Tendulkar and India: the inseparable bond

Manu Joseph introduces Sachin Tendulkar to the USA, writing in the New York Times that the he is an icon who, in his ways and in the country's way of adoring him, defines India in a profound way that economic indicators and the laments of activists cannot.

The 1990s were difficult, but Mr. Tendulkar bloomed in that decade. The beauty of sport is that even though it is in the realm of entertainment, it is also an indisputable reality. And Mr. Tendulkar became a rare Indian reality that did not depress Indians. In an impoverished, chaotic nation, he swiftly became the most reliable agent of mass euphoria.