Sachin Tendulkar's last match - Recounting a historic experience

Have you ever been a part of the huge crowd that chanted "Sachinnn...Sachinnn" *clap clap clap*? (spoiler alert: you're going to read this cheer quite a few times ahead) If not, you, my dear friend, have missed out on something really incredible in the era you lived in. I was missing out too, until recently. I have guy friends who are crazy fans of Sachin Tendulkar (the GOD, as they like to address him). They remember his cricket career statistics and the dates more distinctly than they know their girlfriend's choices and her birth date. But somehow, I never counted myself one among them. Obviously, I knew that Sachin is a legend and I'm a huge fan of his cover drives, straight drives et al. But not to the extent of painting my face, yelling his name out loud every time he bats, bowls or even fields, bunking lectures, missing exams, and sitting in the college/office canteen for hours discussing about his test and ODI innings. I have truly admired the guy (pardon me for not referring to him as GOD) and he is the most inspiring sportsperson I know in our country. 

Sachin's last celebration lap around Wankede, Mumbai.

But on 16th November 2013, I became one among them! It was Sachin’s last international cricket appearance and I knew I couldn't miss it for anything. Since he announced that this match will be his last, everyone in Mumbai wanted to be in the stadium to watch him play live for one last time. With a stadium capacity of 45,000 and with Mumbai’s population of more than 20 million, my chances of getting a ticket to the match was, well...you can do the math. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the tickets for all five days. I fortunately had a holiday on day two of the match and took a day off of work on day three - how could I not! I yelled so much in the two days that my voice got hoarse (it was totally worth it). I’m proud to say that I was a Sachin fanatic for a short, but the most memorable, period of time.

Day two of the match

I went to see the match on the second day. At 9:30 am, he came out of the dressing room and the crowd roared! The minute he entered the ground, all I could hear was - "Sachinnn...Sachinnn" *clap clap clap*. He batted with so much ease as if it were his 1st test match and no one in the stadium knew him. But the truth was, every ball he faced, every run he took, every move he made was watched avidly by millions of people around the world. He was playing his usual awe-inspiring shots and looked in great form. But suddenly, at 74, he tried flicking the ball past the first-slip fielder and got caught by the fielder. The entire stadium dropped silent. Everyone's heart sank at that very moment. We didn't know how to react because we were gearing up to celebrate his last century. He began walking towards the dressing room. But the entire crowd recuperated in seconds and there we were, giving him his one last standing ovation after he inspired us with his batting. Many of us had tears in our eyes as we knew this could be last time our hero was batting for us, for India. The chants of "Sachinnn...Sachinnn" *clap clap clap* continued until he reached the dressing room. Just before walking up the stairs of the pavilion he turned and waived to the entire stadium as an acknowledgement for its support – what a true gentleman! 

Throughout the rest of the day, as other Indian batsmen continued batting, the crowd kept cheering for Sachin. People squalled to Dhoni (the Indian team captain) to declare the innings, to the umpires suggesting them to cheat and declare the other batsmen out, and to the West Indies team supporting them as they struggled to restrict the Indian batsmen from scoring runs. The crowd didn’t mean ill for the rest of the Indian team, but they came with a sole purpose - to watch their hero bat! At the end of the day, the Indian team had overtaken the West Indies team by a good 300+ runs and took 3 early wickets in a matter of just 12 overs. Everyone knew that day three will most probably be the last day of this test match. They might not get to see Sachin bat once again. 

Day three of the match

All the predictions came true today. Day three turned out to be the last day of the match. I took an off from work because I knew that I will be witnessing a historic moment in the stadium. I reached the stadium early with my best friend. Having her by me as we witnessed the day was just an added advantage. At 9:30 am the third day of the match began. As soon as Sachin came out of the dressing room, the entire crowd erupted in chants of, no points for guessing here, "Sachinnn...Sachinnn" *clap clap clap*. He was like a superhero on the ground that day. Whichever direction he looked, people waved frantically and yelled. He waived back to all of them every single time. The crowd was sad that they wouldn’t see their superhero ever again after that day, but I was imagining what Sachin’s thoughts were. He would miss all this love and attention from his fans soon. 

West Indies team kept struggling to find a good partnership and kept losing wickets quickly. Before we knew, in a couple of hours, West Indies had lost 8 of their wickets. Our hearts were beating fast because we knew “the end” was approaching sooner than we thought. The crowd wanted Sachin to bowl (though he isn’t a professional bowler, he is pretty good at it) at least a few overs. Luckily, Dhoni gave him two overs. As soon as Sachin took the ball in his hand, removed the cap to give to the umpire and walked past the crease, the entire crowd stood up and erupted to make a loud cheer for him. Both the overs were mediocre but no one bothered. It was total “paisa wasool” for all the attendees. Soon after his overs ended, the match came to an end after West Indies lost all their wickets and an inglorious match came to an end for them. 

The historic moment

As soon as the last wicket was down, the entire crowd of 40,000+ people stood up. They knew what they’re going to see next is what they will be telling people outside the stadium for the rest of their lives. I know I will! The Indian players congratulated each other and everyone except Sachin sprinted to form the Guard of Honor for his hero. Sachin walked through them as the players and everyone around applauded. The crowd kept applauding as they saw their hero get emotional. In the dressing room he was presented a special memento by the West Indian team. Both the teams then came out for the presentation. During the entire presentation, every mention of Sachin was received by a huge roar. But the most memorable part was when Sachin was handed over the microphone to speak. The whole crowd kept roaring "Sachinnn...Sachinnn" *clap clap clap* for more than 40 seconds, literally! Sachin gestured the crowd to be silent but the people were too ecstatic to control their feelings. After a long wait, Sachin gave up and began talking. Watching him speak on the huge screens, the entire crowd dropped silent. Every single person was standing since the time the match ended and listened to Sachin passionately. We laughed, clapped, sighed, and reacted to his words innocently like children. It was an amazing moment to hear our hero’s last speech where he thanked each and every person who touched his life. My respect for him and the people, who made him who he is, rose to another level. You can view his last touching speech here. As soon as he finished his speech, there was pin drop silence around the stadium. I reckon many of us were in tears. Not me though, I cried a bit later. I’ll get to that soon. 

So, here we were, with our moist eyes readying to bid adieu to a guy who entertained us for 24 long years, a guy whom we, including many legendary cricketers, like to call GOD. Escorted by tight security, he began his final walk around the stadium waving to the people. He was surrounded by his family, security personnel, journalists, team mates, and others. Soon, his teammates picked him up. There are 8 stands in the Wankhede stadium; as he passed each stand, everyone in that stand either clicked pictures and videos of him deliriously or bowed to him. I was among the latter group of people. As he came towards my stand, it all seemed unreal! I couldn’t believe my eyes that Sachin Tendulkar was just 10 meters away from me. I usually don’t refer to Sachin as GOD, but just for that moment, I said to myself – “So, this is what it feels to see GOD smiling in front of you!”  After his lap around the stadium, he went to the pitch alone and touched it for one last time. It was one emotional moment for him and his millions of fans. I have to admit, a tiny drop of tear rolled down my cheek as I realized that I will never see my hero play supernatural shots ever again. His humility and innocence was evident through his eyes and gestures. This was indeed the most special moment in his as well as our lives. Witnessing that epic moment made each of us feel special. I will remember those 3 minutes for life. I have never felt so much respect gushing into my veins for any person as I felt at that time. It was ethereal! I have never admitted that I was a Sachin follower, but after that day, I would be lying to myself if I denied being one. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, I bow to thee! 

Confessions of an irresponsible citizen

The following is an incidence that happened in my life recently. It’s a true story (wish it had never happened, though, and even if it did, wish it never ended the same). But as they say, some things are meant to happen! It has taught me a lot in a short span of 30 minutes and the memories will stay with me for a long time – which is a good thing as it’ll help me be more responsible. Without adding more to the suspense and without further ado, I’ll directly jump onto the story.

There are some guys (perhaps girls too) who drink too much and can't handle it. It was a usual day and I was on my way back home. It was about 6:30 pm. While crossing the bridge in Dadar (one of the busiest railway stations in Mumbai) I found a drunken guy wandering around. He looked disgusting in his worn out clothes and one could make out that he was drunk by just going near him. He soon suddenly began stalking a girl. He was trying to grab her attention by walking closely behind her and occasionally staring at her from the side. She sprinted, changed her route, slowed down and tried everything to dodge him, but he continued. He followed her to the ticket window and waited while she took her ticket. At first, I thought he perhaps knows her and she’s just angry at him for something he has done (may be a sad love story), but soon I realized that that wasn’t the case.

I began following them closely to see whether the girl knows him. After she took the ticket he continued following her. While getting down the stairs she gathered enough courage to turn back, yell at him and warn him that she’ll call the police if he didn’t stop stalking her. That’s when I was sure that he was a random stranger harassing an innocent girl. I sprinted and tried getting hold of that guy, but to my surprise, both of them disappeared suddenly. I felt really ashamed of myself. I didn’t realize what impact my ignorance or indifference can have on someone else’s life. The girl was going through a mental trauma, or perhaps much more. She (and may be many such girls) would be scared to move out on the streets because of such horrendous experiences. That guy might have left a lasting scar on her mind. The next time she walks on that bridge, she might never feel secure again. I could have helped her but somehow just didn't want to get into a mess. Somehow I felt I'm responsible for what happened to her. She didn't have to go through it. I could have helped but I chose not to. I was really disappointed in myself – felt like an irresponsible citizen.

Luckily, just minutes after that, I came to the platform to catch my train and saw that guy following another girl. I began chasing him this time. Coincidentally, a female police officer walked past me just about the same time. I told her about this guy who’s drunk and is following girls. She found him and realized that he's drunk. She thanked me for bringing it to her notice and dragged him away (hopefully to the police station).

By handing him over to the police, I might have saved a few other girls from getting traumatized but I feel utterly humiliated that I couldn't stand up for a girl who had no choice but to go through this. I respect all women and after this incidence, I’m sure that I will never let this happen again. Girls deserve to be treated with high respect; it's high time we (filthy) men understand that. If you’re a guy reading this, please make sure you don’t repeat the mistake I did and if you’re the drunk guy in this story, then I hope you get locked up in jail! If you’re a girl, please make sure to immediately report such an incidence and make people around you aware of what you’re going through. I’m sure many people around you would understand your situation and react appropriately........wish I had!

Budding entrepreneurs in India - the ChangeMakers!

The current economic situation in India looks gloomy. Civilians don’t trust the politicians and there is visible unrest among everyone but there’s no single person or a group to be blamed (though some people might beg to differ here). In this situation I feel there are primarily 4 categories of people in India:

• Ones who can’t do much – people living in abysmal conditions in rural areas or slums. All they can do is to plan hand-to-mouth survival strategies and thus support anyone who provides them basic assistance.
• Ones who can do but under-estimate their own capabilities as well as responsibilities. This is the largest group of people and these are people who need to enter the group 3 if we need to see India succeed on the global platform. They feel they have no control over the current situation and they’re in no way responsible for it – which isn’t true. The current flock of problems India is facing isn’t only because of the politicians or bureaucrats or the so-called money hoggers but because of the society as a whole, its people and their mindsets.
• There is a small group of people whom we love to call entrepreneurs or social activists. I love to call them the ChangeMakers! (The term is not coined by me but I love the thought). There’s a reason why I’m merging the 2 diverse groups together – because both sets of people wish to challenge the status quo. They don’t like the current situation and they make a genuine effort to change it. It doesn’t matter if they fail/succeed, the attempt to change is all that counts. I salute these extraordinary individuals who have the balls (pardon the expression) to stand up and change the way of life around them. In this group I’m counting only those millionaires/ billionaires who use their position to make a change such as Azim Premji with his Azim Premji Foundation or Narayan & Sudha Murthy with their Infosys Foundation. In addition I would also like to include the roadside vendors, the panipuri walas, chai walas and thousands of them who make a living despite of their hapless conditions. 

The most recent but a thriving addition to this group are the owners of upcoming micro enterprises some of which are tomorrow’s crème de la crème. They’re all today’s seeds which, with the help of proper nourishment, will grow up to become trees that will bear fruits for the entire society. I’m thrilled to see some of my friends join this incredible group of people – Akhil who co-founded Contreezy, Vishu who co-founded KisanFirst, Rishabh who co-founded Troopp & Hangrr, Rushi who is a director at Simplicity Creations, Ruben who has earned great respect in the social activist group - to name a few but there are so many more. People like these are the ones whom I look up to and get motivated by. They are the ones who dream big and have the courage to follow their dreams without getting bogged down by social dogmas.

• Lastly, the ones who can do a lot but lack the will to do so. They include the corporate giants, the politicians, the policy makers and the like. They lack the motive to make a change. These are the people who can bring about a change the quickest if they decide to do so, but it’s less likely that they will.  

(Click on the image to enlarge)

India has yet to realize its full potential. The change has begun, thanks to the ones I refer to as ChangeMakers. Currently, India has many people who want it to grow but without hampering their own ulterior interests as well as a growing number of people who now want it to shine and are ready to take leaps of faith. The optimist in me says that India will shine one day, and the day is not too far. Nothing comes easily and if it does, it’s probably not worth it! My eyes are fixated on these ChangeMakers, are yours?

How context shapes a perspective

What you see is what you believe. But seeing something is sometimes not enough. You need to know the context behind that something to know the truth.

Allow me to jump to an example. You get down from a train and see a crowd encircling 2 guys. Let’s call them guy A and guy B. You move towards the crowd to find that A is thrashing B and B is crying, is begging for help and has begun bleeding. No one is coming forth to help B and you tend to feel sad for him. Right now you’re on B’s side and want to jump in and protect him from A because A is the villain. Hold that thought.

This time let’s take a more relatable example. Suppose you switch on the news channel one day and a famous politician in your country is being alleged and questioned for corruption. You always thought of the politician as non-corrupt but this recent news has shocked you and you now doubt his honesty. The next time you cast a vote, you do not choose him. Do you think you made the right decision?

This is how mindsets are shaped. We believe what we are made to believe. We tend to reach conclusions too fast and thus ignore the truth. Consider company A’s revenues grew by 10% this year and company B’s revenues grew by 40%. It’s obvious that the first thing that comes to our mind is that company B was more successful this year. But we fail to consider the context. Perhaps company A’s revenues were $10mn previous year, so this year it has reached $11mn whereas company B’s revenues were $10,000 previous year, so this year B has reached $14,000. We’re comparing company A’s growth of a million dollars to company B’s growth of $4,000. Clearly, growing by a million is much more laudable than growing by $4,000 (I agree it’s contentious that who’s more successful here but that’s not the point!). The point here is that we feel 40% growth is better than 10% growth, but it may not always be the case.

We shouldn’t jump to conclusions with half information. Half information is often more dangerous than no information. And this is where most journalists shape the perspective of the viewers. Media usually molds the views of an entire nation. It’s supposed to be as unbiased as possible and should be responsible enough to find the context and authenticity of each piece of news. But media in most countries doesn’t operate in this way. They show us information which is not the whole truth and hence is misleading. I’m not saying media is always deceptive and misguiding, but it surely does have the power to do so.

Now let’s go back to our examples. In the first example, you want to help guy B, but you want to clarify first before jumping in. So you ask an onlooker and he tells you that A caught B touching an adolescent gal inappropriately in public. Listening to this your perspective changes dramatically and all your sympathy for B turns into animosity. Now you want to support A in beating up B. This is the perfect example of how context shapes one’s perspective. (In this scenario, supporting either of them is wrong as A should have informed the cops and handed B over to them instead of taking things into his own hands.) Through this example, I didn’t want to justify each person but instead wanted to portray how our emotions drive our thinking without getting to the root of the situation.

In the second example about the good politician turning corrupt, the truth could be that his colleague from the opposition party staged this whole story to win the upcoming elections. The politician in the story was actually an honest person but he was made to look like the bad guy by the media and thus ended up losing your valuable vote.

So the next time you see something or learn something, try to understand the context behind it and not just believe what’s presented to you, because what you see can be a well constructed deception!

Why do we always look outside for mistakes?

*Disclaimer: This blog, like most of my blogs, contains ideas, behaviors and expressions having an Indian audience in mind. Readers from other cultures may have differing views and behaviors.

Most of us have paid a bribe at some point in our life, yet we point fingers at others and act absolutely innocent when the topic of corruption arises.

We say our politicians and police officials are highly corrupt and incompetent, but we fail to realize that they too are a part of our community and it’s the entire community that needs to change.

Recently, we witnessed protests held at various parts of our country to improve safety for women in our cities but aren't we the same people who stare at a girl who is low-clad and blame her for being provocative? Why shouldn't a girl be allowed to wear what she wants when a guy can shamelessly urinate openly on the street?

We say our surroundings need to be kept clean and hygiene must be imbibed in our way of living, but we ourselves end up littering roads, blaming the municipality for not having enough garbage bins.

We all believe that casteism and racism need to be eradicated but end up mentioning preferences of caste (and even sub-caste) in online/offline matrimonial profiles.

Everyone believes we should help the poor and it’s immoral to look down upon them, but when approached by a beggar, we cringe, deride or even abuse them.

We feel other’s children are always making a mess or need to be controlled but when it comes to ours, they are just innocently playing around.

We yell out loud when a driver in another car drives rashly but when we do it ourselves, we say we’re in a hurry!

We get angry at anyone else who lies to us (in fact we preach to our kids to never lie) but all of us end up lying many times in our lives.

Why do we keep justifying our own actions and continue excusing our misdeeds? Why can’t we accept our mistakes and try to change instead? Why are humility and readiness to change so rarely seen these days? 

None of us is perfect and everyone has his/her merits and demerits. Let’s accept the faults and celebrate the virtues. Isn’t accepting failure the first step towards success? What do you think?