on 2nd July, an incredible thing happened. in a press conference after a game in wimbledon, Maria Sharapova committed the heinous crime of admitting that she did not know who a certain Indian cricketer was. no sooner did she say it, all hell broke loose. Sachin's "devotees" cursed the tennis star, threw insults at her, made ridiculous accusations. some even went so far as to say that the only reason she was so successful was that she was 'pretty'. did not matter that she is from a country where many probably do not even know about cricket, let alone know the names of the players. did not matter that she lives in a country where cricket is not at all prevalent. did not matter that she herself is a legend of the game that she does play. did not matter that maybe it is entirely possible that people in the world of sports may not all know about each other entirely. did not matter that Sachin Tendulkar himself may not mind what Sharapova said. all that mattered was that she did not know who Sachin "THE GOD"  tendulkar was.

                         isn't it amazing how easy it is to puncture the collective ego of a country which claims to be the spiritual center of the world? considering that we claim to be one of the most tolerant nations in the world, we take offence rather easily on the most ridiculous matters. now, for a disclaimers' sake, i am not saying anything against Sachin. he IS  a legend. he IS the greatest player to have ever played the game of  cricket; but he is NOT the only sports legend in the world. there are many many games in the world and every game has its legends and stars. how many people who went on to trash Sharapova know about the Baseball legends or the russian Ice Hockey legends. what rationalises so shamelessly(also see pathetic) trashing a person who is a legend in her own right, just because she is ignorant of a game that is a religion way over in the subcontinent in India. are we that insecure that we a require a certificate and commendation from each and every nook and and corner of the world? we are not the center of the world and Cricket is not the nucleus of all sport.

                       by behaving thus not only have we ridiculed ourselves in front of the world, from the U.S to Australia, but also have shown ourselves to be ignorant and juvenile. not to mention the person that we are trashing has a standing in the world of sport. she has worked just as hard, and made a place for herself. insulting her for something like this only shows a blatant disrespect for sportsmanship. if anything we owe an apology to her for being so condescending and downright rude!