Saying goodbye.....Rahul Dravid

They say change is good. They also say that change is the only thing that is constant in life. Who are they?

For me, as for most people I believe that change is uncomfortable, awkward, painful. But, things change. People in companies, teams, in life itself are replaced and indeed life goes on. Well, people themselves change.

But, then these once in a generation people come along and touch the lives of millions by what they were put on this planet to do; A Muhammad Ali, A Sachin Tendulkar, A Leonardo Da Vinci. Their names are etched forever in history and everyone else after them, however good they might be shall be allowed to own a little lesser piece of history than the immortals.

Well, such thoughts triggered by what? By Mr. Rahul Dravid, the wall of Indian Cricket for the past fifteen years. Even though his rude exit from the shorter format a few years back was beginning to feel like a goodbye, there was hope that you might indeed get the chance to say another goodbye; a proper goodbye; a goodbye that he deserved.

Well, most unexpectedly that has happened. Against all odds, an old, wrinkled, slow man from Bangalore was called upon to carry out that emergency surgical procedure the Indian batting line up needed, a procedure he carried out so wonderfully in the debacle before.

But, the final goodbye is the toughest one to say; that realization that this is it, the end of the hope you so desperately held on to. But, the old is replaced with the new; rule of life. But, the only consolation could be that the last hurrah leaves a memory of a lifetime.

Rain permitting, come on Rahul Dravid, show the general masses why they should have respected you more after you gave them 10,000 plus runs in both formats, a feat established by few before and in all likelihood very few long after you're gone. Give me and millions others that consolation that will make the goodbye just a bit more easier........