It’s not the 100th century(or the lack of it) that’s making me do this. At best, it could just be a trigger, just a small trigger. The words you read here have been bedewing my mind for long.
I just saw Him get out for 94.Am i sad? Ummm no, perhaps bereaved would be a better word. But it’s not because it could have been his 100th hundred, but because it would have taken the monkey off his back enabling Him to perform ‘better’. The bourgeois calls me His greatest fan. I don’t think so, God doesn’t have fans, he has worshippers.
I’ve been watching Him since 1996, the sameyear i started watching Pete Sampras, my only other sporting ideal, and my dad’s too. But the difference is, i never quite knew, and never bothered to find out when he segued into the fulcrum that determines most of my life’s activities. I’ve missed school exams to watch Him bat,had a million debates with ‘non believers’ over the futility of their lives, and declared with aplomb a billion times that the difference between Him and Bradman is that of(and this would surprise many) Allah and Prophet. Bradman is the greatest batsman ever, no doubt. But then,you can can only compare two humans, right?
I’ve never really taken interest in Indian cricket. It’s only one man that has kept me glued to the TV set for countless hours, watching with a heart beating at an unfathomable rate. I can feel just the gooseflesh, the anxiety, the churning in my gut i do everytime He’s at the striker’s end.
Why do i worship Him? Well, there are no clear answers, and i don’t even need any,does faith need reason at all? Let’s just say He is what He is not because of the way He bats, but because of the smiles He brings to our faces when He bats. There have been many other sporting greats, but they’ve all been admired for the way they perform. With Him, well, he is great not because we want to watch Him bat, but because we want to feel happy, yes, happy. And i know you are all smiling in tacit agreement while reading this. Go on, smile more, there’s no one looking !
God is not someone who showers jewels upon us in times of despair, but someone who gives us hope. Yes, He gives us hope. But hope for what? I don’t know. But to me, hope is that unsinkable ship that sails one through every ocean, no matter how troubled.
Thanks Sachin, for giving me hope.
Ramblings of an aspiring Iconoclast 