Where was I...when God descended?

Unbelievable - I missed it! I missed 'the day' and 'the moment' when God descended. Of course he is God. Who else would he be? Sachin Tendulkar - the one and only. He was the sole reason I watched cricket. Yes - 'watched'. I no longer follow the sport. No reasons given. Sad. And he is the ONE who has now pulled me back in. Thank you Sachin Tendulkar.

I have realised the intensity, the gravity and the aura of Sachin all-over again. Every possible source is speaking of him. The news media with its statistics, pictures, long features didnt make that impact as much as the status messages I read of each of my friend on Facebook. It made me stand up and realise about my missed chance. My mouse click was an instant like for every status. Such adulation. Such pride. Such a sense of apnapan. Such an obsession. Such surety - as if they were all certain, only Sachin and Sachin only could have achieved the 200* landmark and that conquest could never have belonged to any other player. I am happy for all my friends and for all believers of the God. Yes - only he could have done it....

But where was I when God descended? I was caught in the trap of not being a sport enthusiast any more. For, I was caught in my self created world where being content has made me complacent and unaware of another parallel - real world. With real achievements occurring each waking moment. My bubble is finally broken. The spots have sprinkled all over and dried. I can see the other world with faint clarity. But I see it. I am now left with a heart-felt desire to not miss any more opportunities of being absent when God descends.

I secretly garnered the dream of wanting to see Sachin in person. At least a chance to watch him create wonderment and magic with his bat. And I have been lucky just like a big huge heap of people out there. By the way, did I mention - this was a game versus Pakistan? Super thrill it was. I can never let go of the moment when I stood among others on a stadium chair waving the biggest Indian flag I could lay my hands on. I still have the flag. Its my treasure!

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for reigniting the lost passion in me. Thank you for pumping in such pride among us country-men.

PS: I would never want to forget my friend Rahul's status message on FB the following day. It read, "sincere apologies, sachin..thru the innings was askin myself idiotic questions..is the pitch very flat..is the ground too small..r they gonna be hammerin our bowlers too..feel shitty for thinkin so..u r the greatest ever, mr. sachin ramesh tendulkar. u make us indians most proud!!"

Sachin Tendulkar created cricketing history by becoming the first ever player to score 200* runs in ODI on 24. February. 2010. It is indeed his-story!