Sachin Tendulkar -- History, Historic, Hysteric

Sachin Tendulkar  -- History, Historic, Hysteric

On the day of the Union Budget, Sachin resolves one of the biggest contemporary national problems – his 100^th 100 

None of the pumped up reactions after reaching a sport’s greatest milestone. Just a grateful look at the bat that scored that all important 100^th run, an intense look towards the heaven, and the customary but very important acknowledgements to his team-mates and spectators. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was as dignified in glory as he was when under intense pressure for the last twelve months to satiate the appetite of a record crazy nation.

What is it about great people that they can come back ever so strongly to answer back critics or doubters in the same manner in which they built their credibility in the first place – through professional excellence? Sachin belongs to a nation which has a poor ability to handle failure. A typical Indian reaction to failure is apathy, a sense of resignation, and bitterness towards self and others who let them down on their expectations. Sachin, over 22 years of his international career has seen it all – the highs, the lows, extreme adulation and extreme criticism. We are a country which can create an incredible aura around people, and incredibly, even before they figure out the reason behind the exaggerated sense of adulation, `put them in their place`. So, no wonder that Sachin’s external demeanor was one of quiet acceptance, though internally, he would have been relieved and happy like perhaps never before in his life. 

In the past year, Sachin had `failed` not just by his standards, but more by the standards the nation’s media and people had set for him when he scored his 99^th international hundred in the 2011 World Cup. There ensued a raging debate regarding whether the nation’s highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, should be conferred on him. The whole nation got talking on the 100th 100 as well as the Bharat Ratna, except one man – Tendulkar himself. He had seen it all. He perhaps knew he was just a few failures away from being demonized, and that’s what happened; he failed over twelve months – not given as a sanction to people like Tendulkar who feed the nation with success way beyond their own expectations. But ironically, Sachin, through his achievements seemed to have constructed a `demon of success`, which he himself found difficult to deal with in the past year. 

But there is no denying that the longish wait for the 100^th 100 had the nation breathing uneasy. It had become a problem of monumental proportions. There seemed something seriously missing in the daily life of India. In terms of daily life, which is full of struggle in our country for lakhs of people, Sachin’s 100^th ton is a tonic which is all three -- history, historic, and hysteric. He has just added himself to the list of immortals who rule the consciousness of the country. He was already an institution, but he has now perhaps placed himself in a league of people like Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Lata Mangeshkar and Amitabh Bachchan who reached a summit in life where no man may ever reach.  

But if you think the nation is finished expecting things from Sachin, wait a minute! He still has unfinished business. Today, he scored his 49^th One Day International (ODI) hundred. Waiting for his 50^th, which will make it 50 in test matches and 50 in ODIs. A perfect icing on the cake I suppose! 

Congrats Sachin, Congrats India.