La Copa De La Vida-a Nation's Dream

The cup of life, this is the one

Now is the time, don't ever stop

Push it along, gotta be strong.

Push it along, right to the top...........

And when you feel the heat. The world is at your feet

No one can hold you down. If you really want it

Just steal your destiny. Right from the hands of fate

Reach for the cup of life. 'Cause your name is on it

Do you really want it...(YEAH)

Do you really want it...(YEAH)..........

Go, go ,go! Ale, Ale, Ale

Tonight's the night, we're gonna celebrate

The cup of life!!! Ale, Ale, Ale.

Thus goes the famous lines of a song written by the Franco-Spaniard Ricky Martin which was the FIFA 98' anthem that went on to inspire Zizou(Zinedine Zidane) and Les Bleus to lift the cup for the 1st time in history of football.4 years down the line,they were kicked out in the very 1st round and in 2006,they resurrected from the grave to reach the finals under the inspired leadership of Zizou only to lose ignominiously to Italy....thanks to Buffon's famous save of Zizou's header!!!

Do not think that I am a fool to write about football when the cricket world cup is just a month away...I am in fact drawing comparisons between the two famous Les Bleus in different sporting arenas-France in Football and India in Cricket.

To me,it appears that we shall be doing a sort of Les Bleus world cup campaigns but in the reverse order.In 2003,we lost ignominiously to Australia at The Wanderers(with Sachin getting out to a McGrath bouncer in the 1st over being the equivalent of Buffon's save and Sachin just like Zidane in 2006 getting the Man of the Tournament Award) and in 2007,our Caribbean honeymoon ended prematurely in the 1st round(Sachin just like Zizou in 2002 was totally out of form) and in 2011...hope it is 1998:France and 2011:India,we shall win the Cup of Life at home and Sachin is the main reason behind it mirroring Zidane's 1998 victorious campaign.Let us pray and hope that we become the 1st team apart from the Baggy Green to win the world cup in the new millennium.

If one man deserves to win the world cup,it must be Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar more than any one else.Recently I came across an advertisement by Star Network (Sachin being the official event ambassador for this world cup) where a bunch of kids(the size of 2-litre Coke bottles) cutely with dedication prepare Sachin's cricket kit and prepare him for the match by wishing him 'Best Of Luck,Sachin'.

I am posting here what the TIME magazine wrote on Sachin:-

When Sachin Tendulkar travelled to Pakistan to face one of the finest bowling attacks ever assembled in cricket, Michael Schumacher was yet to race a F1 car, Lance Armstrong had never been to the Tour de France, Diego Maradona was still the captain of a world champion Argentina team, Pete Sampras had never won a Grand Slam.

When Tendulkar embarked on a glorious career taming Imran and company, Roger Federer was a name unheard of; Lionel Messi was in his nappies, Usain Bolt was an unknown kid in the Jamaican backwaters. The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to "open" the Nehruvian economy.

It seems while Time was having his toll on every individual on the face of this planet, he excused one man. Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar. We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will.

But what the TIME magazine does not say is that I was just 101 days old when Sachin made his debut and today I am 21 years young(thanks for Sachin still playing the game as we feel younger)....everything about me has changed and the environment that surrounds me has changed too but watching Sachin play connects me to the sweet childhood memories that lay etched in the hearts but has faded slightly.But Sachin,TIME has embraced him and ironically TIME itself has told the fact out in the open!!!

This time...when the world cup has come to our country where Cricket legends are worshipped like GODS,I hope and pray that TEAM INDIA wins,if not for us,atleast for HIM.....Boost may be the secret behind Sachin's energy but Sachin is the secret behind Team India's energy,this Nation's energy and the millions of lovers' (of this game) energy!!!

Hope on April 2nd,2011 the dream of this nation will be realised and with it I think THE SUN WILL EVANESCE AWAY INTO THE HORIZON.....SACHIN,may the sweet touch of your willow bring joy to us for one last world cup while we pray that you shall return home with a SMILE on your lips and a TWINKLE in your eyes as we just like the bunch of kids wish you in one voice 'BEST OF LUCK,SACHIN'!!!