How can 'God' just walk away? Retire from the scene when the disciples 'ate, slept, drank' only Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar for more than 20 years. Our Tendlya deserved a much bigger, grander or should I say, Tendulkaresque-like (NO, not for the lack of a better word) parting shot.
Aren't Gods worshiped and celebrated across the length and breadth of India? Then why did the Little Master deny a chance to his fans -- to the billions -- to say a proper Goodbye? To never get to watch Sachin wear that blue jersey again, for this generation is like taking away the Freedom to Love.
He just walked away as if he was just another cricketer. So 'I' (I, here referring to me, you, the few who will read this and the billions who will not), am writing this letter to the love of my life - aapchi India ka Sachin.
Dearest - the best(est) cricketer,
Why did you do this to me? Left without a warning. Do you think i was getting to be a burden on you? No way dude! You are NOT just another cricketer (with due respect to all the cricketers). You can't just decide one fine day, it was enough. Agreed it's your life. But what about me -- your fan? You, who i have loved all these years, the only one who i prayed for though you are not family nor are you a friend. Why did you break this bond, this love affair, without letting me prepare to take you in fully. Not that it would help me digest a Sachin-less Indian team on the cricket field anyways. You can't just walk out in the middle of a relationship JUST LIKE THAT!
After all, it's a 23-year-old relationship between you and me. Its not meant to 'break-up' like a soft dismissal against the rule of play. Every time i think of writing about you, i feel like it's an examination i know i will pass, but not quite sure whether i can add anything that someone else may not have touched on. You have, unknowingly, challenged the worst and the best journalists to dig deep and write that one thing about you that will set their news pieces apart. For a brief moment, i flirted with the idea of mentioning your stats, as is the norm in all write-ups on the Great Master. But then i was embarrassed. I realised almost every Indian -- from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Porbandar to Silchar -- knew how many centuries you smashed, how many runs you scored, how many matches you played, even the non-cricketing details like wife's and son's name, your favorite car and so on.
I knew you were approaching the fag end of your career. That it won't be long before you call it quits. But not giving a chance to your fans like me to say 'Thank You' for all the memories over the last 23 years, i thought was patently unfair. It hurt badly, very badly. Before you, other giants of the game -- Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and so many others -- made an exit and left their fans sad but they gave their fans to say a proper goodbye. We loved it when you were carried on the shoulders after winning the World Cup. We still live with those visuals Sachin. Believe me, although you did not have the best of run in ODIs off late, we never got fed up of you. Somehow we could never have enough of you. We would have respected your decision even if you had announced you were never going to wear the blue jersey again after a certain match (you could have chosen among so many matches coming up against Pakistan or England. And that too at home!).
Every time you walked into bat, stepped onto the field, i loved the noise, the roarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......the chants 'Sachin, Sachinnnn, Sachinnnn, Sachinnnnnnnnnnnn.......In those moments, the commentators did not have to blabber because the decibel level at the stadium told a story in itself. I wanted to see you get a guard of honour, fans holding placards, crying because they would never get to see you again in the deep blue avatar. I wanted to see news channels going berserk over your retirement, sports journalists having the busiest day in their life. I did not come to watch the match and find out Sachin is not playing. I did not want you to break up when the media and the nation were seething in anger after the Delhi Gangrape case.
I was just not prepared for this break-up boss. It hit me where it hurts most - my heart. A part of me began to weigh all possible reasons. The simple side of me told me it was your call, you felt the time was right to take the decision to quit. And so you did. Period. As simple as that. The complicated and sensationalist side in me came up with a counter argument - that the powers-that-be in Congress, the party that you represent in Rajya Sabha, called you up pleading with you to call it a day in ODIs so that the collective attention of an angry media and an equally furious public could be diverted from the ghastly Delhi rape case that shook and shocked the government. What ultimately got reported, according to 'sources' as media calls them, is that you did not figure in the scheme of things for Dhoni's 2015 World Cup team, so Selectors and the BCCI forced you to quit. But as we say in life, the truth is known only to 'God'. So, only you know.
You have left me with an emptiness that is difficult to fill. And no, i am not talking about filling up your 'little big' boots in the Indian team. No one HAD, no one HAS and no one ever WILL. I am talking about my life without YOU my 'God'. Don't you understand how i feel for you? Don't you understand what emotions you are capable of stirring within me? For one, i have never been the blogging kind, just not that type. But you inspired me to do even that. 'God', even at these times of instant make out and instant break-up, my love for you hasn't changed. You are the person with whom i had the longest affair. Sorry, not HAD. Guess i will carry your memories to my grave.'
With '18426' amount of love,
Your FAN
