Sachin Tendulkar

There was a time I was a rabid fan then an admirer and later of and on critic. Near 70-80th   century he became totally self absorbed scoring last 20 runs to century in pain staking singles to the detriment of team interest, this however can be forgiven after all he is human. Lets us not get overboard then. He is an awesome cricketer but just a human like you and me. The cricket part is gift just as Lata got her voice, V Anand his ability to think chess. Are we to celebrate a gift? If so we may as well declare a lottery winner a hero. He says he worked hard, Lata too says she worked hard in fact she did work hard to get her Urdu diction right (btw it is flawless) M F Hussain too worked hard but there are hundreds of cricketers who have worked harder but they lacked the gift so remained on the periphery.

There was a tennis player Ivan Lendl, a fellow with enormous focus and purpose in life. He was not gifted like John McEnroe or other legends of tennis but his dedication and focus to reach to top of tennis is stuff to be admired. A man without the gift carved a place for himself at the top. He is my hero.

S R Tendulkar can be my hero if he takes a call on controversial political issues. He has an aura and status to influence people and government, let him use that position to influence thinking of society rather than keeping a convenient neutral stance. A fellow who takes the path of least resistance can't my hero.