Sachin Tendulkar: Thank you for the magic

I’m not big into seeing cricket live at the stadium. The last time I did so was on 6 November 1996, almost 16 years ago. It was the final of the Titan Cup, a big game between India and South Africa. It was a time when Sachin Tendulkar was on song. My son was just 9, and for him, Sachin was God. Tickets were impossible to get, obviously – but not for me. Working at that time with the Times of India, I had managed to get myself involved with the Times of India Challenge Shield Cricket tournament committee, and all of us on the committee fiddled a couple of tickets each – for the North Stand. [caption id=“attachment_247252” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A dream finally fulfilled. Aijaz Rahi/AP”]  [/caption] My son lived with his mother in Pune, and I drove to Pune in my Maruti 800 the previous night and checked in to a hotel. At 6 am on the morning of the ninth, I picked him up from his mother’s house and began the drive back, targeting to get into Mumbai by about 10.00, go home, chill for a bit, have lunch and head for the stadium to watch the day-night match. We got to Khandala when the best laid plans were smashed to smithereens – we ran slam bang into one of the famous ‘ghat’ traffic jams. From there to Panvel, on the old NH4, we crawled in second gear. By the time we reached Panvel, where the traffic unjammed itself, it was noon. We forgot about the chilling and the lunch, and a tired son and I parked my car at home and took a cab to south Mumbai, making it to the game just in time. India batted first and India won. The match is a blur, except for the fact that Sachin scored 60-odd (I cannot remember how much it was and I’m not bothering to google it). All I can remember is that it was the happiest day EVER for my son; he was there at the stadium when Sachin made sure India won the Titan Cup; he top scored for India. And Rohan, my son, wanted to be Sachin when he grew up as did thousands of Rohans. And, in 1997, there would have been another thousand Rohans watching Sachin play a sublime knock and wanting to be Sachin. And in 1998 it would be the same, and in 1999 it would be the same and in 2000 it would be the same…. Thank you, Sachin. Who the hell cares if you struggled to get the 100th 100? The Rohans of the world will always remember the one day you brought magic into their lives.