Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Why Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is God.

God is often misunderstood as something that is not there. Most people are wrong on that count. God for me has certain criteria that he must fulfill. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar fulfills each and every one of them.

God should inject faith in your heart. Every time Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has walked out to his temple he injects faith into my existence. A faith that no matter what happens in the next few hours, I am going to be in a state of blissful joy.

God should make you rue not visiting his temple. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has made me rue at least ninety three times that I have not been in his temple to watch him.

God should make you feel secure. I remember watching Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar batting in 1997. I was a six year old kid back then. Curfew had been imposed because of apparent clashes between terrorists and the Police in the city. I remember my mother being so scared. She told me that a lot of bad people had come to the city and until they were thrown out we could not go out of the house. But, when I watched Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar in my Dad's lap I knew nothing would happen to me because my Dad jumped with joy at every roar when the ball hit a few colourful boards. The people on TV were very happy. The feeling of security was restored all over again in 2008 when I was a conscious seventeen year old worshiper. He made me feel secure after 26/11. He took India to 387/4 against England and chased the highest score ever in Tests in the subcontinent. No one could touch me.

God should make you willfully endure troubles to look at him once. I have watched Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar in his temple just thrice. I have waited in the queue for two hours each time. I have paid double the worth of the ticket once and thrice the price on another occasion(Rs. 500 was the ticket rate). The amount pinched for a long time but I had his image, the roar, the happiness I felt as he mesmerized. I was ready to pay five times the amount the next time.

God does not abuse or disown atheists. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has never disrespected his critics. He has just gone about doing his duty. He has converted the atheists to worshipers. God loves all his beings. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has dedicated innings after innings to all Indians; the same people that have burnt his effigies.

God is never proud or haughty. God never makes his worshipers feel that he is God. God lifts his followers from his feet; even though they are more than happy to remain there, and embraces them. He makes them feel that all of them are loved equally. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar sponsors his worshiper to every match in the country. He respects and patiently listens to teammates who took up the game because of him.

God always knows how to set an example. God always knows that you should have your priorities right. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has always had his priorities right. He has always remained a student of the game. He has never been in one controversy regarding an affair, a drunken brawl. He has set examples for the world to follow. He has set milestones for everyone to catch up to. He has raised the bar so that everone else can raise theirs and thus uplift all in the world. A term Gandhi described as Sarvodaya. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has inspired everyone, be it in any field to excel.

God sets envious standards that others just dream of emulating. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has set standards that no one among his contemporaries at least can even dream of emulating. There was once a Don Bradman, there is now a Sachin Tendulkar and there might never be another like him. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has 93 centuries, 31045 runs and records that can't be listed in over five sides.

God brings permanency in your life. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has brought this blissful permanency in my life for 13 years now. I started watching cricket when I was six and I am 19 now. He has been bringing permanency to a lot more for more than 20 years now. I rue that I was not born in 1983 because I missed seven years of permanency in my life. He is nearing thirty seven years of age now but I am just not ready to let go of the permanence and I never will.

God makes you feel desperate. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar scored 200 in 147 balls today. The first ever batsman to do so in one dayers. I cried because I missed it. I traveled forty kilometers the same night so that I did not miss the spectacle forever. I had a feeling of desperation until I saw how he got it. I will always feel the desperation as I did not see it live.

God makes you feel jealous when others see what you are ready to die to see. God often creates natural spectacles for humans to enjoy in various parts of his planet. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar today, made me feel jealous of all those people at Gwalior who saw what they saw.

God makes you feel privileged every time you visit him. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has made 22 yards in Gwalior feel privileged that he spent three and a half hours on it. He has made lakhs around the world feel privileged that they were born and conscious enough to realize what they witnessed today.

God transforms a little known place into legendary ones. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has transformed Gwalior into a place that will be remembered by everyone that has and ever will follow cricket. He has put a small town in Madhya Pradesh on the world map.

God has a lot of stories. God has stories that become legends and become driving forces for a lot of people through the morals they convey. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a living legend for all the morals that he conveys. He is five foot five inch of what God ever wanted to convey to his beings. I grew on morals that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar set rather than those that Guru Nanak had. I am convinced that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has followed each and every one set by people like Guru Nanak.

Most importantly, God fills you with joy. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has filled my life and the lives of millions with joy through periods of stressful exams, periods of sorrow. He has lifted the expectations and frustrations of a billion on his small shoulders. I cried because I missed the spectacle live. Tears of joy trickled down my eyes when I finally witnessed the moment that would drive me for a long time to come. God has all over again told me why he is God. He is God because he is what he is and he is what he is because God never lets you know that he indeed is God.

God is something you have faith in, it is something you love, it is something that inspires awe, it is something that you look up to, it is something that humbles humanity, it is something that makes you feel a mere mortal, it is something you can't describe as it is endless in its qualities. For me and a million more all this has been a man of five feet five inches whose name is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and he fortunately happened to be born in my country and I fortunately happened to be born at a time when I could witness him in his numerous temples.

But he definitely is God because of what he said after the match, "I was striking the ball and timing the ball well, it was coming on to the bat nicely. Yusuf came and changed the momentum and MS really struck the ball well; it was due to their big hitting that we were able to put up such a big score. It was only when I got closer to the score that I realised that I had an opportunity and I could take the singles to give MS the strike." After getting 200 in a one day International; a feat that has never been achieved, he bestows lavish praise on his team mates. Need I say more? I salute you God. I hope you never retire.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

An image out of boredom

 

This was a pic I clicked out of sheer boredom. I had nothing to do at college. Went for a walk down Marine Drive and clicked some nice pictures. It rid me of the boredom.
This pic is a classic example of the co-existence of the urban life. The lonely guy is like a dukhi aatma and the two couples are busy romancing completely ignorant of the lonely guy and each other. lol!!!
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The creativity of boredom and negativity

There are often a lot of thoughts that go through my head when I am bored. There are a lot more thoughts that go through my head when I am sad, frustrated, stressed and surrounded by negativity.
It is strange why I am writing this today. I don't have a particular objective to attain. I am just bored and out of boredom the subject of this article crept into my head.
I had quite a bad day yesterday. I was irritated with a few issues. But, what outcome did the irritation have?
I wrote a poem which I consider as one of my best. I wrote an article which I thought was pretty good. I did some self introspection which I thought was necessary.
It is often said that life is a bittersweet symphony. We often are so engrossed in the moment during the sweetness that we don't realize just how fast it passes by. The bitterness lasts because its taste lingers. Try just one or two drops of lime on your tongue as compared to a rosogulla. Most people will want more of the rosogulla than the lime. Just endorses the fact that bitterness lingers on; even a small bout of
it.
The human race is known to be a pessimist as well as an optimist. The optimist built Titanic, the pessimist designed the life jacket. In this scenario the pessimist won. A balance of both is needed. Being over optimistic is not good whereas being over pessimistic is disastrous.
It is difficult to remember the sweet more than the bitter because the bitter is what pinches; the bitter is what sours. But, the bitter can also spark that array of creativity. It does for me and eventually rids me of the bitterness.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

The politics of life

Are all of us not politicians? We plot, we conspire, we misunderstand, we interpret, we get hurt and then hurt others. Is it all not just a game?
Life is just a game of a complex web of relationships. There is no course that teaches you to be a relationship manager or to handle the politics of various relationships. Now that would be an interesting line of study.
Coming back to the politics of life, think of instances when you have been betrayed by someone dear, think of instances where people have manipulated and used you. Doesn't it give you that sickening feeling all over again? It does to me.
Manipulating others is quite an art in today's times. I have always found it hard to understand and permeate it into my daily life. But, I say that you would rather have it than be good, innocent and thus manipulated.
We criticize our politicians, we burn effigies, we hate them. But, have you ever put yourself in their shoes. If we can be so manipulative in our daily lives for minute personal gains then just give a thought to what they have to gain and lose. The margins and numbers are huge!
Now, I am not saying that they are right but all I am asking is that in today's world who is? Are we right ourselves?

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Fightback!!!

We are a fighting species(pun intended). We fight, fight and fight. Everyone is a victim and thus wants to victimize who he/she can. The taxi driver, the rickshaw driver, anyone you can afford to mess with.
I just wandered into that thought. My objective of writing this is not to criticize our times and the people inhabiting these times. My objective is to underline the power of fighting back.
Our hospitals, our sporting grounds, our existence and our repeated successes and the stories of repeated failures before the sweet success echo the power of fighting
back.
A wise man once said that corn and iron civilized man and ruined his humanity. As society developed man naturally became competitive as he needed to compete to survive. Competition is good. It frustrates but also builds characters and makes us fight back.
The power is an awesome one to possess. It reminds me of those weird toys which no matter how hard you hit would not go down. It would keep coming back up. They have a low center of gravity. Even we humans have a low center of gravity; its just mental. lol!!!!
I have fought back in 3 months. I have fought back with some pain in the wrist and a scar and the occasional swelling but I have fought back.
Life expectancies all over the world have risen. It is primarily because of better medical facilities, higher incomes etc, etc but have we not evolved to become mentally tougher?
Our daily lives pose some serious challenges and overcoming them frustrates us but also increases endurance. We keep fighting back.
So keep up the spirits and live your life and even if you go down, go down FIGHTING!!