Mind says 'Bye'...Heart says 'Why'

I was 10 years old when I started loving Cricket. Watching every match, every ball glued to my T.V. set like a fly over a jaggery. I still do the same, but this madness for watching Cricket captured my mind when World Cup 2003 in South Africa was going on. Sachin was winning games over games for India. Every brilliant stroke he hit made me feel like wow! What a player! The upper-cut he invented against the short-fast delivery of Shoaib Akhtar was a shot that no Cricket-fan can forget. His straight drives, cover drives, pedal sweeps, shots over mid-wicket and almost all the boundaries he hit left a deep impression in my mind, so much that I madly shadow-practiced his shots. The only reason to watch an ODI was that Sachin was in the team.
Times came when Sachin got injured, he suffered a tennis-elbow, ankle-injuries and got left out from the squad. I still watched the matches without Sachin in the team but somewhere in my mind thought that "Hey! Sachin isn't playing, why are you forcefully watching the match just for the sake of watching it".
Every time Sachin faced criticism, for not being able to perform, he came back strongly and replied with either a century or an innings of steel. In 2007-08 Commonwealth Bank ODI tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka in Australia, Sachin was unable to score runs when the group stage was going on. Critics never left him and many a times stated that he should take retirement and that the time is over for him. But India moved to the best of three finals in that series and won both the games as well as the series just because Sachin scored a 117 not out in the first game and a 91 in the other. Sachin's best time of his life started when people said that he should retire. From 2008 to 2011, he played his heart-out. Winning almost all the series at home and battling hard at foreign grounds, India reached top rankings both in ODIs and Tests during this time. No matter his record of 200 not out vs South Africa in Gwalior in an ODI game has been broken by his counterpart Virender Sehwag scoring 219 against West Indies, but cricket fans only remember Sachin's innings of double ton. His 169 at Christchurch vs New Zealand, 175 vs Australia at Nagpur were just amazing innings. I remember the statement Ravi Shastri made during commentary when Sachin ran for that 200th run. He said, "First man on the planet to reach 200 and its the Superman from India...take a bow master!" I was left with goose-bumps!
It was a similar feeling when India won the world cup in 2011 at Sachin's home ground Mumbai and after that winning six of M.S. Dhoni, Sachin came out running like a child, having tear filled eyes and a smile of satisfaction of achieving everything he wanted. When Yuvraj and Harbhajan were hugging him tightly and crying, I cried with them! When all the team members were carrying him on their shoulders and walking around the ground, my hands automatically went up in salutation!
Sachin has built such kind of connection with every Indian over the past two decades that people of all generations love him and adore him. Youth see him as an Icon and some of us even pray him believing him to be our GOD! "Cricket is my religion and Sachin is my GOD" is a popular slogan in our country!
Post World Cup 2011, allegations of Sachin's retirement again started hovering around. But media created another encumbrance of completing his 100th International 100 over Sachin's mind, a mind which already remained filled with expectations of a billion people all the time. Considered the most complete batsman in modern cricket, top of the list in every record table and one who was considered next only to the legendary Sir Don Bradman, Sachin had to wait very long for achieving the biggest milestone that no other batsman may achieve. His 100th ton came against Bangladesh at the time when even his 100s were not winning us matches. Rather a curse hovered around that when Sachin scores a century, India loses that match.
---Yes it was true that his reflexes were getting slow with the age and his strokes did not have that magic. But cursing such a legend in such a way wasn't right. How easily people forgot what all he did in the past for team India.
---Yes it was a li'l mistake on Sachin's part that he must have announced retirement from ODIs right after winning the world cup. But I think he was right in spending some changing-room space with the youngsters and after grooming them finally he has decided to quit the shorter format of the game!
In a party thrown by Mukesh Ambani honouring Sachin when he completed his 100th ton, he said that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have a great future ahead and they'll no sooner firm their places in the Indian team. Rohit Sharma is a great talent but has remained unlucky and low in confidence, being in and out of the team, whereas Virat Kohli has already received the ICC ODI player of the year award and has a great temperament in Test cricket too. In fact Virat's batting is really enjoyable to watch just like batting of Sachin was in his golden days!
Finally December 23rd, 2012 is the day when Tendulkar has announced his retirement from the shorter format putting an end on the era of stroke-making. He made his ODI debut against Pakistan way back in 1989 and interestingly he is quitting the scene just ahead of another series against the arch-rivals. But 'Ye dil maange more' and this 'dil' is not ready to believe that Sachin will not be seen in that Blue India uniform again. It is asking from Sachin that why didn't you play your last series against Pakistan. It is strange because we hoped that he must have taken retirement when his golden period was going on and now when he has announced it, we are not ready to accept it.
The following are his parting words:-
"I have decided to retire from the One-Day format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup wining Indian team. The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest. I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future. I am eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years."
Sachin, finally dismissed on 18426 runs after 463 games, 49 centuries, 96 half-centuries, most Man of the Match awards and most Man of the Series awards!
We love you Sachin! You'll always be remembered whenever the Men in Blue make their way on the field. 
=P