Monday, October 14, 2013

Tendulkar Retiring or Is It My Affair with the Game Ending?

It had been on the horizon for a while, but when the news finally came, it was still hard to process. Sachin Tendulkar, the cricketing icon who had been a constant presence in our lives for over two decades, announced that he was going to retire. It wasn’t immediate—he hadn’t retired yet—but the mere declaration that it was coming felt like the end of an era. For many of us, his retirement had been an unspoken truth, something we knew would eventually happen but could never fully imagine.

How could the man who had been a fixture of our lives for so long simply walk away? The thought was overwhelming. Our generation had grown up with Tendulkar, watching him rise, struggle, and eventually dominate the game. His journey had been interwoven with ours in ways that were almost inseparable. To think that he was stepping away felt like the end of not just his career but of something much deeper—an end to the connection we had with the game itself. Our maturing as individuals seemed so tied to his career that his departure felt like we, too, were being retired from the sport we loved. 

In many ways, Tendulkar’s retirement symbolized a personal loss. It wasn’t just about cricket; it was about an entire era of our lives. His career, alongside the careers of other stalwarts like Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, had been emblematic of the post-1991 transformation of India—a country emerging from its economic slumber and beginning to rise as a global power. The "India Shining" days, as espoused by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, mirrored the growing confidence of the country, with cricket serving as one of its most visible symbols of success. Tendulkar and his peers were more than just cricketers; they were the living symbols of India’s rise. 

However, as the global landscape shifted—especially with the 2008 financial downturn—the connection between these sporting icons and the India they represented became more poignant. India, along with the other BRICS nations, had weathered the economic storm, but the effects were still felt. It was during this period that we began to notice the retirements of some of these greats, and it felt like more than just the end of their cricketing careers—it felt like the end of an era. 

Tendulkar’s retirement, in this context, wasn’t just the departure of a cricketer—it was a farewell to an entire phase of India’s transformation. The post-liberalization, "India Shining" era that had begun with economic reforms in the early ’90s and accelerated through the new millennium had culminated in a golden period of cricketing success. But now, as these players retired, it seemed to signal the closing of a chapter. The transition was painful—not just because we were losing our heroes, but because their departures mirrored the fading of an era that had shaped our identity as a generation.

For us, the end of Tendulkar’s career wasn’t just about cricket—it was about the end of a time that had defined us. He and the other greats had not only represented Indian cricket on the world stage; they had also embodied the dreams and aspirations of a nation coming into its own. Their retirements marked a symbolic break from the "India Shining" days—days when we, as a country, felt on top of the world.

The moment Tendulkar announced his retirement, it was more than just a man walking away from the sport he had made his life’s work. It was a poignant reminder of the passing of time—of how, as individuals and as a country, we had matured alongside him. His departure made us confront the fact that we, too, were leaving behind an era that had been so central to our lives, and in some ways, that left us feeling unmoored. 

Tendulkar’s retirement wasn’t just his affair with the game ending—it was our affair with the game, and with the version of India he helped represent, coming to a close.