The story of Our Journey to Mumbai to pay our tributes to Sachin: Back in Hyderabad from Mumbai. A very very emotional day for me. Would like to thank my good friend Sreekanth for the trip. If not for him, would not have been part of history. We started to Mumbai from Hyderabad on the evening of 13th November. This is not the first trip with the gang(and certainly will not be the last one). Night driving can be tricky and we often indulge in some friendly banter to keep ourselves awake.This trip was no different. 2 hours into the drive,I found myself very restless.I often caught myself asking the same question repeatedly...What do you want from Sachin in his last test match? Tried to answer this question with some answers: 1. A great test ton from Sachins blade....A ton that would surpass his perth ton. Given the fact that this was his 200th and last test match and will be played in his beloved Mumbai(where it all started 24 long years ago), the romantic in me wanted this to happen. But, strangely enough,this answer did not excite me enough.Was still restless.Initially, attributed this to the bad patches of road and the biting cold. Gave the question more thought and the second potential answer took shape: 2. A double ton. Hang on..why dont I throw in a 5 wicket haul too? Afterall, the old chap can turn the ball and the match will be played on the spinner-friendly mumbai strip. Yup. A double ton and a five wicket haul sounds great.Or, does it? I ended up dismissing this and other ridiculous answers that criss-crossed my mind. Meanwhile an interesting discussion on Office related matters was in full swing amongst my fellow passengers. This helped me take my mind off the question for a while. By now, we were somewhere close to Solapur. The roads were getting better,the cold was getting worse, and I still did not have an answer to my question.And this irritated me no end. As I often do, again attributed this to external factors...crazy highway traffic,lousy food, exorbitant toll charges and what not. I figured I will think better after some snacks and a hot cuppa coffee(This after having had about dozen cups of coffee on the highway). Not surprisingly, the 13th cup of coffee did not have any magic potion. Dozed for a while and woke up to find that we were on the Pune-Mumbai express way.A well-lit sign board told me that we were only 120 kms from Mumbai. I was panic-sticken.Frantically started searching for answers. Started tossing around all kind of answers..desperate answers. Believe it or not, one answer involved sachin shaking my hands after I ran on to the pitch((fully dressed of course) to congratulate him. Sreekanth, now was showing off to us how fast he could drive on the Expressway.The next sign board told me that we were only 100 kms from Mumbai. Now that we were getting closer, a horrendous thought crossed my mind. What if the great man gets out without troubling the scorers? This thought made me sweat. As much as I enjoy reading the comparisons between the styles of Bradman and Sachin, I did not want Sachin to end his test career with a Bradman-like last innings. Thought dismissed with disdain. We were now through the last of the tunnels on the expressway and the nickel dropped!!!!!(Cavemen think better in caves) I wasnt going to mumbai hoping to watch Sachin score a ton or take a five wicket haul. I was going to mumbai just to thank him...Thank him from the bottom of my heart for all his deeds, for the way he conducted himself on and off the field, for having inspired millions, for being such a great role model. And, I wanted to thank him from the stands. I owed him that much. Suddenly, the prospect of Sachin getting a duck did not matter at all.In fact, nothing mattered. What mattered was my presence in the stands for this historic test match. Sachin, You helped India reach the pinnacle of Test cricket. You helped India win the World Cup. Feats that moved millions, including you, to tears. Childhood dreams come true. The trophies that were missing from your glorious cabinet which now we deemed complete. Yet, you wanted to play on because you felt you still had a lot more to give. Wed just lost few of our legends not more than half a year ago and someone as experienced as you in the team definitely meant a lot. Of course, you saw that, we didnt. For us, you were selfish in your pursuit for your 100th hundred. You had just achieved everything - what else was there for Sachin Tendulkar to do? The most important thing about trying to leave Indian cricket in better hands during its transition phase escaped us. Were sorry! Sachin, most of us were torn about the timing of your retirement. Many of us would have liked you to play in South Africa, many of us wished you had stopped playing close to a year ago and a whole lot prayed for you to go on forever. We didnt give much thought to what you wanted or what you thought was best. When we heard that you had politely asked for your final Test to be played in Mumbai, we were quick to jump to conclusions. Never for one moment did we stop to think and learn that it might have been so that you could have your wheelchair bound mother, the woman who started praying for you even before you started playing cricket, could watch you play for her first and last time ever. Surely, you owe her that much. Please forgive us. But I will NEVER forgive you for taking away my last link to childhood.Never Ever. And, Im done with watching test cricket in stadiums. Selfish enough to want Sachins last test match to be my last test match in a stadium. Will treasure and carry those moments in Wankhade till my last breath.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 19:32:33 +0000
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