Double Act

It struck me just a couple of days ago.I was watching the French Open with a friend.Roger Federer was making history.He became the greatest ever tennis player.While the presentation was going on my friend remarked-“Poor Rafael Nadal…if he was born in another generation then maybe he would have been the best of his time.Too bad he had to battle with Federer.”This set me thinking-Is that really true??What if Nadal would have been born in another generation?But before you think this is one long boring article about tennis,let me assure you it is not.My point is the presence of double-acts(if I can take the liberty to call them so) present in all fields all throughout the world.

How is it that every time someone almost invincible appears to have become the master of the field someone dares to challenge him?Someone who could logically never match them…how is it that these people always pose a threat to the champions…and sometimes even ace them.If you look at history you will see that when Akbar seemed to have gained huge power,there was one man,whose might was nothing compared to him.He was known as Rana Pratap.And yet,despite there being such a huge difference in their powers,Rana Pratap was always a thorn in Akbar’s side.Then there was Shivaji during Aurungzeb’s reign.This time the champion was even more powerful and the challenger even less so.Yet look at what Shivaji attained.No I am not writing this coloumn to glorify our national heroes.If we consider movies,there will be always be a debate between who is the best-Al Pacino or Robert di Nero-Two of the greatest actors ever..and they had to be contemporaries???If you move to cricket you will see the same thing-Sachin Tendulkar had a Brian Lara,Alan Border had a Sunil Gavaskar.

Maybe it is how God plans it.So that no-one can have it easy.And everyone has to earn it.For without Nadal,can Federer truly be the greatest ever?Can Batman be a legend if there was no joker??These guys are intense rivals,and enemies at times-But they have to have each other.That’s what motivates them to give their best,raise the bar-higher and even higher.May these double acts continue to flourish.For without them,life would become extremely boring and predictable.