I haven't said anything!
I don't need to, because Harsha Bhogle said it best when he said, "There's not even one dry eye in the commentator's box (which I'm sure was only his sandbox to say the entire Wankhede stadium, or the World at large)!
Not sure why I automatically found myself in front of the TV, when he got out at 74. That's when it started, along with his one last walk back. It's been that way through his farewell speech and reading it again the next day and even several hours after that.
But what moved me most was the email that popped into the mail app on my iPhone even as I sat waiting for a flight I was not even supposed to be on, to board, in the wee hours of Sunday and needless to say, sleepless.
I've never done this before but I would be remiss if I don't do this today. The rest of this story is just the verbatim of that email from Arun, who incidentally is not just among the most avid followers of this blog, but a temendous source of motivation for everything I do.
Thank you da Arun! For everything. What can I say? The wetness still hasn't left my eyes...
Hello da Suri, just tried your cell 2 days back last Thursday. Just called to chat abt our hero retiring. Of course, turned off by the media making hay while the sun shines. But cannot ignore on the personal front,how big a part our man has had to do with our enjoyment of cricket. From our 17 to 17 years from retirement.
Felt like sharing a couple of related personal anecdotes in my life:
1990
Reminding me of the extent of pain that the mind was willing to bear in those days just to have a glimpse of this guy- Right before our 12th Model exams, I had watched an entire ODI innings(Ind vs NZ) standing alone in the middle of the night, starting at 2:30am, with the daunting potential to be mowed down by my parents if they even sniffed something remote. Woke up at 2:30 am without an alarm(of course it had to be that way) and the watching had to be done standing, just to intercept the light from the TV falling on my dad's eyes who was sleeping in the TV room. Every creak from the fan or water hammer in the pipes was met with a suspension of the heart, sensing doomsday. Another weird thing that happened was when I had first woken up, the clock showed exactly 2:30 in the hall, not 2:31 or 2:29, with just this mental alarm. Of course, whether I attributed this to sheer overcoming of infinitesimal odds or to the powers of the human mind under intense wanting, I could certainly not share the excitement with anyone around.
1996
I came to the USA the very first time during the 1996 world cup with 80% of itinerary remaining, through the traditional body-shopping consulting firm route, with exactly $500 in my pocket.
The situation was like No project-No salary. "When will I get a project?" Not sure! Never mind, "Do you know when will I get an interview", "Can't say that either!"- Had 0 interviews in the 1st month. Thanks to Krishna (PSBB), found a West indian bar in Queens that showed these matches. I had to be in Krishna's place in Queens leaving at 3:00 am from Metropark and of course these were the times when I didn't know if NJ was a state or a city OR how exactly was it related to this New York, not to forget this was the pre-internet, cell phone era. Walking in February snow at 3:00 am, alone in the street with an Indian jacket that was a joke, to catch 3 trains raised questions of my sanity among fellow benchmates. The umpteen mugging stories from friends/Krishna himself didn't help my confidence either. There was also the minor matter of each of these sports visits causing a dent of 10% on my bank balance with no visibility of when the next credit would post. I somehow managed to see all the 7 Indian matches with our Man being the sole inspiration and HE, if you remember was a class apart from the rest. He made a string of scores like 70,90,127,137 etc. It was just unbelievable and the sheer resources invested into this, material or otherwise, enhanced the pleasure derived from each of these outings immensely. On top of it I was able to watch these games on a truly international setting with Indians and Pakis rubbing shoulders and the rivalry created an hitherto unexperienced excitement, not to mention that India won against Pak-remember aamir sohail bowled by venkatesh prasad after he went berserk!!!
All these are just a few of the gazillion moments of enjoyment that was caused by our Number 10.
What I have enjoyed the most about him- More than the runs, More than the records, More than the milestones has been HIS posture, the stance, the 100 micro adjustments that would manifest in all parts of his body in 0.21 seconds to make that most picture-perfect straight drive or cover-drive or the flick backward of square, that would take hours for a professional photographer to elicit from his subject, before the camera, never mind before Glenn Mcgrath. This is what I believe that no other guy would be able to give in my lifetime. These were the times when I felt I'd take a 20 from our man compared to an Indian win or 100 from Dravid, no offense to Dravid.
Just in case the abundance of his presence in the past 24 years has devalued the appreciation for what he has provided by just a tad, I am sure it will be only a few more decades, when Time would have rendered us the chosen few who could proudly declare to the younger minds "Yes I have seen the Master bat"
I know only a couple of souls that could resonate in sync with this state of mind.
Hence,
Arun
P.S.
Yet even as the mind solemnly reminisces,staring into darkness under the comforter at night, and regrets the reality that it can witness this no more, after careful deliberation, it realizes that it was indeed a supreme blessing from the Lord in the first place to have even made it possible for us to enjoy this PHENOMENON to this degree,over this much time, in terms of bestowing so many prerequisites - our timing in this world, our nationality, our interests, even one of which if misaligned, would have greatly reduced our thirst and consequently the degree of our enjoyment. OR even after all this, if we still feel it isn't enough, that is probably the precise reason why Shankara said this materialistic enjoyment is an illusion.
I don't need to, because Harsha Bhogle said it best when he said, "There's not even one dry eye in the commentator's box (which I'm sure was only his sandbox to say the entire Wankhede stadium, or the World at large)!
Not sure why I automatically found myself in front of the TV, when he got out at 74. That's when it started, along with his one last walk back. It's been that way through his farewell speech and reading it again the next day and even several hours after that.
But what moved me most was the email that popped into the mail app on my iPhone even as I sat waiting for a flight I was not even supposed to be on, to board, in the wee hours of Sunday and needless to say, sleepless.
I've never done this before but I would be remiss if I don't do this today. The rest of this story is just the verbatim of that email from Arun, who incidentally is not just among the most avid followers of this blog, but a temendous source of motivation for everything I do.
Thank you da Arun! For everything. What can I say? The wetness still hasn't left my eyes...
Hello da Suri, just tried your cell 2 days back last Thursday. Just called to chat abt our hero retiring. Of course, turned off by the media making hay while the sun shines. But cannot ignore on the personal front,how big a part our man has had to do with our enjoyment of cricket. From our 17 to 17 years from retirement.
Felt like sharing a couple of related personal anecdotes in my life:
1990
Reminding me of the extent of pain that the mind was willing to bear in those days just to have a glimpse of this guy- Right before our 12th Model exams, I had watched an entire ODI innings(Ind vs NZ) standing alone in the middle of the night, starting at 2:30am, with the daunting potential to be mowed down by my parents if they even sniffed something remote. Woke up at 2:30 am without an alarm(of course it had to be that way) and the watching had to be done standing, just to intercept the light from the TV falling on my dad's eyes who was sleeping in the TV room. Every creak from the fan or water hammer in the pipes was met with a suspension of the heart, sensing doomsday. Another weird thing that happened was when I had first woken up, the clock showed exactly 2:30 in the hall, not 2:31 or 2:29, with just this mental alarm. Of course, whether I attributed this to sheer overcoming of infinitesimal odds or to the powers of the human mind under intense wanting, I could certainly not share the excitement with anyone around.
1996
I came to the USA the very first time during the 1996 world cup with 80% of itinerary remaining, through the traditional body-shopping consulting firm route, with exactly $500 in my pocket.
The situation was like No project-No salary. "When will I get a project?" Not sure! Never mind, "Do you know when will I get an interview", "Can't say that either!"- Had 0 interviews in the 1st month. Thanks to Krishna (PSBB), found a West indian bar in Queens that showed these matches. I had to be in Krishna's place in Queens leaving at 3:00 am from Metropark and of course these were the times when I didn't know if NJ was a state or a city OR how exactly was it related to this New York, not to forget this was the pre-internet, cell phone era. Walking in February snow at 3:00 am, alone in the street with an Indian jacket that was a joke, to catch 3 trains raised questions of my sanity among fellow benchmates. The umpteen mugging stories from friends/Krishna himself didn't help my confidence either. There was also the minor matter of each of these sports visits causing a dent of 10% on my bank balance with no visibility of when the next credit would post. I somehow managed to see all the 7 Indian matches with our Man being the sole inspiration and HE, if you remember was a class apart from the rest. He made a string of scores like 70,90,127,137 etc. It was just unbelievable and the sheer resources invested into this, material or otherwise, enhanced the pleasure derived from each of these outings immensely. On top of it I was able to watch these games on a truly international setting with Indians and Pakis rubbing shoulders and the rivalry created an hitherto unexperienced excitement, not to mention that India won against Pak-remember aamir sohail bowled by venkatesh prasad after he went berserk!!!
All these are just a few of the gazillion moments of enjoyment that was caused by our Number 10.
What I have enjoyed the most about him- More than the runs, More than the records, More than the milestones has been HIS posture, the stance, the 100 micro adjustments that would manifest in all parts of his body in 0.21 seconds to make that most picture-perfect straight drive or cover-drive or the flick backward of square, that would take hours for a professional photographer to elicit from his subject, before the camera, never mind before Glenn Mcgrath. This is what I believe that no other guy would be able to give in my lifetime. These were the times when I felt I'd take a 20 from our man compared to an Indian win or 100 from Dravid, no offense to Dravid.
Just in case the abundance of his presence in the past 24 years has devalued the appreciation for what he has provided by just a tad, I am sure it will be only a few more decades, when Time would have rendered us the chosen few who could proudly declare to the younger minds "Yes I have seen the Master bat"
I know only a couple of souls that could resonate in sync with this state of mind.
Hence,
Arun
P.S.
Yet even as the mind solemnly reminisces,staring into darkness under the comforter at night, and regrets the reality that it can witness this no more, after careful deliberation, it realizes that it was indeed a supreme blessing from the Lord in the first place to have even made it possible for us to enjoy this PHENOMENON to this degree,over this much time, in terms of bestowing so many prerequisites - our timing in this world, our nationality, our interests, even one of which if misaligned, would have greatly reduced our thirst and consequently the degree of our enjoyment. OR even after all this, if we still feel it isn't enough, that is probably the precise reason why Shankara said this materialistic enjoyment is an illusion.
