I intended, once the personal rush had subsided, to come back here and do a piece on thoughts during, and in the wake of, Sachin Tendulkar’s solo show yesterday.
I ended up having to write a full-fledged piece for India Abroad, the paper I help edit and produce, and for Rediff.com [text version here].
Read also, a Dileep Premachandran piece that predates that knock; this one appeared in Mint yesterday morning.
Perhaps we in India can’t really fathom the full extent of the adoration and expectation that he has had to deal with in that time. Matthew Hayden, another batting colossus of our age, gave voice to what many outsiders feel when he wrote: “His life seems to be a stillness in a frantic world and I admire his mental strength. When Tendulkar goes out to bat, it’s beyond chaos—it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man.”
Over and, for the week, out — will be back here Monday, and for Sunday’s game, occasionally on Twitter.
Smoke Signals 