Why English Fails Tendulkar?

Last month, when Sachin Tendulkar blitzed through to his 200 in the Gwalior ODI against a clueless South African side, he completed a linguistic process that was set off in another millennium.

In 1988, Tendulkar was 15 years old, and had scored 326 in the Lord Harris Shield, an inter-schools event. When the stumps were drawn for the day, the first words the English-speaking Republic of India came up to describe him with were, Little Master.

Some 22 years of sustained batsmanship later, and with the ongoing IPL tournament only adding more feathers to an already ornate cap, the torrent of adulatory adjectives has run dry of descriptive energy. There are, after all, only so many synonyms for excellence.

The last definitive word used to describe Tendulkar after his 200 knock in the Gwalior ODI was neither an adjectival phrase nor even a nominal superlative. Tendulkar's genius had transported him to the realm of the inexplicable. He had turned God. Now you see it. You score enough runs and you just stop being human.

In fact, the day after his innings, one newspaper carried a large, frontpage picture of Tendulkar, bat in hand and looking at the heavens either in acknowledgement or identification, with just 'God' written across the photograph. Tendulkar had become the inexplicable.

True, during the Australian tour of India in early 1998, a series in which Tendulkar scored three consecutive centuries, he was already seen as an incarnation, prompting Mathew Hayden to say in all seriousness: "I have seen God. He bats at no. 4 in India in Tests." Evidently, a Christian had become a convert.

Since then, just about every word and phrase in the book for greatness have been tried on Tendulkar and have been found wanting: prodigy, master, master-blaster, genius, super, perfect, terrific, consummate, fantastic, incomparable, saviour, phenomenon, historic, legendary, maximum-man, titanic, humongous, tremendous, incomparable, and immortal. All said; yet, the man is not done. The essence of Tendulkar as a hero remains elusive.

Clearly, we identify Tendulkar with our deep-felt need for a totally desi hero: a small-built Indian with crinkly hair and a snub nose who is happily married, wears T-shirt and drinks Boost. Our own kind of Terminator, the guy who makes us feel OK to be Indian despite frequent bouts of suspicion to the contrary. Not the foreign hulk with 8-pack-abs and 18-inch-biceps, who uses four-letter words and is good at kissing and shooting in the same breath. It is a charmingly indigenous, middle-class notion. Tendulkar himself buys into it big time. He may make close to Rs 120 crore a year in emoluments, but conducts himself with the unassuming grace of a well-brought-up bank officer.

That is why, unlike others, when Tendulkar walks out to the middle, a visored warrior, a ragged nation rises to a man in appeal and hope. Our identification with the hero is complete.

India may lose a match; but if Tendulkar has done well for himself, we could live with the bad news. Tendulkar's art liberates us from shackles of the commonplace. In gratitude, as becomes a naturally garrulous people, we shower him with adjectives. Just as it is normal in the Hindu tradition to praise a deity in a thousand names.

Tendulkar, meanwhile, has evolved from an adjective or a heroic noun to a purer form of being: an act. Words tend to fail where sensations that a verb evokes predominate. Which is why next time Tendulkar plays the big innings, it might be a good idea for us to fall silent, and just meditate on the ball rise and rise towards the heavens.

The above article was written by C P Surendran on Mar 29, 2010 for Times of India.

The IPL and Blah blah blah...

The third season of IPL starts off with much anticipated hype and promises to create rivalry among the otherwise united states of India which exist together in harmony and peace just like the different political parties that rule them. And this time the IPL returns to its homeland carrying with it a lot of controversies and issues - the security of the players being the most discussed one. I don't want to go into details of all those controversies as they were discussed, debated and forgotten by everyone. And again for the umpteenth time, it opened up a stream of debates whether this format is good for the players or not. I don't want to discuss that either because the players themselves don't have any issues as they are getting loads of money and I don't have any issue as I am getting loads of entertainment. Let us leave that discussion to the age old people who love classic cricket and those who really care for the game. All we people in India need is entertainment. Period.

So, what do I want to talk about? Nothing concrete. Just Blah.. Blah.. Blah. Throw in some flat pitches, Rope in stars from Bollywood, Attract some Hi-Fi players and here is the future of Indian Cricket right before you providing non-stop entertainment for everyone. Players are happy, BCCI is happy, Commentators are happy (they get to throw some jargon like DLF Maximum, Citi Moment of Success, Karbon Kamal kaa Catch etc in their otherwise boring commentary) and the viewers are happy. Why worry about players’ fitness when each player earns more money by playing just 14 matches than all the matches combined in one year? Why worry about the hectic schedule when more matches can generate more money? Why worry about the charm of the age old classic cricket when Bollywood and Corporate companies can provide the charm that the game is losing? Why worry about future of Test Cricket or for that matter future of Cricket itself when so many are happy and busy counting their money?

Let's hail the money spinner of our times. Let's hail the ultimate entertainment engine. Let's hail the Indian Premier League.

BTW, I could not resist this piece from one of the articles in Cricinfo. This article was written after the match between Mumbai Indians and Delhi DareDevils.

"Gambhir pointed out how crucial the home fans would be for his team tonight, even going as far as to say they would be the 12th man, but the crowd's reaction to each run Tendulkar gathered made it sound more like Dadar than Delhi. When Tendulkar clipped three runs, collecting the ball from outside off and working those wrists, the fans showed their appreciation. When he walked down the track and put Farveez Maharoof away for four, they went wild. And when Tendulkar steered a lovely four, opening his hands and placing it past the infield, well that was just what you'd expect from fans of this man. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, had spoken before the first season of how he had envisioned city-based loyalties. That's not going to happen anywhere in India when Tendulkar is batting."

And it goes without saying that I support Mumbai Indians. Let the fun begin.

- Venks

What's the Point ?

The difference between work and hard work is that work is what you do to achieve something and hard work is when you don’t enjoy the process. My question is - What's the point in working or trying to achieve something if you don’t enjoy the process of doing it?

Let me tell you a story...

I like travelling. More than a hobby, it's my passion. Recently I went to visit San Francisco. On the day of my traveling, my flight got cancelled. I called my airlines and they told me that they don't have any flight to take me to my destination for another two days. I cancelled my booking, booked another flight from Charlotte on the same day and drove down to Charlotte (which is like 150 miles from my place). When I reached Charlotte, I found that my flight got delayed. And because of that I missed my connection flight in Atlanta. To add to my frustration, there was no flight available to San Francisco till the next day evening. So, I had to wait for 24 hours in Atlanta cribbing, cursing and blaming the airlines, weather and everyone responsible for this mess. After 24 hours when I got a chance to fly, my flight again got delayed.

Finally when I reached San Francisco, I was not happy. Somehow I felt that my vacation has been deliberately ruined by someone though its no fault of anyone. I went around and visited all the places I wanted to. But still in the back of my mind, I had that feeling that this did not go well.

And within 48 hours I am back in the airport for my return journey. As if someone did some black magic on me, my flight from San Francisco got delayed and I missed my connecting flight in Dallas. By this time, I was really tired and completely devastated. And finally when I reached home in the evening, I was almost in tears. My trip was extended from three days to four days and I had to take a leave for no reason. I spent more time in airport or flights than where I wanted to spend - San Francisco.

After a few days when I was going through the pictures of my vacation to San Francisco, I started thinking of what went wrong and how I could have made it better. Every difficulty provides an opportunity. Many of us tend to forget it or chose to ignore it. Whenever we face something which we cannot handle, we just feel helpless. We tend to go into depression. We blame ourselves and others even though none of them or us has anything to do with it. Instead of focusing on what we cannot handle, if we can try to focus on how we can make something out of it, we can always find means and ways to get over with the impossible situation we are in. Always remember - Every difficulty provides an opportunity and there is no exception to this rule.

What I should have done? Instead of whining, cribbing and blaming myself, others and everyone I could have gone out and explored what Atlanta or Dallas has to offer. I like traveling. I like visiting new places. When I had the opportunity to explore Dallas or Atlanta which I have never visited, I was sitting in the airport depressed and dejected. Why? One - I completely forgot that every difficulty provides an opportunity. Two - My focus was completely on San Francisco. I was thinking of ways to go to San Francisco and I ignored the opportunities given to me.

Opportunities arise if you stop, look around and think instead of simply focusing only on the goal. You should be flexible enough to understand that it is OK to fail, It is OK if you cannot able to reach your goal. It is OK if you are being delayed or being given hard time in reaching your destination. I know a lot of people who work long hours, day and night. They want to earn money so that they can be happy or keep their family happy. But, what's the point if you don't take some time for your family or your well wishers or at least for yourself for whom you are earning money? What's the point in rushing through the herd if you cannot wait for your friends or family to catch up with you? What's the point in focusing on something when you can find better ways if only you can stop and look around you?

You should have a goal in life. It helps you in organize your life. It gives you a sense of direction. Without a goal, I would not know where to go or which flight to catch. It's very important to have a goal. But, my point here is - Never focus on something so much so that you miss some precious things on your way. Nothing is more worth than taking a break, having a sip of coffee and spending some time for yourself. Always remember - Every difficulty provides an opportunity. Never let your goal or destination make you ignore those opportunities or make you miss those small moments of happiness.

As someone aptly said - There’s no such thing as achievement for the simple reason that as soon as you achieve it, its boring. It’s the run towards it is what is exciting.

Cheers,

Venky