On one hand you have the man who revolutionised revolution and brought peace to protest. On the other, you have one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Incomparable legends both, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Sachin Tendulkar, could you compare each to the other? Despite one being history and one making history currently, you’d venture that it would be nigh impossible to guess which one wielded more weight as a ‘brand’. Not anymore. After a recent survey put Sachin Tendulkar as a more trusted brand than Mahatma Gandhi, youngsters in the city apart from ardent cricket fans are questioning the survey for comparing the father of the nation with a cricketer.

“Gandhi has achieved much more than what Sachin Tendulkar has,” fumes Abhishek from CBIT college, “Gandhi is the reason our country is independent. I am perplexed as to why Sachin was compared with Gandhi.”

Mrinmayee Bhobale of NIFT says the comparison is pointless, because they are in different leagues, “Gandhi is not just popular in India but across the whole world. Those who couldn’t care less about cricket would not be going all gaga about Sachin Tendulkar but, even children know about Gandhi as we learn about him in school.”

It’s almost an insult Medipally Divya cautions, “With all due respect to Sachin Tendulkar, he should never have been compared with the father of the nation. I’m sure even Sachin would agree with me on this. Gandhi was an inspiration for all and may be an inspiration for Sachin too. Cricket is just a game. Sachin does not deal with life and death situations like Gandhi did.”

Disregarding the fact that Gandhi’s pay-off was an independent India and Sachin’s pay-off is money in his bank account, ardent Sachin Tendulkar fan, Krithi Papell says that youngsters of today fail to connect with Gandhi. “For cricket fans, Sachin is God. I cannot relate to Gandhi. I have read about him and just got second hand information about him. However, this is not the case with Sachin Tendulkar. I feel as if I know him personally as I watch him play every other day and I don’t have to depend upon some books to know what is brewing in his life.”