The Legend of Sachin Tendulkar…

On the onset, it is difficult to be Sachin, Sachin 100dulkar. It’s also a difficult feeling trying to pen down thoughts about someone you have grown admiring on and off the field. A long wait of a year came to end yesterday; he became the first cricketer ever to have 100 international Centuries. On a budget day, if there could be one individual who could have made the individual headlines, then it could only be Sachin. Still you would have lot of people with below statements, even if they would be in minority-:

“Whenever he hits a ton, India loses the game.” Hmmm…
“He only plays for his records.” Well…
“He is now old enough to retire” Is it???

After a century of Tons and still counting and over 30,000 international runs, if a person is still hurled these “compliments”, then it becomes imperative that the emotions attached with this game in the country are absolute crazy. & in a heterogeneous population of over a billion plus, where every soul is a leader; each seems justified to air an opinion of his own. In the land where Cricket is a religion & Lifeline of masses, some refer to him as God, few think he is selfish, but surely everyone has an opinion about him. You can Love him, you can hate him, but if you are an Indian; you cannot ignore the legend of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!!
My first memories about watching this genius are when he was himself a teenager. Even when he was good, frankly at least I had not expected these feats from him back then. There were many greats who used to praise him highly and hoped he would make it big in cricketing world. But there was hardly anyone who could predict he would assume the heights which he has attained today. Even if we go by his yesterday’s admission that “Dreams do come true”, probably he may not have himself been sure of reaching the milestones where he stands today. However we were destined to see a miracle which was to only grow with time.

For youth, he is an inspiration and a role model. There are a lot of important take away’s from the master blaster’s kitty for one and all. The kind of dedication, perseverance & hard work he used to put in when he was a teenager, you would invariably find the same kind of efforts from him even till date, be it on field or preparation prior to it. Maintaining the same commitment over such a long duration is something which looks only theoretical but he has presented a live practical demonstration for us what successful leaders are made of. Another important aspect of his long innings has been “Focus”. Be it public on the road, or people from the fraternity, right from Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, the Chapell’s or most recently even Dhoni (suggesting slowness of seniors); everyone has something or the other to observe and suggest about his game every now and then. But rather than defending, clarifying or retorting aggressively, Sachin has only focused on field and let his game do all the talking and giving all the replies to what the world has to say. Seems he does not believe in getting into spats off the field, he only wants his bat to fight it out with the ball on ground!

He has been ethical, humble & epitome of integrity. There have been hardly instances where anyone has been able to point a finger at him questioning his integrity or humility. That is one of the biggest reasons apart from his success which has made him one of the greatest role models in the country. However his calmness and composure does not take away his hunger to score and win. He may not have the in your face aggression of a Ganguly or Yuvraj, but his conviction and passion to win is second to none. Yes the new blood deserves a chance to be groomed; new heroes will come up eventually. But the fact remains despite the age, Sachin is still amongst the better performers in the team even today when he has been seeing the rough patch every cricketer goes through. This highlights the ability and quality of this master, even his average looks at par with others good forms!

The man has seen many highs and lows in Indian cricket in this journey of 22 years. Even individually he has been used to criticism and scathing attacks. Be it his changed approach of building the innings now as against the initial Sehwag like onslaught we witnessed in initial days, or the long one year wait for conquering the final frontier of 100th ton which made critics write him off and ask for his retirement, he has seen it all. But the key for him has been his ability to adapt to changing circumstances, changing needs, surely the character this person is build of is not common. His conviction to keep trying and never say No attitude has helped his and teams cause. Physically he has been recovering from injuries in this long journey but it has been his mental strength which has kept him going even after the pressure of expectations from fans and blatant attack from critics. One also must not forget the solid support system in terms of his family, which has helped him run this marathon.
Sachin would have been fortunate to get an opportunity to serve his nation. But then even the nation has been fortunate to have this sportsman serving it for 22 long years. As for the masses, we have been genuinely blessed to have witnessed one of the rare gifts of God to mankind undertake this journey for his love for the nation, the love for the game!

It’s not over yet, we are sure we will get to see more from the run machine before he decides to call it a day. But then the contribution he has made to the sports, he has written the rarest of the rare chapters in the history of the game and nation, the chapter we would never forget: “The legend of Sachin R.Tendulkar”!

6th March 2012, Part 3: Poll Results: Congress Stumped, Collectively Opposition wins the Semis

Few important things to note before we get on to the results.
1) Analysts & observers can go wrong, sometimes less sometimes more. Only thing where they were almost right this time was SP would be single largest party in UP, getting majority was something even they could not fore-see.
2) Local issues and tastes of masses need to be addressed. It is important for National parties to follow the Global MNC’s in their approach: Think Global but Act Local or else they will end up becoming insignificant in most states moving forward.
3) Personalities work but work only with proper support system in place. Hype is sometimes not translated to results.
4) Though Anna may have got lost in background post Dec, media may have forgot public ire against scams & price rise, the voting masses seem to have not. For a change, their memory has stretched and few things have got stuck in their sub conscious mind along with hearts. Ire may not be on roads, but results indicate Centre needs to be careful.
5) Media sometimes operates at 100 feet over ground & fails to pick up exact ground reality.
6) Elders experience & persona coupled with youth passion & vision seems to be a winning formula this time on political horizon.


Congress went on the front foot, but it missed the ball & has got stumped. It would again have to start in the crease, a bit demoralized, probably on the back foot. Mixed news for BJP though: It managed to retain Punjab with SAD, wrestled Goa, is somewhere there even in Uttaranchal; but has failed badly to benefit from Anti incumbency in UP. Regional parties have yet again proved their importance: SP & SAD have proved their mettle against the National parties. If 2014 would be the finals, then opposition seems to have won this semi finals of 2012.

UP: Starting with the most important state. BSP faced the anti incumbency; SP has taken all the benefit of this leaving the other 2 players high and dry. Though vote share wise, BSP is still a force to reckon with 26% vote share. But a fall of 4% votes from their 2007 share has cost them a whopping 126 seats along with the rule bringing down their tally to 80. Akhilesh Yadav has subtly wrestled back power for his father, Cycle crushing the elephant with outstanding 224 seats and a clear mandate! As for the other 2 contenders, both BJP & Congress need to do some self introspection. Irrespective of how badly critics bash them, a true fact is both failed to rise to the occasion. BJP has just managed 47 seats, 4 less than last time. If Uma failed for BJP, Rahul Gandhi’s dedicated, sustained & aggressive efforts failed to translate into votes. With 28 seats, 6 more than 2007, this would hurt them. The pro quota frenzy seemed to have little buyers & more sellers to their dismay. They were not in race to top the charts but the way they lost, will haunt them for long. As for Rahul, critics may bash him failing after Bihar, but the way he accepted taking blame for the loss and learning lesson from it; it seems the battle might be lost but the war is still far from over for him. With an increase in % votes for party in state, he may be down but not completely out & may have a long journey to cover in the state. Probably the ground needs to be built before his efforts can do the trick for his party. Till then Ms. Bahuguna & Mr. Digvijay Singh can take the blame for poor showing shielding their leader. But losing in strong holds of Amethi & Rae Bareily is something which would have tough explanation. At the centre too this will have implications. SP will have more say now, Congress will need to figure out how to operate in the maze between Trinamool, SP & BSP!


Uttarakhand: The only state which could not decide with results as to who would be the next CM. BJP was expected to lose comprehensively but still getting 31 seats behind Congress’s 32 will not hurt much. Khanduri succeeded in saving BJP from visible rout, but the general could not save his individual seat! Now the Govt formation will depend on the BSP & others accounting the rest 7 seats.

Punjab: Akali Dal has defied history by becoming first party to be voted back to power in 4 decades along with their partners BJP. SAD-BJP combined won again 68 seats, Congress failed to get the expected victory from the Badal’s getting only 46 seats.

Goa: BJP swept the state thanks to the mining issue! Another loss in Congress kitty.

Manipur: If there was any good news for Congress today, then it could find solace in retaining Manipur which had limited players.

We all would wait for the day when leaders would compete to perform and win rather than just try to promise & win. The lesson for all parties: Kindly perform or perish! People will vote for you if you would work for them.

6th March, 2012 : (Polls Part 2 : The Music of Exit Polls)

Exit polls are out. Though Anti incumbency seems to be the flavor of the season like most of the times, exit polls indicate that only UP will have a clear mandate against the ruling BSP. Punjab & Uttaranchal seem to be a close fight where the ruling Govt’s might be presenting tough time to opposition. Our politicians being politicians are rubbishing the bad news & looking in sync with the good ones! Political reactions on these have very short shelf life as the verdict would be out in a day. A quick look at what the exit polls look to suggest:
UP : SP was expected to be the single largest party even before the polls were declared. But whether it will be able to get the magic figure of 202 on its own is something not many people were ready to believe. Exit polls also indicate that it might not get a simple majority, but it may be very close to the target and in the battle of youth, Akhilesh might have benefitted the most from anti incumbency against Mayawati regime. The BSP’s loss seems to be divided between the other three contenders, BJP & Congress being gainers behind the maximum gain by SP. Unless SP gets the magic figure on its own, we may see the political permutations & combinations come into play along with uncertainty all across as was the case before 2007 landslide in favor of BSP.
Uttarkhand : BJP was expected to be voted out before the polls, thanks to the anti incumbency wave. But the exit polls are indicating a very close fight between BJP & Congress. Seems “Khanduri Hai Zaruri” may have saved BJP from a clear cut ouster.
Punjab : This Northern state has been known for its anti incumbency wave, which had Congress hopeful of ousting SAD-BJP combine. But the exit polls suggest it to be a neck to neck fight where either side may be just managing to cross the winning line.
Goa : BJP would get the benefit of anti incumbency here and might be voted to power against Congress.
Manipur : Congress seems to be the single largest party here, though may not get simple majority.

Though these are only indications and political parties having mixed reactions to these, but the cat seems to be on the run amongst the pigeons! Though the results will have political fall outs, it is UP which is going to be the most important of the lot. The rankings were more or less clear before the polls, but it would be the exact number of seats different parties get which would set the tone for the 2014 general elections. The stakes are high for everyone : Be it Mayawati who is all set to lose the power, Akhilesh Yadav’s campaign to get back the power for his father, be it Uma Bharati trying to get the BJP back on track in the state or the hard work being put in by Rahul Gandhi in the last 5 years. Congress seems to be planning to protect Rahul incase results are not favorable. Digvijay feels that exit polls are rubbish and party will get over 125 seats & is ready to take the blame if they lose. Beni Prasad feels Maya would be a better ally than the SP, but party feels this is his personal stand. Rahul himself is believed to have met the senior editors few days back explaining them that only number of seats should not be the only criteria to measure success as they were coming from 22 seats with a vote share of only 8% in 2007. It is understood that he felt that even if party is able to double its vote share this time, it would be a descent success. But analysts feel this may be only damage control & “expectation management to redefine success” by changing the goal post incase ball goes in a different direction!!

Every party is waiting with fingers crossed for the R-Day. These results are an important moment in the way political landscape gets defined for next few years. As CEC Mr. Quraishi says, the election commission has completed its task of getting the elections conducted & done it pretty well. Now it is time for public’s verdict to be out & politics to take over the central stage. Nobody loses till the final verdict is out, so there is hope for everyone till tomorrow. With only a day to go, we all are also eagerly waiting to see this musical chair just like the players who will actually play it: May the best one win!!

6th March, 2012 (Polls Part 1: Congress- From the back to the front foot!)

The public memory is short lived & the real politics starts only once their memory ends!


Flashback Apr 2011: The ruling Govt got the first taste of public ire against the corruption under the Anna Hazare led Civil Society. & If this trailer was appreciated, then the actual film turned out to be an even roaring success in August’11 with Anna sitting on fast for nearly a fortnight. The ruling Govt. and the Congress leaders were running for shelter and grasping for breadth being total clueless as to what needs to be done. Even after the arrest of Mr. Kalmadi & Mr. Raja for their alleged role in CWG & the 2g scams respectively, the temperatures on the streets were as high as those in the TV news debates where the Congress spokesperson were running out of words defending Govt position. The question at that time was not how many seats will the Congress win in UP. The question being asked was if the Govt will be able to hold its central rule or we may see the midterm polls if the ire of the masses was any indication. Opposition was going for the kill, public was on roads protesting against the ruling Govt for the graft which was hurting them every day.

Cut to the Polls in Feb/Mar 2012. In a span of some 6months, the tables have turned. & not just turned, they have actually been replaced. The Congress has suddenly realized that they are in an advantageous situation and trying to reap benefits of anti-incumbency in 3 of the 5 states going to polls & fighting to retain power in the other 2. Suddenly they have realized that they are in commanding position in Punjab, Uttaranchal & all set to gain along with other opposition parties in state in the all important UP. Nobody remembers the Aug of last year when Congress was almost crumbling to maintain its central rule, not to talk about the upcoming state elections. The Jan Lokpal fever was all across and even the most fluent of the party’s spokesperson were at loss of words, eating back most of what they use to say. Things started to get back on track once Mrs Sonia Gandhi came back from her treatment abroad. They started getting their act together, knowing what opposition was up to and how Civil society needs to be handled. Opposition parties were themselves unsure as to how to get political mileage out of the entire episode as they did not seem totally comfortable with the Jan Lokpal themselves, nor were they in any position to agree with the Govt’s version. Finally politics prevailed on the Lokpal as the bill seemed to go in the cold storage in the dying moments of the Winter session. If there was a nail to be hit in the coffin, it came in form of the failure of Anna’s Jail bharo abhiyaan at Mumbai in Dec, which saved the political brass from the blushes and ruling UPA from any further disaster!

The Mumbai disaster of Anna’s fast was the turning point for the Congress led UPA. It saved them from the “nuclear Lokpal” & gave them the strength to go back in the state polls attacking the opposition for not allowing the Lokpal to be passed and “not serious” about checking graft. Rahul Gandhi had been working hard for over 5 years now in UP, but even his army had developed a cold feet in wake of Civil society storm. But the BJP led NDA just could not sustain the offensive and momentum against their arch rivals, it probably needs better media managers, better strategists, more fire power to push things harder & probably stronger leaders. After losing the plot, it has reached a stage where it is battling anti incumbency and a serious threat to be voted out in 2 states. In UP, where it could have been the front runner against the anti-incumbent BSP, criminal rule of SP & rootless Congress; reports suggest it to be struggling the most. In 6 months flat, it has lost the golden opportunity the Anna storm had presented to it. Even before the results come out, at least it has yet again lost politically. Seems even it needs a “Sonia” to strongly get them against one unified umbrella, to propel their prospects. Is Modi the option, probably the time would have the best answer.

As for the Congress, it seems it has what it takes to rule. Irrespective of the results, it has managed to get over the macro issues of Corruption, Price rise etc to go out aggressively in these polls. It has started laying plans for the next wave of reaching out to masses after MNREGA, if Sonia’s pushing the Food security bill is any indication. It has set its eyes on the finals of 2014, the 2012 being an all important semi-finals it needs to win. Unless the results go in the opposite direction all together, which looks unlikely; one can see the party coming out smiling. But knowing what happened last summer, if it still comes out smiling this time, there would be no reason, not to believe it can dream of going laughing to the parliament in the summer of 2014! But then politics is all about uncertainty, pundits & predictions all can go wrong. Opposition still has hope till the verdict is out: 6th March will present the answer to all!