"TEN*TEN"-DULKAR: 'CHASE YOUR DREAMS, DREAMS DO COME TRUE!'

"Enjoy the game and chase your dreams because dreams do come true. Mine did when we won the World Cup after 22 years." This is what the great man Sachin Tendulkar said after hitting his 100th ton. What is so significant about this record of 100 hundreds? Do you know? Do you have any idea? Well, almost every Indian does have! But, for those who do not have any idea or do not follow the Game of Cricket, they can get the feel. How? Pick-up a Cricket Bat in your hand and raise it above your shoulder 100 times and you will come to know at the end of it all, the significance!

Well, even then some will say, he raised his bat 200 times in his 100 hundreds: for the 100 50’s and then, for those 50’s getting converted into 100’s. Valid point isn’t it? The man has served the Game for 23 years and still says proudly, "When I consider retirement, don't worry, I will not hide it from anyone. I will play as long as I am enjoying it and as long as I can contribute to the team." This is the spirit that has induced him to go on and score those 100 hundreds.

He has shared the dressing room with three generations of Indian Cricketers and is still going strong. "I am glad about the journey. It has tested my patience, my character. So many people have had questions; I don't read any of them. Somebody who has not gone through this will have only questions, not answers. I felt even after 22 years, the cricket god was testing me over the last one year. I will be honest, I was frustrated at times, but I never gave up," Tendulkar said after the match against Bangladesh which the team lost. He has almost every international record under his belt but Tendulkar insisted that he does not play for milestones. "I've never played cricket for milestones. While playing I have ended up breaking a few records (only 'a few', naughty..:)..), but that was never my goal. I play cricket just because I enjoy the game. The 100th hundred was the most difficult."

Sachin Tendulkar is a great sportsperson, no doubt about that! But what makes him great: his records? No! His consistency for the last 23 years makes him a legend. Today, he doesn’t have that power in his arms and does not muscles the ball anymore. But, he has discovered new ways of scoring: the Upper-cuts, the Paddle sweeps, the late cuts and more to come! He scored a 100 in the IPL last year which speaks about his form and his aggression, both are intact.

May the great man Tendulkar score many more and provide many more cheering moments for his followers who love their hero, respect their God!

Do leave your comments if you have something in mind. It will be fun, believe me:)

SHOULD POLITICIANS BE ‘COUNTRY LOVERS’ OR ‘CAREER MAKERS’?

Politics, a term used to describe many aspects of Indian democratic system. Politics is the systematic establishment for the election of the Government in India, it is a bitter activity which our Politicians exercise for their mean political gains, when written in hindi, as 'Rajneeti', it becomes the name of a super-hit Bollywood movie and above all, it is a bright career option today. 

I said it is a career option, but, is it good for the Common Man if the people start conceiving it as a Career Option (I accept that many do take it as a career option today as well)? Will it help the society or will it bring the cut throat competition in this domain? I do think the competition in this field will certainly help the country both for short term and for long term. Today, the Common Man does not have many options to pick his leader from. The recent Polls is Uttar Pradesh is the recent example supporting my point. The People there had no other option but to give another chance to the Samajwadi Party (SP) to whom they gave one chance before choosing the BSP when they made a mess of their chance with their so called Gunda-Raj! The SP won in UP because the people were fed-up: by the Congress and their Seasoned or I should say, Seasonal Campaigner Rahul Gandhi, by the BJP's non-reliability and BSP's unsatisfactory performance in the past 5 years. So, who left? The Samajwadi Party which is now being called, 'Samaj-worthy' Party by many!

The first impression of the word Politics a Common Man has is a soothing belief of it being a social work and the care taking of the fellow beings by an Uncommon Man (I hope you got the meaning of this term, if not, read my previous post: Is Common Man So Common!). The Politicians, if they have that zeal somewhere in their hearts to work for their people, which has a very close resemblance to the Country Love, then the People will get what they want, that is the Jobs, the Electricity, the Infrastructure at their native place and the leader will find his Political graph elevating. But, if he has this Career Elevation in mind, then will the Common Men get the benefits which they got in the previous case when the leader was country lover? No, certainly! 

Today unfortunately, we don't have too many Country Lovers in our political community and Career Makers are many, in fact, more than many. Charles De Gaulle (1890 - 1970) was right when, out of disgust at the behaviour of French politicians said: 'I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians'. And certainly, the Elections in UP proved it again. The aggressive orations of the politicians, the open violations of the Election Commission norms do not interest the Common Man any longer. The Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Beni Prasad Verma, Sri Prakash Jaiswal and Salman Khurshid gave some controversial remarks in their UP campaigns and got some sticking of the media. One of them said that either the Congress will form the Government in UP or else there is no other option except for president's rule! So confident, must say!