For the past week, as the whole world celebrated Sachin’s magnificent two decades of cricket, there were whispers of disappointment from some who felt that despite his stature and credibility, Sachin never really took a stand on social issues. This was felt particularly at times like ‘Godhra’. One knew that even a few words on peace and harmony, coming from the Master, would have gone a long way in spreading the message of stopping mindless killings at the behest of selfish political hoodlums. So last week, Sachin gave us another reason to cheer, when he unequivocally clarified his allegiance to the nation. At a time when even the so called stalwarts from the Bollywood allowed themselves to be held at ransom by the Sena, Sachin’s fearless reply at the press conference came as a breather. The Master lived up to our expectations and showed “Raj the boundary” in his simple yet inimitable style. There was no drama or rhetoric patriotic jingoism but he cut right across to the point. And the barb did get through, giving the senior Mr. Thakeray another ray of hope of drawing further political mileage by getting back at Sachin. But the Master is hardly going to allow himself to be dictated by the arbitrary mandates of the Sena.
One wonders as to what and who the two Senas really stand for. Intolerance at its worst is only what they really seem to represent. And now, after the split, it has also become a rat race of outdoing each other at the game of misplaced regionalism. Essentially all are annoying rebels without a cause. Infact, are any of these Senas really qualified to represent the Maratha pride? Are they more Maharashtrian than those like Tendulkar, who makes the entire nation proud even as he remains unfalteringly loyal to his Maharashtrian roots? These are some of the questions that the people of Maharashtra should start asking themselves as well as the two Senas.
Now that the Master has stood up for his belief, it remains to be seen whether the Bombaywallaas…oops….the ‘Mumbaikars’ take a stand, come in support of their very own ‘Marathi Manoos’ and finally show all the Sena Thakerays (senior, junior, who ever ) ‘the boundary’. Infact reactions from the cricket fraternity itself left a lot to be desired. One expected a better show of solidarity at this point.
Sanjay Manjrekar in an interview with CNN IBN said that “Mumbai is about free spirited confident people”. It is time to come out in the open with all such spirit and confidence, as the nation watches.
