Sachin Tendulkar in Rajya Sabha: Why this Kolaveri?

Outrage everywhere as Sachin Tendulkar, India’s Cricketing God, decides to accept an invitation from the Congress Party to join the Rajya Sabha as a nominated member! We all know that outrage is our national past time, and we spend considerable time outraging on anything and everything usually stupid things but never on those things which we should really outrage upon. We usually outrage against personal decisions taken by others, and in this case it is almost funny and to an extent irritation looking at the way how people are protesting loudly against this decision of his by unfollowing @sachin_rt on Twitter in droves and making nasty comments on News websites’ commenting columns and so on.

I really fail to understand why there is so much Kolaveri against Sachin for doing this. What I gather from the comments on Twitter is:

1. “Sachin is God”, pure as white satin, and he should not be mixed up in something as dirty as politics.
2. The party he is joining is perceived to be totally corrupt and anti-national, and so will he be now.
3. He should not accept this because “This is not what he is, he is an idol and he cannot do this!”
4. Politics. Supporters of he other party haranguing him and so on.
5. “We are what made you, so you need to do what we want you to do”

People are horrified at the thought that someone they worshipped as God could descend down to this level of mere mortal-ness of accepting invitations to join politics, that too with a commonly hated party! But while I understand what they feel like, they cannot unfortunately make decisions in his life. It looks like people are so entitled that each and everything other people do should have their stamp of approval.

1. It is his decision. You cannot dictate what he or anyone else for that matter should do or not do with their life. Who are you?
2. People complain that there are not good enough people in politics. But when good people try to join politics, they outrage. make up your minds!
3. Choose your idols carefully. Most have feet of clay and are as human as you or me, one of the biggest lessons I have learned in life.
4. On another note, I don’t believe the saying that “Parties are corrupt”, it is people in the party who are corrupt. Do you mean that any other party, or for that matter anyone else is any less corrupt?

Despite having 1/7th of the World’s population, our country has hardly anything to show for it and we are way depraved of greatness factors to show the World other an chest-thumping about our “Culture” and virgin brides. Cricket gives a welcome break from this. But this has turned into an obsession which some people are promptly selling off for good $$$, so much so that “Cricket is our religion and Sachin is our God” has become the national slogan. For a large number of our countrymen who consider politics as dirtier than a Mumbai gutter or the Chennai Coovum who considered Sachin as someone reproachable and uber-human who was beyond everything mortal, all this came as a rude shock. For them, I have a little something to share:

There are No Heros or Godmen, Only Humans.

Once upon a time I was an incorrigible Cricket-freak. I had scores and statistics in my head, know what tournament and game was going to start and end when, know the middle names of most Cricketers by heart and never missed a match, Test or ODI. I read 5 newspapers and clipped out important score cards and reports. For me there was not just one God but 12. I was so taken by the game that my grades started suffering and my parents were getting short-tempered. Then the great match-fixing scandal of 1999 broke. I first refused to believe this and dismissed it as some small time fraud blown out of proportion by our sensationalist media. But I had to finally accept that the Elephant in the room. I was devastated as I realized that we all were being played for fools all this time, that as we were wasting time and lives glued to the idiot box rooting and crying for our team, taking their pain and joy as our own, they were just blatantly selling us off to the highest bidder, playing to a script fetching them money and probably laughing at us stupid “fans” while we were not looking. They who were supposed to bring glory and victory for the nation and were idolized by hundreds of millions were all Judases in blue selling all our honor for 30 Silver Dollars.

It took weeks for me for the realization to sink in and I went into depression even as Dad smirked and said “I told you so!” After days of deliberation I threw away all my cricketing collections: statistical records, writings, cards, paper-cuttings and cut all links with the game. Enough was enough. I realized that my idols had not descended from heaven but were only human, and like any of us – greedy, selfish and corrupt humans, who cared for only who they are and no one else. And despite what we think believe they have no obligations towards us whatsoever, have no accountability and responsibility to the hordes of people called “fans” because unlike Rockstars or Movie Stars, the general public has no say in what they become, as they have their game and related statistics to speak for themselves. Sure, not everyone is a rip-off artist and there are honorable men all around, SRT one of them, maybe, but still, they are all humans.

And from that day, I vowed that I would never again see any homo-sapien as an “idol” or “hero”. They are all human and the rest is marketing.

Why This Kolaveri? Leave Him Alone!

So what I would say is, leave him alone. He is a mortal who does his business (playing Cricket) to make a living who found another way to forward his career. That was the reason why when the news and associated shit-storm on Twitter broke about Sachin declaring himself to be an actor to evade tax, I was hardly surprised. Yes, you can say he “should not” do this, but you can not go up to him and demand “You Will Not Do This!” This is a free country. He can join the Rajya Sabha, Gotra-Council or a damn Khap-Panchayat if he wants to. He won’t even acknowledge your presence because unfortunately, he does not give a damn about your (or my) opinion, and will continue to do what he pleases. It may take some time for you to realize that. He accepted the invite because he must have thought it to be a natural progression for him as he is reaching the fag-end of his Cricketing career. He has done a lot for the country in one way or another, he is a great talented sportsperson, and well, that is it. He is just another human being in all other aspects.

And #UnfollowSachin is a joke. It is not going to make any change whatsoever. What I believe is that if you really are a fan of his, stand by him as long as he has not committed anything illegal. He is a great sportsman, a unparallelled legend in the Cricketing Universe, and that will never change. True fans will never switch loyalties for something they did out of personal interest that you cannot agree with, this hashtag alone shows how shallow and hypocritical the belief people have in their “God” or idol.

And I don’t follow Sachin Tendulkar on Twitter anyway. If you joined Twitter to follow celebrities, you are doing it wrong.

P.S. I am no fan of any political party or politicians.