KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA……..

When there was no T.V, no internet, very few sources of entertainment, country was facing political hassles, our national game hockey was at its down fall, India was in desperate need of a hero who can give them something to cherish about.  Well, November 1989 to be very exact, a little boy with curly hairs and chubby cheeks, for whom the world wasn’t enough , stepped into international arena of cricket with big dreams in his eyes. The name was/is/will be Sachin Tendulkar.

From that day he is towing the expectations of 1 billion people on his little but firm shoulders.

Going down the memory lane, I still remember how much my life revolved around Sachin Tendulkar. Below are the some moments, which I will cherish throughout my life:

1. Still remember how I used to manage to wake up till 3am just to watch highlights of the master’s innings after watching the full match.

2. Still remember when I used to bunk school, just to watch the master play.

3. Still remember how I used to shout my level best while watching a live match in stadium when Sachin fields at the boundary.

4. Still remember how I used to switch off the TV after the master’s dismissal.

5. Still remember the TV shows “SACHIN @24”(DOORDARSHAN) and “LEGEND OF CRICKET” (ESPN).

6. Still remember how I was unable to concentrate in class thinking about Sachin whenever he scored a century and I missed it for some silly class.

7. Still remember what I was doing when master scored 200*(against South Africa), 143 (against Australia in sharjah), 136( against pak in chennai), 175 (against Australia in hydrabad ) and many more.

8. Still remember the long discussions with friends on the master blaster.

9. Still recall his career stats and the words he spoke in post match ceremony.

10. Still remember how I used to collect the master’s pictures and felt miserable when I missed him while playing ‘trumph cards’.

11. Still remember every advertisement in which Sachin was featured.

12. Still be superstitious when he is batting.

There are many, many memories and moments which I and my whole nation will cherish for years and years about the master.

I feel blessed to be born in the era of Sachin Tendulkar. Now after winning the world cup many people and media is talking about Sachin’s retirement, I just want to tell all those people that he has shared the dressing room with 4 generations of Indian cricket and yet he is still the backbone of our team.

So all that I would like to plead Sachin is....  KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA….

I would have spent my childhood otherwise,

I would have looked and grew up otherwise,

I would have had fewer memories to cherish,

If there was no Sachin Tendulkar.

                                                                                  ….NIKHIL SINGH.

UPES—university of ‘pagal’ and eccentric students

UPES—university of ‘pagal’ and eccentric students

Last week, a girl from UPES committed suicide and I don’t want put up any names.  I feel that people, who commit suicide, commit this heinous crime, when they feel that this is the end of the road, there is no other way left. But wait, why would a young, hardworking student who had the whole world ahead her did something like this. She got a GPA 3.4/4 which I can’t even think of.  I would have rather thrown a party for something like that. Now let’s get back to the topic, why she committed suicide, and the answer is the competitive world around her (yes I believe UPES is a world class university with even better students). Or maybe she was forced to excel, yes u got it right, I am talking about parental pressure.

Parents have high expectations from their child, and why won’t they? They are paying so much for the education. Educating one’s child is kind of a business investment, when one invests his heart out, he will definitely expect some profit from that investment.

But the problem arises when parents starts to expect too much from their child, far more than his/her caliber, this creates an extra stress and burden on the child, which leads to a complexity and inferiority in the child and he starts thinking that he is good for nothing (personal experience J)

Every child may not be academically excellent but he/she definitely posses some caliber, parents just need to help them out to realize it.

What if Sachin Tendulkar’s parents expected him to be an academic genius, What if Rahman’s mother  never allowed him to join ilayaraja’s music classes , we would have lesser reasons  to feel proud as an Indian.

…..NIKHIL SINGH