Have you felt too that some written passages are so memorable they get a timeless quality? Such is (CP) Surendran writing on Sach @ Sharjah in 1998 [can anyone forget those insane innings?]. While you won’t agree with all he says ["Please win. Win for us losers."], it could be because you and I [and others of our urban-educated ilk] comprise less than 1% of the demographic. Its also a perspective and an important one - it holds a mirror to a nation, for times when mass hysteria tends to drown out any dissenting note.
CP Surendran writing in April 1998:
Batsmen walk out into the middle alone. Not Tendulkar. Every time Tendulkar walks to the crease, a while nation, tatters and all, marches with him to the battle arena. A pauper people pleading for relief, remission from the lifelong anxiety of being Indian, by joining in spirit their visored savior.
Wednesday or Friday, Tendulkar lifts his gleaming bat, points it like a sword towards the TV cameras after his customary hundred, and a million hands go up in blessing; and in begging, pleading silently for redemption from the oppressive reality of their existence, seeking a moment's liberation from their India-bondage through the exhilarating grace of one accidental bat. One billion hard-pressed Indians, just one hero ...
The poor Indian lifts his hands to Sachin in supplication: give us respite, a sense of liberation; lift us up from the dark pit of our lives to well-lit places of the imagination with your skill-wrought perfections. Give us an idea of what a light thing life ought to be. Take our blessings, but give us a break. Please win. Win for us losers.
