Old-timers had, in all probability, not noticed April 24, 1973 go past them. For them it had been just another day. It was only decades later that they realised how fortunate they were to have been there when Sachin Tendulkar had arrived on the planet.
It is April 24 again. It is that time of the year when the nation would be celebrating the birthday of one of its greatest sporting heroes. Some of them have watched him grow; some others have grown up with him; while Generation Y has grown up on him.
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It means the same to them, though: Tendulkar has transcended generations; has made the world a smaller place years before the advent of Facebook; and has made a mockery of the age-old barriers of space, time, gender and many others.
It was a different world before Tendulkar; it has been a different world since he has quit. He still cannot walk out in Indian cities, and chances are bleak that he will be able to do the same in at least a decade or two. There have been sporting heroes across time, but few to have earned the adulation of millions even after retirement.
Don Bradman? Maybe. But that was a different era, before satellite television, internet, and a phalanx of statisticians. Bradman could easily afford to stay at home without being guarded by a full-strength security.
[inline-quotes align=”left”]It was a different world before Tendulkar; it has been a different world since he has quit. He still cannot walk out in Indian cities, and chances are bleak that he will be able to do the same in at least a decade or two. There have been sporting heroes across time, but few to have earned the adulation of millions even after retirement[/inline-quotes]
Not Tendulkar. True, he had never come close to that magical number of 99.94; but then, few in world cricket have met the billion-mark in terms of loving fans, men who never hesitated to share umbrellas, standing in front of electronic outlets; billionaires and paupers have celebrated his achievements in unison.
For all that you have given us, here is a bouquet of the top hundred Tendulkar articles on CricketCountry.
Thank you, Sachin, for all the joy. Have a blast on your 41st!
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