TWO HUNDRED CHEERS FOR TENDULKAR

Thomas Jefferson asserted in the United States declaration of Independence, "All men are created equal..." Had he seen a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, he would realize how flawed his assumption was. All men are not equal. When you put Tendulkar in the equation, everything else becomes irrelevant. How many times have we sat down to express our gratitude to the little master? How many times did we have the "WOW" moment? How many times have we praised, adored, respected, prayed, idolized, loved, and cherished this diminutive Mumbaikar? And how many times more again? All those times, mere words were inadequate to express our emotions. And today, when Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar scored the highest individual score ever (200*) in a One Day International cricket match against South Africa, all the adjectives in the English language woefully fall short of capturing the moment.

He is a superman. A superstar. A superhero. That he would receive the Bharat Ratna some day is indubitable, and we are not even talking about that. He epitomizes the sum total of all of India's rise and fall for the past two decades. And some more. It is impossible to fathom this man's effect on the nation's psyche. And non-Indians would never truly understand what this man means to the billions.

Stock markets, shares and investments surge whenever he is in his elements- a feel good factor would inevitably descend upon Indians. A source of inspiration for millions, he is a citizen nonpareil. The aura around him is incredible and it rubs off onto others as we look up to him. No other person can influence India today as much as he does- and how does he do it? A man of few words to say the least, he has let his actions do all the talking, and how! He is the modern day Karma yogi, the perfect ambassador for anything Indian, be it ancient or modern. One could probably write a doctoral thesis on how he captivates the masses, the "Tendulkar effect".

Rewind 22 years back. On February 24th 1988 Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli amassed 664 runs in a world record stand, piling up agony on St. Xavier School. Exactly 22 years later, Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first man to score a double century in One Day Internationals. It would be just plain fanciful to associate record breaking events with the date (24th February). The 200 barrier was crossed nearly after 4 decades of one-day cricket. It was apt that Sachin Tendukar was the one destined to reach 200 runs first. People clamour for breathtaking performances from him over and over again, which he duly obliges everytime quite remarkably... but for me, I am just happy to see him.

"I would like to dedicate this to the people of India who have always stood behind me for these 20 years amid the ups and downs..."

I am so proud today that I belong to the same era and same country as Sachin Tendulkar! At this juncture, I am reminded of a popular Hindi film dialogue from the movie DON: Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin... na mumkin hai (It is not 'difficult' to catch the DON, it is just 'impossible').

Picture copyrights: Associated Press (both pictures)