This ain't no ordinary game, here every bat and every ball carries a story,
But few born to this great game have gone on to command from the 22 yards such epic glory,

The force behind an entire nation, he is the voice uniting the last mile of town,
He's faced his doubters, heard them critics and still held on to his own amid the lament of the clowns,

At 16, he came and stood his ground,
Talking only through the bat for good 24 years, his voice echoing a gentle hush of calm,

Reverberating a charm through the majestic whirring of his blade,
Some retired in front of him, and some when contested with his sublime talent, seemed came too late,

Many have withered away trying, to unlock the key to bring down his bat,
But not many have commanded the respect, grace and adulation as the ones gracing his hat,

A magician who opened the inning, the carrier of our hopes who carried the bat all through,
Inning after inning, he reminded us of what greatness meant as seen from the wisdom of his grey's and from the exuberance of his youth,

The Lara's have said, as have the Kallis', Kohli's and Dravid's,
That in his batting lay Cricket's dictionary, it's grammar and it's prose and parlance,

The story only becomes greater and gains new ground,
Once you stare past the astonishment of his 100 hundreds, the 35000 runs or the ecstasy emanating from the stadium's sounds,

In his name lies a power, that has resonated what it means to be a living legend,
Some hail him as a run machine, the others as a messiah holding the bat and others, cricket's iconic magic-maker,
For us, in India and elsewhere they believe in miracles and those who can create many, he's the inimitable Sachin Tendulkar.

Holdingwilley wishes the batting icon a very happy 43rd birthday!