It’s quite natural to remember your closest family members
every time you cross a milestone in your personal or professional life. Just
the order of remembrance differs for many – some people spend a moment
remembering the almighty and then their parents or siblings who must have been
a great support in their advancement.
We saw that happening in cricket when Sachin Tendulkar
scored his hundredth hundred; as a matter of fact, every time he score a
hundred or passes a milestone, we see him looking up to have a word of thanks
to God, or it might as well be a word with his mentor whose soul we pray to
rest in peace.
Media replayed that image an umpteenth time in a way to salute
Sachin for his achievement, rightly so.
Gautam Gambhir too is not any bad when it comes to
remembering his beloved ones. Media had a tough time though to relay it on air
fearing how the young cricketers looking up to this rolled-gold idols to build
an identity would try and celebrate learning a lesson from Gauti! When Gautam
Gambhir’s team defeated Pune Warriors in yesterday’s IPL match, Gautam was very
prompt to remember his sister – particularly her private parts – (or was it
someone else’s?) and it was so well pronounced that the camera didn’t miss it
and parents would have gone blue if they were watching it with their daughters,
for such was the tempo of the word he used!
I am afraid of writing what he said, for, the moderator of
this esteemed forum (India's Trainers Forum) might not want such language to be used here. In same
breath, I am also afraid that there will be a few - in this very forum - who
might advocate his right to celebrate in whichever way he wishes as ideal!
What concerns me is not how he celebrates. What I am
concerned is how our young talents are wasted. Do you remember the name of a
young cricketer who is now running a music band? He would have been running in
the ground bowling for India wearing blue jersey, had he tamed his attitude and
listened a little bit to the rage of the ordinary people for the show he put
on, in the field. It took a cancer for
Yuvraj Singh to begin to smile on or off the filed - until then, even
celebrations was brutal as if to smile in the face of winning was a sign of
weakness, that it always had to accompany rage and an abusive word!! Fingergate
of Virat Kohli isn’t a distant story either.
Who is teaching them that celebrations cannot be gentle, and
that it has to be with a loud proclamation of the celebrators sister’s private
parts – which is the common language among the rogue cricketers in the gentle
Indian uniforms!! For over twenty years they are watching Sachin grow, and why
are they blind to the wonderful lessons he is leaving behind for them to learn?
They have had Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev – legends to learn behaviours
and skills alike!!
While I salute the skills of these big boys and respect their achievements at this young age, I fail to take
pride in their maturity to succeed as leaders of our sports in the time to
come.
And perhaps the guys in the commentary box should do all
what they can to put down behaviours as such and help keep the game gentle.
From the bedroom I hear my five year old daughter screaming "Didi.....! Sachin.....!" to her sister as she saw a glimpse of him on the screen batting against Chennai Kings! I wish the Gautams too will grow for the next generation to look up at them!!
ps : I am reminded of a Sales & Marketing team member we had at InterContinental Hotels Group where I worked before, who had his education from the Rolls Royce of hotel schools - Lausanne International, Switzerland - but had to be terminated in six months into his job - not because he didn't bring in revenue, but because his attitude was rotten and damaging the other apples in the basket.
Shahir
06/05/2012
