Chomsky and Tendulkar

By John Cheeran
Indian cricket needs vigorous conversations.
And I'm happy that the nation has begun to discuss Sachin Tendulkar much more freely and fearlessly in the aftermath of Sanjay Manjrekar's piece of advice to the cricket icon.
In a land of sycophants and hagiographers Manjrekar has done a revolutionary thing.
Cast a stone at Tendulkar.
Forgive me the Lord, in this age and stage you don't have to be pure, and free of sins to criticize others. None is blemishless but that should not mean that we should abandon our critical faculties.
Right now the nation is divided into two camps; those who uphold the maxim that Tendulkar is beyond any reproach, and the small but growing band of cynics who are losing patience with Indian cricket's most celebrated player.
But let this be the beginning of a tradition of healthy debate in Indian cricket.
In August, in Colombo, Tendulkar will have enough opportunities to tell Manjrekar that he is not afraid of failures.
Skipper Rahul Dravid and India should benefit from a Tendulkar who is provokedto perform. If Tendulkar struggles to perform in Colombo, Manjrekar's analysis would be hailed as the boldest and succinct criticism as Indian cricket has ever witnessed.
I'm not waiting till the tri-series to begin in Colombo to appreciate what Manjrekar has done for Indian cricket.
Look at the aftermath of subjecting Tendulkar to psycho analysis.
There is no riot in Mumbai. No burning of Manjrekar effigies by Tendulkar fan clubs. Bal Thackery has not bothered to explain the situation, leaving us to figure it out the merit of the case.
Mumbai and Maharashtra are not threatening to secede from the Indian union for the insult to its greatest son. The Parliament is in session but Maratha MPs are not demanding a debate on the Manjrekar vs Tendulkar play.
And, as always we are catching the rush hour trains. Have we finally grown up?
Look at the whole thing like this. It's a debate between professional cricketers. The critic has played cricket at highest order and enjoys a cricketing tradition few others can boast of. Sanjay's father Vijay Manjrekar was the backbone of Indian batting in the 1950s and 60s.
And has there been a cricketer more gifted than Tendulkar in India?
Often the debate in Indian cricket is inflamed by parochialism but in this case Mumbai's greatest son has come under attack only from another Mumbaikar.
Let me repeat now that Manjrekar has not accused Tendulkar of feigning injuries. Those who are saying so are evidently slow learners.
To criticize is no crime; a differing viewpoint always need to be welcomed in a democracy. A combination of factors in the past, with WorldTel being the prime engine behind the PR campaign, have worked in Tendulkar's favour.
Tendulkar must accept that the world around him has changed. He should not lose his focus on the game and whenever possible should make use of constructive criticism.
The celebrated linguist Noam Chomsky had written about how the mass media conspire to manufacture consensus, in Manufacturing Consent. This has been true in Tendulkar's case in Indian journalism.
At long last, we have a dissident amidst us. Thank you, Manjrekar.