fielders in our team. With the ball he is an absolute magician. A team man in every respect.

Off the field he carries himself like how every hero ought to. He’s always been politically correct. Barring the recent “Mumbai for all” comment I have never heard of Sachin making statements that hog headlines. Headlines are reserved for his achievements on the field. With the sort of adulation and limelight that he gets it should be easy to get carried away. He has never let success get to his head. Rather he has always been focused, he has loved the game like a 16 year old and he has always been there for India. That is why he makes an excellent role model for every Indian….not just the cricketers ….every Individual in India.

God!! That’s a frightening thought. I don’t remember what I was like when I was a baby. With only pictures and memories that my parents recollect it’s the part of life that my parents cherish more that what I do. From what I see with babies now if I were baby again I really don’t know what I would gain but I certainly stand to lose a lot of things. Where is the freedom? Freedom to wear to what I want to, go where I want to, eat what I want to… the list goes on not to forget if I were a baby again I should grow up again and in the process write all the exams all over again … Don’t tell me !!! That’s definitely not my cup of tea.

Anyway I am going to try and be a baby now … let me see how a day in my life would be like.

Early morning: It’s still dark. The other two other people (My parents obviously) in the room are still sleeping.

Me: God, I am hungry…. Get up ma. Get up. Ok!! These grownups don’t respond to my thoughts. Its time I make some noise. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA………

My amma wakes up cribbing.

Amma : Ok !! there goes the alarm. Wait ..wait …let me get you milk.

Me: Oh yeah!! It worked as usual.

Amma would bring some milk in a bottle, while she drinks her coffee.

Amma: Here you go. Drink it and for God’s sake Dont cry.

Me: Yikes!! I hate the smell of milk. Damn! Why don’t they give me coffee.

Amma starts her daily routine. Appa is still asleep. That’s not right, is it? I crawl next to my Appa and somehow manage to wake him up. Appa gets up and hugs me happily and brushes his unshaven cheeks on me.

Me: Somehow I laugh every time he does this and yeah that familiar fragrance with Appa – divine.

Appa gets up and starts his daily routine which also includes giving me a bath.

Me: Water!! Yeah!! This man sure knows how to keep me happy. But damn, this soap keeps irritating my eyes...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA………..

Breakfast time: While they have all the idlys and dosas …poor me, I am given something mixed in milk again.

Me: God this tastes sweet .Grrrrrrrr…why don’t they give me something spicy and why is that amma never finds a smaller spoon to feed me.

Appa starts to office, Amma carries me to the gate, takes my hand and waves it to my appa … TA TA. I start my work with newspapers, and to all the other things in the house that are within my reach. From keys to remote everything has a taste of its own you see. Amma struggeles to keep things away from my reach

Me: Phew.Thats too much work. I am tired, Time to sleep again.

Lunch Time: Dhal with ghee is the recipe.

Me: chicken would be good. But that’s ok Dhal is not bad too.
After wandering around for some time I am put to sleep again. This time because Amma is tired.
Evening: The best part of the day.
Amma chats with her friends in the neighborhood. One or two talk some nonsense and some make funny faces.

Me: {Sulk} Can you please maintain some distance? Amma come with me .Don’t talk to all these lunatics. Let’s get inside.
Amma doesn’t listen.

Me: WAAAAAAAAAAA….

Amma spanks me … but in a split second realizes that she need not have done that. To make up for it, she cuddles me, points fingers in all directions, diverting my attention.
I forgive her. After all it’s Amma. No issues.
Finally she takes me inside and lets me play around with my toys. Both of us wait for Appa to come back from office.
And then the hero enters (Appa).
He lifts me at once, makes some funny faces and calls me by some names. That joy is back on my face. And then it happens. Appa puts his shirt back on.

Me: Yes …I’m going out. Finally!!

The trip to the neighbouring streets with Appa is always the highlight of the evening. I am shown all the dogs, cats, bikes, cars…anything and everything under the moon.
Finally the day comes to an end. Amma puts me to sleep again. Nothing can be more comforting than her gentle hands patting me in regular intervals.

I have become very good at procrastinating my work these days. So much so that I call it an art!! There is simply no bias at all. From eating to sleeping, from studying to working the tendency to procrastinate knows no bounds. Over the past year or so I have completely mastered this art .Not that I wasn’t good at procrastinating earlier. The talent was always there, but without people around pestering me to do things at the right time I have become a better exponent of this art. I will try and share my valuable insights in mastering the art of procrastination here. Hope it helps some of you!!!

To master the art we should never, ever have second thoughts about being lazy and the next important thing is to find some kind of reason or a lame excuse if I might say to procrastinate. Let’s face it. Being lazy is no big deal, is it? Nothing can replace that feeling of being lazy. But the challenging part is to find a reason to support our cause and to convince ourselves that the reason is really reasonable. Once you are through this difficult part it’s all bliss. My day yesterday could be used as an example to explain the art. I got up around noon with the list of things in to do like laundry, cleaning the house, studying for an exam, writing a blog but actually ended watching TV whole day doing nothing else. Here I am finally writing a blog hoping to finish it at the earliest and hoping that I tick off at least one task from my To Do list. The reason was a TV channel was celebrating first year anniversary. They threw a party by playing “Friends” all day. That was good enough reason for me to postpone all the other work.

I am thinking about starting a community in ORKUT to try and get inputs from all the other exponents of the art. I have been thinking for a long time though. But topic being procrastination it won’t make sense to create it immediately. That’s a valid reason to procrastinate, isn’t it?

I am also looking at taking a New Year resolution – I should never procrastinate. Problem is I have been thinking which year should I start 2010 or 2011.After all there are only 365 days in between!!!