Tendulkar’s India belongs to Ponting’s world

Just the other day, I witnessed a man generously spit on a pavement, where we, as pedestrians, are supposed to walk. No one minded — including a police constable who was chewing paan and was getting ready to spit — minded his actions and he went scot-free.

That selfish need of being relieved of a discomfort at the cost of public health, hygiene and safety (mind you, one can slip on phlegm like on a banana peel and break a neck or back) belittles the perpetrators. Of course, they are ignorant about this fact.

Then, a little later, I saw several motorists, who on noticing the absence of the traffic police at the MG Road-Kasturba Road Junction, jumped the red signal at the risk of the sparse, but speeding, oncoming traffic.

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Then there are scams and innumerable law-breaking incidents that we get to know about, which characterise the absolute indifference — giving a damn — to the law of the land.

But there is a striking irony — we consider cricket as almost a religion by itself in India and yet, we hardly take any lessons from the game which has given India several ‘gods’.

I am reminded of the manner in which Sachin Tendulkar walked out after snicking a Rampaul delivery into the wicketkeeper’s gloves in the match against West Indies, even as the umpire was busy ruling him “not out”.

That was not just Tendulkar walking out; it was conscience at play.

Long ago, I remember Little Master-I, Sunil Gavaskar, responding to a query on why he prefers walking out when he knows he is out, but the umpire has ruled otherwise.

Gavaskar had said: “If I know I am out, I know I am not good enough to play the next ball, so there’s no point in continuing the innings.”

When all praise was showered on Tendulkar for demonstrating sportsmanship for walking out in the match against West Indies, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was on record, stating that he wouldn’t have done that, and that he prefers the umpire ruling him out even if he knew that he was actually out.

Unfortunately, a cricket-crazy India fails to learn the lessons of conscience as demonstrated by Tendulkar and Gavaskar and even those by Ponting’s own former team-mate and vice-captain-cum-wicketkeeper, Adam Gilchrist.

If you look around, you will realise that most Indians who consider Tendulkar “God” actually belong to Ricky Ponting’s world, in which they prefer the authorities to deliver the judgement.

In the absence of an authority, the rule may well be broken, knowing that no detrimental action would be taken against a genuine case of violation of a rule or law of the land.

Life in India is like a game of cricket with not enough umpires to decide who is wrong and who is right. Our police and law enforcement agencies are dismally short-staffed. In that case, shouldn’t we as good citizens of the country decide on our own to follow the rules and laws of the land?

But we don’t! We are like the Pontings of the world who seem to say: “Let the umpire decide, then I shall walk!” And yet we refer to cricket as a “religion” in India and Tendulkar as a “God”.

Is there a better word that describes hypocrisy?

Posted in: sachin tendulkar