I don't remember how it began... all of a sudden,as an adolescent, I realised I was a 'Sachin fan'. I developed a new found love for cricket . I waited for India's matches. When such days arrived , I had nothing to do except wait for them to begin...pray for India's win and, more importantly, for Sachin . I know... u must be thinking...'just another silly young girl'...well !....everyone felt so... initially it was a source of humour for most...soon, it turned to irritation...with parents trying to educate me ...to be sensible...but I could never explain to them. I was not star struck. No...I did not have a crush on Sachin. Unlike my school friends...I was not planning to get married to him. I simply loved his game...!! I admired the persona...the talent, the humility, the excellence...the innumerable centuries...the excitement his game inspired...the sheer sense of thrill and the ecstasy to find the ball fly out of the ground...!!! He seemed to be someone I knew...very familiar...his world fascinated me. I feel funny, now when I recall how I had cried one afternoon ...when at the Eden Gardens, Shoaib Akhtar had pushed him..and he had fallen short of his crease... I had felt lost,once,when he pulled out of a series against West Indies...there was an outside chance of getting his autograph from someone who worked in the hotel the Indian team was supposed to put up at during that tour...I had a copy of his autograph..but this would have been special...it would have been addressed to me... by name..!! There was a time I craved to meet the Indian cricket stars...I was convinced that I would someday...the men who seemed so near yet so distant...
...I don't remember when indifference had set in...he was just another celebrity....I no more felt any sense of accomplishment if he hit a ton...It didn't really matter somehow...I had grown out of it...matured...I no more felt any urge to meet him...or the rest...
...I was at the Taj...the cricketers were there too...I didn't care..I had something else to look forward to..my parents' 25th marriage anniversary...even if I met them I would not feel the same way I did as a kid...the charm would be missing..I thought...
...I found it hard to believe that I was standing right next to Sachin...He was scribbling an autograph on the piece of paper I had extended to him...and then he was gone...
...was it real...?? ...it was!..I had a brush with the Indian cricketers...not just Sachin...but all of them...!! Excitement !!!.....not merely because I met those 'stars'....but because I had actually met them...!!! What I had wished as a child had actually come true...!!!!!!! ...You feel, 'here goes the silly girl again... and... we had thought she had grown up'...well...I know... I won't be able to explain.... a fitting culmination to a phase that began with a dream and ended in one...
....the little surprises that life springs on you....I loved this one...!
4 comments:
Thank you for stopping by my blog and I do hope you come by again.Loved the read about Sachin.you must love cricket.
WOW. Cool man. Lucky you. Hope this incident inspires you to do better. For , you met Mr. Perfectionist :)
Whoa lucky dude!
I guess I can understand ur situation...for I was almost the same when a kid...shared absolutely the same feelings as u said...but not on Sachin alone...rather the entire Team India! And so wanted to be a sports reporter...'silly gal goes again' :)
Enjoyed ur blog...Sweet one!
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