If you are a cricket fan,
there is no need to repeat the incomparable (some would say, unbelievable)
statistics that India’s Sachin Tendulkar has compiled in a 24-year career that
began when the little master was a mere 18. If you are NOT a cricket fan, that
is, an American (not naturalized!), well, there is no point in repeating
Tendulkar’s record either. It will make no sense to you.
However, most of the world
has taken note of the retirement of the great one. It was - surprise, surprise
- front page news in my local San Jose Mercury News.
What has been the hallmark
of this unassuming man in all the years he has been under the relentless
spotlight was his humility, a quality that will undoubtedly continue to
characterize him as he settles down into a normal life.
It was on full display in the
emotional speech he gave after batting for the last time against
West Indies in his hometown of Mumbai.
(Ask yourself, in which
other country would fans fast - that’s right, give up food for a day when
their hero was batting, so he could score another century? Only unconditional love
and respect can compel fans to do that.)
Class. Grace. Courage.
Persistence. Plowing on when adversity strikes. These qualities sum up Sachin Tendulkar. For the
Indian government to honor him with the highest civilian award of Bharat Ratna
(Jewel of India) was perhaps the most obvious coda to a life lived so well both
on and off the field.
There is another momentous
match going on India now as well: the world chess championship between defending
champion Vishwanath Anand and the 22-year old Norwegian “Mozart of Chess,” Magnus
Carlsen.
The match is taking place in
Chennai (formerly Madras). Anand is also an Indian, so a billion Indians are gripped
by the progress of this hero of theirs as well.
But other than their Indian
origin, one will be hard-pressed to find any similarity between Tendulkar and
Anand.
This became glaringly obvious during the press conference following the
Carlsen victory in the 6th match (Carlsen leads Anand 4-2 in the 6
games played so far).
Obviously Anand was in a
sour mood. After all, he was playing white and his blunders were obvious to chess players around the world.
Yet his responses to reporters’ questions showed
the wide gap between him and Tendulkar in the grace department.
“I will do my
best in the remaining games,” he said response to a query about his chances of defending
his crown. When another reporter asked him to elaborate on what he meant
by “I will do my best,” Anand snapped at the reporter: “Do my best means do my
best. Don’t you understand English?”
In a previous question,
Anand was asked about Tendulkar and the adulation that Indians were showering
on him. He was vague about it but then added, “I have other things on my mind.”
Vishwanath Anand makes his
home in Spain. He is undoubtedly up there with the best chess minds the world
has ever produced. Anyone who has won the world chess championship five times
and who has been the undisputed champion since 2007 surely ranks among the
best. He may yet regain his poise and beat Magnus Carlsen to retain his title.
But when it comes to grace
and humility, Tendulkar, who would never dream of living abroad, is ahead of
Anand by miles.
Two Indian geniuses in their
respective fields but only one is also a towering human being.
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