Sachin.... we are with you

I want to scream - Sachin we are with you.

I am a Tamilian. Born in Orissa. Brought up in Orissa. Settled in Mumbai. Reflects in over 7 languages. I am saying I am with you. As an Indian.

May be I will add - as a human being. You are not merely a sports Icon. You are the hope for a generation of youth who suffered from the blow of the transition from a controlled economy to opening up.

When you took to bat for the first time - our country had a GDP which was envy of China, more stable than Russia, near perfect to US, far better than many of those countries which are part of EU now. I remember traveling to Greece and counting 7 drachmas against every Indian Rupee.

Its a proud moment.

Our political system has changed. Our leaders have emerged. We lost some of the brightest hope of our times. Young leaders like Rajeev Gandhi were assassinated.

The country had an ugly defeat in Srilanka in spite of we deploying IPKF in their country to fight their in country terrorism.

Do you remember that incident where one of those army men tried to hit Rajeev Gandhi on the head with the back of his rifle.

Their president remarked " I thought he was having a sun stroke".

Bala Saheb was very much active in those days in politics. He was building hope for a reformed Hinduism on the grounds of expression which at times was perceived to be aggression.

I do not re collect him ever saying anything about the Sun stroke comment of a president of a nation who not only bound by oath to protect the safe keeping of a visiting premier of a sovereign state but respect the might we were ( we are even today) and make an serious attempt to ensure he behaved like a statesman.

Bala Saheb was silent that day.

Many Indian leaders were.

We never had hungry wolves who called themselves as media persons in those days.

We had a state owned Doordarshan. More than half of the country, when you took to bat for the first time, didn't know what a TV looked like. They came to know of you through news papers and hand held radio devices.

One third of the population who enjoyed watching TV never had the luxury of watching you in colour. You were a black and white hope with a sweaty face. I am not sure your parents were lucky to see you in colour.

"You didn't appear to us as a Marathi that day".

Today's Moguls who run entertainment business ( I am talking about electronic media ) as if they had known no other business in their life were the ones - I remember as a office automation sales man when I used to wait in the Doordarshan reception area - they used to wait for their turn seeking program time slots - to meet the Director of Doordarshan.

We came a long way along Sachin. We really came a long way. Do you remember those days when you went out to bat - couldn't score a run and returned to pavilion - the whole country mourned.

I am sure Bala Saheb never said even once those days - the mourning of Marathis were more stronger than the rest of the country.

I am not a fan of yours. I am an admirer.

You are a symbol who bridged the change in we Indians.

When you were growing up, did you realise the first time ever this country was witnessing the widening gap between the rich and poor. The seldom spoken gap between haves and have nots.

Days when you were playing well - the streets used to look empty. The little guy out there in the streets of Coimbatore who will not earn his bread if he does not serve his 50 cups coffee a day - didn't want to do it.

He wanted to watch you playing. You would not have had an opportunity to watch those crowds standing in front of every electronics showroom - watching the glimpses of live telecast.

Cricket is a game we believed in. In you, the cricket believed more than the cricket

believed in itself.

I am sure you are a very knowledgeable man. You have a lovely family. Lovely children. You must be feeling frustrated to watch the way our society has grown into.

The shift from your first telephone instrument at home ( the black stallion - you would have found it more painful to dial than practicing in the nets) to hand held cellular phone - the transition grew with you.

Do you remember the first time you have to call home when you were away from home to play - I am sure you would have felt an echo while talking. Now, you are at ease. You can be reached by your family irrespective of where you are.

A remarkable Icon. Not only for your game. But an Icon which consistently stood as a symbol of a changing country. I wish many of our politicians had similar focus like you have for the game.

Talking about caste-ism, when you went out to bat for the first time out there - was a taboo Sachin and it was never discussed so blatantly.

But today, 63% of our eligible voters are carrying an identity through their castes, 27% of them as minorities and 10% unsure of which direction to look for.

In two decades, a country which was united by one iron man ( Sardar Vallabhai Patel) was broken so many times - there isn't anything more to be broken further - so we are now to street politics. And trust me - they get one of the best coverage in the media.

Did you see in the TV today ( I am sure you would have watched the Wall performing in Awe - the 195 episode was so overplayed by the same media again - was overplaying Bala Saheb's reaction to what you said rather than the Wall's performance.)

Disgusting?

You get the coverage in the same manner an Aurshi's murder in Noida, a child molester and murderer in Noida, Adobe e - CEO's Child been kidnapped for ransom and a lone lady journalist found dead in her car early hours of a working day. Worse - Manu Sharma's bail discussions and his surrender voluntarily.

Sachin, You took time and effort to reach out to masses.

And you are in the same league of coverage - the glare of the media in the name of coverage are claiming to reach masses and are out there to massacre the dignity of a celebrity in this country.

You are not a celebrity Sachin. You are our hope. A time tested Icon.

When Doordarshan was controlling the electronic media - they had this system of having important news announcements to be reviewed by a high power committee. Later, it was used mindlessly by the ones who were in power is a different issue.

But bad news always were time delayed. Brain stormed. Discussed. Deliberated and chosen only if it was considered as national importance or else dropped. We had intellectuals who were controlling it. Not breaching the freedom of expression, but classified the junk from the rest.

I am fuming.

I grew up in the same time when you were growing. I am few years elder to you. I have seen the same changes what you have seen. I have never in my life moved out of the comfort of my living room to watch a match. So you are always larger than life to me.

We had Mumbai Riots. We had Mumbai rain. We had Mumbai train blasts. We had Mumbai 26/11. In 90's Riots the citizens of Mumbai brought the city under control and restored normalcy.

We all claimed - Aamchi Mumbai back into normalcy and we appreciated the spirit of Mumbai.

Every time the disaster stuck, we appreciated the Mumbai spirit. Its only in the past few years that we went one step ahead and glorified things - we are learning from our Western brothers.

People took to streets when the administration made a damaging comment post 26/11. The government changed. But the culprits remained in the back drop.

Sachin, you are above these things. We are with you. Don't react. There are 477 Million youths in this country ( Vote bank) another 103 are on the way in the next 3 years and already existing Senior citizens are with you.

We do not have a doubt in our mind that you are an Indian.

You will continue to be.

You stay the way you are and you stay out of this......

We are with you.