Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar ... little too early!

"My life between 22 yards in the 24 years ... " a very emotional speech indeed, that filled most his fan's eyes with tears. Another master stroke by the little master!

24 years - a very well deserved innings. He perfected each and every shot in the book, played the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Curty Ambrose, Allan Donald and many more. These players along with great batsmen like Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Adam Gilchrist defined an era of cricket, which is history as Sachin Tendulkar retired yesterday. Truly a genius!

With his retirement came the news of Bharat Ratna awarded to Sachin Tendulkar and CNR Rao, a chemist with 60 Honorary Doctorates from various Universities in the world and who is Head of Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. Sachin Tendulkar being the youngest of the 43 Bharat Ratna awardees to date, did it again.Yeah, he eclipsed the chemist's achievements and his award to such an extent that his name was nowhere mentioned on the first page of any of the major newspapers in Mumbai.

What is astonishing is the timing of this award for Sachin - though he kind of deserved it - that should have come way later in Sachin Tendulkar's life as it has for most of the other recipients of the award.

Though the award is specifically for his work in cricket, it is definitely more than that. It is what the person is and his work taken together. He will have to live with that tag and his behavior in public should now reflect those magnanimous qualities consistently throughout the rest of his life. And that is a very big responsibility that he will have to bear! A big responsibility to keep country before self - which hasn't truly happened for him so far on numerous occasions - be it the request to waive import duty on his gifted Ferrari, his request for extra FSI for his bungalow in Bandra and his high-voltage behind-the-scene drama related to the declaration in Multan test by Rahul Dravid. These glitches and others, if any, can still be put behind - but to carry Bharat Ratna image from so early on in his life should be his priority.

Also, so to say, this timing was not good taking into consideration many elderly persons on the list who have done very well in their respective careers and have also served the nation well. I surely cannot name them all and in right order, but Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee - who took bold decisions in his stint and made India nuclear capable and Dhyan Chand - greatest of all the hockey players - could have been given the award before Sachin Tendulkar. They deserved it more than Sachin Tendulkar did.

This said - I do respect him for his achievements and do congratulate him for winning the award!

P.S.: List of recipients of Bharat Ratna

Sachin Tendulkar - the fighter!

It all started with a bang at Wankhede and it is going to end at Wankhede - hopefully with a bang, last one from the master himself. What happened in between these two matches is what the world saw with an awe and that sums it all for him.

There are so many stories all around - newspaper and television interviews are all filled with good words for the little master but this piece is differently said.

Ever seen a mongoose fight a snake - that was what used to happen whenever he faced Shane Warne. Shane admits that he was tougher to bowl to than Brian Lara. According to him Sachin was at his best from 1994 to 2000. Shane has got Sachin quite a few times but it was Sachin who proved to be mongoose and clearly so.

Sir Don Bradman has himself admitted that Sachin bats much like him. These are not shallow words and will remain etched deep in the history of cricket.

Amitabh Bachchan has compared Sir Viv Richards with Sachin. Viv used to come onto the crease with lot of arrogance - arrogance  that came with the ability and confidence. It was as though he continued from where he had stopped earlier on. Whereas the little master, no matter how many runs were behind him, no matter how much experience was behind him used to start from zero. Yeah, Sachin's every innings started from scratch, he learnt from every ball bowled to him. He liked to bat long and make every chance he got count.

I remember the way he played in his initial part of his career. He was a flamboyant batsman then too. His first ODI century came only in the year 1994 - his 79th ODI and with five years after his debut. That is where he matured as a player. I think, that is where he realized that every chance counts - hit it or miss it. After this point there was no looking back - it was gradually from here on that he earned the title of "little master".

Years passed by - and during this phase India was Tendulkar or Tendulkar was India. Indian team was evolving and Australians were the mighty rulers. His batting was treat to watch and India turned Sachin crazy!

In 2000s, Tendulkar continued his slaughter. Tests were dominated by very very special Laxman and Dravid, but Tendulkar never stopped counting his centuries. In World Cup 2003, he was highest scorer with 523 runs. India reached the finals, but lost terribly against the Australians.

World cup 2011 was another ball game for Tendulkar. Kissing the World Cup was the only thing he dreamt of from childhood and this was his last chance. He was the inspiration, he was the reason, he was everything that India wanted at that time. No doubt Yuvraj was the Man of the Series and Gautam Gambhir Man of the Match in the finals, but it was Tendulkar who motivated Yuvraj Singh, who was out of form and from Indian side for sometime before the World Cup. World Cup 2011 was all Sachin's - the team performed - but it was all for and because of the little master!

Sachin knew exactly when he was going to retire. He has chosen the right time as many say it. Had he retired after poor performance in World Cup 2007 - most probably India wouldn't have won in 2011. Twenty-four years of tireless learning is what distinguishes the master from the rest. Every ball is different and Sachin tries to learn something from every ball bowled to him - no matter if it was smashed out of the ground or if it hit his wickets. Sachin means learning, continuous learning! I am sure he will learn something from the last test which he is yet to play! Waiting to watch ...

The change that India needs ...

Today, being 67th Indian Independence day, the day started with flag hoisting and Prime Minister's address to the nation from Red Fort, New Delhi. It was Dr. Manmohan Singh's 10th Independence day speech from that place. But there was something different today. To break the Prime Minister' monotone, Gujarat Chief Minister and probable BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, addressed the nation today from a lesser known place in Bhuj, Kutch. Yes, Narendra Modi addressed the "nation", the media played it live and was also followed by comments from political analysts.

Modi was on a visit to Indo-Pak border to meet Border Security Force (BSF) jawans in Bhuj, specially because of recent incidents of firing along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. He wisely chose to be there when he knew that the nation will be following him as takes on the prime minister in his address.

Modi, in his address, took Prime Minister head-on and all the points raised by him were relevant. He challenged the Prime Minister for an open debate on various topics of growth and governance. This is more seen as going the US way of fighting elections and is very much welcome in India. Though there were quite a few instances of war of words in media between NDA's Prime Ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani and UPA candidate Dr. Manmohan Singh during 2009 general elections, this challenge if taken up will be a direct debate and should be the way ahead.

What I see in Modi's speech is "change"! There was a touch, though feeble, of that of the US President Barack Obama's famous election speech on "change". Direct television debates, instead of cold war of words, is the way forward. It helps one to directly compare and choose their leader. Voting for the leader, as against the party, should be encouraged, though party's define the idealogy - I believe strong leadership is equally important. If idealogy is the backbone of the party, leadership is execution - which should undoubtedly be strong.

I believe, until now, Indian politics has been leadership driven. It is the leader that the people vote for. For good or bad reasons it was the face from Nehru-Gandhi family so far and not the Congress party that has won! But there were quite a few elections in which people voted for party - mostly third front came in power in those scenarios. In 2004, it was Sonia Gandhi who was the face, but Dr. Manmohan Singh was made the leader; 2009, according to me, was different - it was still Sonia Gandhi's leadership that Dr. Manmohan Singh won. Yeah, we should start giving credit to individuals rather than party as a whole.

UPA and Third front, if at all it comes into picture, should also declare their prime ministerial candidate much in advance. This is a small change - but much in lines of what is partly in practice already. So Dr. Manmohan Singh or whosoever is declared UPA's Prime Ministerial candidate, sportingly should accept Narendra Modi's challenge (assuming Modi to be NDA's candidate here) and jump into the arena!